In Australia we have disengaged with our political leaders. We have voted out first term governments at a State level and it is not looking good for the current Federal Government. Our political leadership is at scary lows, and it is hurting our country.

Worldwide Leadership Problems

This disengaging is a worldwide phenomena – we are seeing small and micro parties pop-up and take a percentage of the vote. In Australia it is Palmer United Party, in the USA it is the Tea Party and in the United Kingdom it is the UKIP. At a Federal level, it is happening to the Coalition NOT because of the policies but because of the way the leadership team is acting. Get the full details in the video below.

 
If you need your leaders to be stronger and more influential, reach out and let’s have a conversation about what is possible.

Cheers

Darren
 

Transcript of Political Leadership Video

G’day! Darren Fleming.

Want to have a chat today about why we in Australia, we’ve been disengaging with our political leaders and political leadership at such a rate that we’re turfing out first-term governments, and I want to show you how what’s going on applies to your business, and how you can generate sales and be more effective in the marketplace. Stick around.

Recently, across Australia, we’ve seen a number of first-term governments turfed out on their ears. Now, Prime Minister Tony Abbott only narrowly survived a spill motion where 39 of his backers voted in favour of an empty chair to run the party as opposed to him. Why is that? What’s going on? What’s wrong with Australian political leaders and political leadership?

Well, the problems that we’re seeing are not party-specific – so this is not apolitical. This is what we’re seeing across all parties. And when you look at what’s going on, you can see how it applies to your business. And I’ll take you through the steps at the end.

The main problem that we’re seeing at the federal level is Tony Abbott is a fighter. Much has been made of when he was at university he would fight, he was a boxer. And he has taken that into his political leadership career. When he was the opposition leader, he was a great attack dog to Kevin Rudd, then Julia Gillard, and Rudd again. When he survived his leadership spill, this is the very first question that he was asked by Leigh Sales on The 7.30 Report and his answer. Take a look.

Tony Abbott: I am a fighter, I know how to beat Labor party leaders, I beat Kevin Rudd, I beat Julia Gillard, I can beat Bill Shorten as well. What  I am not good at is fighting the Liberal Party.

To Tony Abbott, political leadership is not about bringing people together, overcoming differences. To him, leadership is about “Who am I better than? Who can I pound into the dirt? Who can I be better than? Who can I show I am stronger?” When we have a political leader who is more obsessed with beating and winning than bringing people together, we start to disconnect. We stop listening to what it is they have to say, and even if it is good, because we’ve disconnected with them, we won’t listen to what it is they’ve got to say. That is a big part of the reason why they are unable to get many of their budget issues, budget proposals through the Senate.
The second thing that they’ve been doing is breaking Rule #101 of sales. When you’re taught to sell, the first rule you’re taught is never bag the opposition. Yet, that’s all that the current government does. Just have a look at this:

Tony Abbott:  We at least accept that there is a serious fiscal challenge, that a bit of inter-generational theft has been going on that the former government started, and we are determined to fix. The Labor Party is in denial about all these things.

Or like this:

Tony Abbott:  Really and truly, what does that say about the state of Victoria, that they are contemplating paying 1.2 billion dollars not to build a road?

Thank you for the question, Laura, because it’s a classic example of what goes wrong when in a fit of absent-mindedness people elect Labor governments.

Once again, this is not about whether it’s true or not. This is about the basic rule of selling – do not bag your opposition. Throughout the campaign for the 2013 election, we heard Labor’s debt and deficit. During the first 18 months of government, it was all about Labor’s debt and deficit. Whether or not that’s true is not the point of the argument. What is happening – as the leader, he is standing up and pounding the opposition. When you’re trying to sell your message, you simply don’t do that.

The third thing that’s going on is very subtle, and most people know what’s going on but can’t articulate it. And this comes down to the meta-language, the meta-communication that’s going on. Scott Morrison was the Immigration Minister for the first 18 months, and here’s an interview with him where he was asked a question by a reporter; he did something, and then gave the answer.

The question; answer. It’s the something in the middle – the meta-communication, the meta-language – that shows what is going on with the level of fighting between the government and the electorate. Here it is.

Reporter:  Minister, can you now go into again, that as long as detainees don’t engage in aggressive conduct, and just follow the rules, essentially, that you can guarantee their safety? If they stay inside the detention centre…

Scott Morrison:  I’ll repeat what I said. When people… I’ll repeat exactly what I said because I meant exactly what I said when I said this the other day. I can guarantee their safety when they remain in the centre and act cooperatively with those who are trying to provide them with support and accommodation.

Scott Morrison was asked a question; he then answered it to the way that he wanted. He could have given that same answer in a different way, without reading that document. But what happened – he wanted to control the way the information was put forward. And you can see a bit of a wry smile on his face creeping through. It’s about the control. It’s not about bringing people together. It’s about dividing and saying, “We’re better. This is the way it’s going to be.”

Why is this important? Well, it’s important because the way you do anything is the way you do everything. And if you have this constant attitude of fighting, of “we’re better,” of “let’s beat, let’s do it our way,” you get people on your team who say things like this:

Joe Hockey:  And change to the fuel excise does exactly that. The poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases…

Or like this:

Interviewer:  That will be… is that what we’re talking about here?

George Brandis:  Um, Um, Um Um, Um ,Um er, er, er, er, What you’re viewing on the internet is not what we’re interested in, and that’s not what we’re about—

Interviewer:  And you’d be able to see whether I’ve been to the …

Now, how does this relate to your business? Well, if you’ve got staff who, potentially, in an office, don’t get on, or there’s simmering tensions, or are unable to articulate a message in any area, that’s what’s going to be the underlying pattern out when they’re talking to customers, when they’re leading their team, when you’re not present.

The way you do anything is the way you do everything. This is what the iLead program is about.

So I’d like you to do three things from here. The first of all is click the Like, Share, Tweet button, so it goes to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, all those places. The second is, below, comment on what it is that you’ve seen – our political leaders, our leaders in society, and how you either are connecting to them or disconnecting. And then the third thing is if this sounds like some issues you’ve got in your team or you want your team to be more productive, shoot me a quick email, and we’ll start a conversation on how we can get your team being more productive, more engaging, and able to sell more, achieve more, and be better placed in the market.

I’ll speak to you soon. Cheers!

The post Political Leadership – This Is The Problem appeared first on Executive Speaking.

Those with strong leadership skills know that there are three levels of information that your audience could hear.

• Level 1 – Content (What)
• Level 2 – Process (How)
• Level 3 – Context (Why)

You need to pitch the level of information to the right level of audience. This video will  give you the insight on how to use this information, and what happens if you get it wrong. When you get this right, you will have quicker meetings that produce better results, shorter conversations that lead to outcomes and team members that can contribute even more.

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Leadership Skills Development Transcript

G’day! Darren from executivespeaking.com.au.

I’ve got a technique here that I want to share with you that will help you position yourself as a leader, as someone who should be listened to, and someone of influence. It’s great for developing leadership skills. Stick around.

Today I want to share with you a technique on how you can share your ideas so people want to get on board with what it is you have to say and put you at the right level for where it is that you are – are you a leader or are you one of the people implementing the tasks that the leaders have.

There’s three types of information you need to be aware of. The first is content, the second is process, and the third is context. Now, what are these about?

Content is about what it is you’re going to do. For argument’s sake, in the business world, it might be we’re going to open a new warehouse in western Sydney. We’re going to capture that market. The second type of information, process – how are we going to do it? Well, if we’re going to open a warehouse in western Sydney, we need to find a site, we need to get feasible rental agreements, we need to look at purchasing, we need to have our supplies etc put into place so they know where we are.

The what – the content – and the how – the process, how are you going to do it.

The third type of information is the context. What is it all about? In this instance, it might be about being more efficient, it might be about saving costs, it might be about capturing a market or preparing for a strategy. That’s what it’s about.

Now, when you get these three types of information confused, it lowers what people think of you and your idea. When you should be talking context and you’re bogged down in content and processes, those that will need to be sold context don’t hear it, and they start thinking, “Well, this guy knows how to do it on the ground but he shouldn’t be up here speaking at this level.” When you get it wrong, you can find yourself feeling a bit odd and a bit out, and here’s a great example of how that happened.

Tony Abbott:       The other reform that has proven very, very difficult for us is to try to inject more price signals into our health system. We would like to see a $7 co-payment for people who are going to see the doctor… But it is proving to be massively difficult to get this particular reform through the Parliament. I don’t have any magic answers to the problems that we face… But the more gatherings like this can affirm the importance of good policy… Then I think the easier it is for all of us to deliver good policy to the people of our countries.

Tony Abbott had the world’s most powerful leaders in the room with him, and what he was there to do, and what everyone was there to do was to talk about context. But what he did was dragged it down into content and process, and that’s why he was rightly lambasted by just about everyone in the Australian media.

Understand that it’s content, process, and context.

This is just one of the many techniques that I share in the Language of Leadership module, part of the iLead program.

What I’d love for you to do is, first of all, like this video and share it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc, and also pop a comment down below so we can continue this conversation and help you position yourself as a leader that others want to follow.

Cheerio!

Speak to you next time.

Cheers.

The post Leadership Skills – Information appeared first on Executive Speaking.

When Joe Hockey said that poor people don’t have cars and don’t drive as far he was technically correct. But that doesn’t mean he will win the argument.

The way you structure your message to market will determine if you are successful or not. Joe leaves out the most important element and therefore will never win. This is important in any public speaking situation, and even in one-on-one communication situations.

See what he does wrong and how you can avoid it in your marketplace. Full details below…

Transcript

G’day! Darren from executivespeaking.com.au.

Joe Hockey is on a hiding to nothing when he pushes his line, “Rich people will pay more through the fuel excise tax than poor people because poor people don’t have cars and they don’t drive very far.” The reason he is going to lose has massive implications for you trying to get your message out to your marketplace or through to your staff to motivate them on to your way of thinking. It’s important if you want to be a great public speaker.

If you’re not familiar with the statement that the Federal Treasurer of Australia made, have a look at this short bit of footage.

Joe Hockey:         They say you’ve got to have wealthier people or middle-income people pay more. Well, the change to the fuel excise does exactly that – the poorest people either don’t have cars or actually don’t drive very far in many cases.

There’s three elements you need when you want to persuade and influence an audience. As I mentioned, this is important in any public speaking or presentation situation. The first is what’s known as your stance – your authority, who are you and what are you trying to push across. Being the Federal Treasurer of Australia, he has great authority to speak from where he’s coming from.

The second area is logic. You need logic to push your argument forward so people can follow what it is you’re trying to put across.

The third area though – and this is where Joe Hockey is massively falling down, and why he will never win this argument – is pathos, appeal to the emotions. If you want to persuade an audience, you have to appeal to an emotion within that audience. And Joe Hockey simply is not doing that. By putting forward the logic “rich people will pay more in fuel excise because they have more cars and drive further” – that is true – but the logic of pushing that argument introduces the class warfare, which is emotion, of “low people, well, they don’t have cars.” When you start introducing negative emotions, you’re never going to win an argument.

How does this affect your business? Well, with your business, what’s the personality and stance of your business? Are you a professional outfit? Are you seen well in the market? What is the logic, the logic of the message that you’re putting across? And finally, how are you emotionally engaging your customer base, your database, so they want to be part of your message? This is where things – simple things such as being able to deliver your message in a professional and concise manner – mean so much to your marketplace. If you’re thinking, “We’ve got a great product, yes, that’s awesome, we don’t need to have the message sold really well,” well, that’s going to tear at your authority. If you’re not engaging your audience through emotions and what’s possible to solve their issues when you’re speaking, well, that’s appealing to emotion. And if you don’t have the authority because you don’t look the part and you’re not emotionally engaging them, it doesn’t matter how good your product is, it doesn’t matter how good your message is – your audience won’t buy into it, and they won’t buy your product.

That’s what I teach my clients how to do – how do you sell yourself, position yourself so your audience want to buy your message in any public speaking or private conversation setting? If you’re having trouble getting cut-through in your marketplace, give me a call, send me an email. When done correctly, public speaking allows you to position yourself as a leader. Have the logic, and then finally, emotionally engage them. And then you will see a lift in your sales.

Give me a call, send me an email, and I can show you how to do it.

The post Joe Hockey and Poor People: Why He Can’t Win! – Public Speaking Tip appeared first on Executive Speaking.

Bad sales techniques never lead to long-term success.

We’ve all dealt with a pushy salesman.

Whether buying a car or being led into a sales meeting by a friend, it seems everyone has had a poor experience at some point.

An image that comes to mind is the Ned Ryerson character from the Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day. He gets a little too pushy with Murray’s character day after day until one day Phil just wheels back and hits him right in the nose.

That image gave people everywhere a reason to cheer. We’ve all been there.

The truth is that selling is important. We’re all selling all the time. It could be selling our kids on the idea of going to bed on time or selling our partners on a new business strategy. The trick is to use good selling techniques, not bad ones.

Every bad selling technique focuses on winning. Salespeople act as if they are competing against the customer. The result is a win for the salesperson, but a loss for the customer. Bad salespeople do whatever it takes to win even if it only results in short-term gain.

The most successful salespeople take a different approach where both parties are winners. They avoid the bad techniques of the past. 

The Bait and Switch

Retailers still use this approach that has been “perfected” over the last few decades.

Consumers see a promotion for a discount on one item. When they arrive in the store they are bombarded by a salesperson bent on selling them something else. They find the discounted item is not right for what they want, has just sold out, or is not as good as it appeared in the advert. The sales person then switches you to the more expensive item.

The bait and switch is all about getting initial attention with an offer too good to be true. Then, once the sales team has the customer on the hook, they switch the offer and make a sale on a more appealing item…more appealing to the company, not the consumer.

The bait and switch may work on the short-term, but it’s not a way to build lasting relationships.

You wouldn’t promise your spouse a romantic anniversary dinner only to take them to the local burger joint would you?

Yes! Yes! Yes!

This bad sales technique is all about a rapid series of questions.

The salesperson will get the potential buyer in a situation where they ask questions:

• Do you want to save money?
• Do you want to help the environment?
• Do you want to help children?
• Do you want to make your family happy?
• Well then, you’ll want to buy this product won’t you?

It’s all about getting people to answer questions that have obvious “Yes!” answers and getting them to convince themselves they need or want a product.

The questions are often broad. They are often asked in a rapid fire manner giving the person little time to react until they are trapped into responding with a yes to the eventual product question.

Again, this technique is used to trap the person into buying the product. It is like they are backing the customer into a corner from where they have only two options. The first is to buy a product that they didn’t want. The second is to back away from the sale and lose face in the process. From the salesperson’s perspective, the intent is get the short-term sale even if the person will feel cheated when they have time to process the experience.

It’s hard to believe salespeople of the past thought this would work on the long run. Getting someone to answer general questions with “Yes!” and then jumping on the person with a surprise sale question. The frightening thing is that there are still people today who use (and train on) this technique.

“Gotcha!” never works in the long run.

Let Me Check…

Here is a bad sales technique used by quite a few salespeople even today.

You’re in a car dealership. You go in looking for help on making a decision on a new vehicle. You feel the salesperson you meet is conscious about your needs. They ask the right questions and provide detailed answers.

But when it comes down to talking about price the salesperson listens to what you want to pay. They then say something like “Let me check with my boss…”

This is technique is used for two reasons. First, it is used to make the customer think the salesperson is on their side. The salesperson then goes out back ( usually to refresh their coffee) for a few minutes and come back to the desk and say, “The boss won’t let me get down to that price.”

The salesperson then might come down a little on the price because they are “On your side.” They’ll use lines like, “I’ve managed to get the boss to drop a bit, but he can’t go that far.” This is about building a connection between the sales person and the buyer.

The second reason for using this technique is to increase the feeling of potential loss for the customer. If the customer believes that the boss may not come down on the price they will be more ready to accept the price the salesperson comes back with. This is ‘take-away’ selling at it’s best. Sales people know that we will want something that is going to be taken away from us – and will often pay more for it.

This technique might work to sell a single car, but if the customer finds out they should have gotten a better deal it will mean poor loyalty and word of mouth business for the car dealership.

It’s always best to think of those you sell to as prospects for long-term relationships instead of short-term customers that help you meet short-term quotas.

This is something you see in old movies. It’s the Good Cop, Bad Cop approach.

Objection Beaters

For decades, salespeople have been taught to deal with objections. Objections are nothing more than concerns and questions that people want cleared up on their way to purchasing. It’s a good to listen to people and figure out what their concerns are when they want to buy – it makes it easier for them to part with their money. Unfortunately, a lot of sales people ahev been taught to ‘beat’ objections. . When you run into objection beaters you know it. These are the folks that have studied books of objections and how to overcome them. Whenever a potential lead has an objection the person is there with an answer. They beat the objections down until the lead has no choice, but to surrender.

This technique, along with others in this post, come from the concept that selling is about winning. The salesperson treats the lead as an opponent and the only acceptable outcome is victory for the salesperson. They do whatever it takes to win even if that means getting some short-term gain for long-term bad customer relations.

The Silent Treatment

Silence is something people are generally uncomfortable with. Introverts can deal with it just fine, but many struggle with it. A situation of silence puts incredible pressure on these people and when a bad salesperson sees this happening they jump on an opportunity to pressure a lead into making a sale that maybe isn’t right for them.

An example of the silent treatment is a salesperson taking an order. They get the order number and then remain silent. The silence puts pressure on the customer to add an additional item to their order leading to a bigger sale.

It’s a classic case of getting in trouble as a kid. Your parent or teacher calls you into a room. They just sit there while you squirm in your chair. Eventually you snap and spill the beans on everything.

It’s Time to Can Confrontational Selling

All these bad sales technique examples are confrontational.

The entire concept of bad selling in the past was to focus on putting the customer in an uncomfortable position so they will make what is ultimately a poor decision. Even if the salesperson truly believes the product is the best for the customer they cross the line when they use confrontation.

This approach is not the best way to sell whether you’re selling products to consumers or selling your executive partners on a new business idea.

There is a much better approach that will lead to more success.

The Best Selling Is Done Through Leadership

Those that sell well today sell through leadership.

The executives and leaders I work with all have the common idea that everybody is in a sales role regardless of where they work. You are selling to someone all the time.

These leaders provide useful information that adds value to the lives of those they come into contact with. This approach shows expertise and character. The concept is to provide knowledge that will show the customer that they have the solution for them.

I’ve written about leadership before and each topic can be used for effective selling:

How to Tap Into Your Personality to Find Your Leadership Style

However basic or complex your personal values may be, they will become the core motivation for the leadership style you develop. The sooner you can know those values, the sooner you can become the type of leader that you most admire.

5 Traits of the Best Leaders and Managers

If your employees see you treating others poorly or being lax with deadlines they will assume it’s all right for them to do the same.

10 Ways to Become a Better Business Leader

Great speakers tell stories about themselves and about others. Stories allow the speaker to communicate key points to the audience and convince them to listen.

Leadership works the same way. Find the general theme in stories and you’ll inspire…

We can look on these bad sales techniques and laugh.

People really sold that way?

Yes.

Not anymore. Today, it’s about building trust through leadership.

The post Bad Sales Techniques You Still See Today appeared first on Executive Speaking.

Zappos is the largest online footwear retailer in the United States. The company was founded during the tech boom in the US in the late 1990s and continued to grow even after the boom subsided.

Zappos made a change during its initial years to focus on getting the right people on board. The focus was built around ten core values. This focus became so intense that people are hired and fired based on the core values alone. It doesn’t matter if the person does an adequate job.

This might seem harsh to some, but it’s part of what makes Zappos successful.

Recently, Tony Hsieh, Zappos founder and CEO, went to Sanford to speak with business students and he was selling them on the concept of the core values.

Even though Zappos has been successful the core values concept was a hard sell.

In the video we can learn from Tony Hsieh. We can see how he was able to convince those in the classroom that the Zappos core value system can work in other industries for other companies.

Tony has repeated this message in other speeches and presentations through the years. It’s an effective way to share his knowledge and get others to follow his perceived way to happiness.

The Video: Core Values of Culture (8:10)

By the end of this post you’ll have a better understanding of how you can get people on board with your ideas. Much of giving presentations and being a business leader is selling. Tony Hsieh has learned to sell his core values of culture. He sold it to Amazon for over one billion dollars in stock.

His methods work.

Lesson #1: Show the Struggle

To begin his presentation Tony discusses the issues he and other leaders in the company had with the concept of core values. The concept was cliché and overdone. They wanted Zappos to be a revolutionary company so they looked at other avenues yet they eventually came back to the core values concept.

By presenting this struggle with the clichéd world, Tony is stating what everyone thinks about core values, but dares not say – that statements and values are only given lip-service. This connects with people in the audience because they are now thinking, “I think that too – they are often meaningless!”

He is also showing them that even in a successful company there are struggles – not everything is easy even at the top.

It’s vulnerable for a leader as impressive as Tony Hsieh to show struggle, but it was a brilliant tactic. He showed that he is humble  – which is one of the 10 core values.

By framing himself and his company as something similar to those in the audience he makes a connection that keeps people onboard.

Lesson #2: Show Proof

People are skeptical. We want to know the reason why.

Even when Tony Hsieh walks into Stanford the students are going to ask why they should listen to him. The students know he is successful, but maybe he was just lucky. Does he even understand the reason his company has been successful?

Audience members ask these questions all the time and it’s the job of the presenter to show proof.

Tony does this when he makes two points in the presentation.

First, he doesn’t focus on the sales of the company or the press it gets. That is common knowledge to most in the online business world. He focuses on the Google rankings of the core values.

What this proves to the people in the audience is that Zappos is known to be the most relevant result for searches like “Be Humble”. That’s pretty impressive. Those in the audience realise that ranking for a basic term like “Be Humble” is not easy.

This is proof. Even Google recognises the success of the Zappos core values system.

As Tony says, you can do the same search for any other company’s core values and you won’t find them on the first page. This comparison to other companies – a challenge if you will – works to set minds at ease.

Second, Tony tells the story about the issue with the “Be Humble” value. He says it’s the most difficult value to use as a guideline for hiring. It’s hard to determine if someone is humble.

Tony shares the story that they ask the shuttle driver that drives each candidate to the Zappos headquarters how a candidate acted in the shuttle. Based on that experience alone Zappos will choose to hire you or not hire you.

This story is proof that Zappos means business with the core values system. If a person fails even one of the values they are not hired. There is no compromise in the process.

Lesson #3: Commitment

Building on the story about hiring and firing people based on the core values, Tony shows the company’s commitment.

With your presentations you’ll need to be fully committed to what you’re presenting. It will be extremely difficult if not impossible to convince people to do something if you don’t believe it.

Confidence and conviction have a way of coming through when you believe what you’re saying. Watching Tony in this video you can see how much he believes in the core values. He has built his company around the core values and that’s the commitment people need to see along with the other proof.

If you’re on board other people follow because they want to be as committed as you. They want to feel the passion and be part of something special.

Lesson #4: Focus on Individuality

In the middle of the speech Tony talks about weirdness. He says that everybody has a little bit of weirdness in them and that Zappos encourages this behavior. He says this is where the best ideas come from and that it’s helped fuel the growth at Zappos.

This is a brilliant move. It gets everyone in the audience thinking ‘How would I answer this questions?” This is cognitive engagement at its best. When you get individuals answering your questions they are listening to you.

Lesson #5: Research Is Convincing

Facts are needed to balance the emotional states aroused when you get people asking questions such as ‘How would I answer that?’

In his talk, Tony shares the story about using research to guide the company in the hiring process. The research was based on the perception of luck and how people that feel lucky tend to find more opportunity in life.

It’s hard sometimes to use research to make decisions, but Tony seemed to accept the results of the experiment and even went so far to use it in building his company.

Research is powerful and by sharing this story it gave more credibility to the core values concept that Tony is selling to the audience.

Tony has even gone on to talk about happiness in his book, Delivering Happiness. Talk about committing to an idea. Tony is living what he is presenting. It’s all very convincing to the people in the audience and it’s a reason many have bought into the core values concept over the last five years or so.

Lesson #6: You Get What You Give

At the end of the talk Tony uses a classic method for influencing people.

The concept is one of the core values, which is about being open and honest. Tony talks about how Zappos tries to be as transparent as possible with its customers and really with anyone that wants to listen to how the company operates.

An example is given that the company uses LiveStream to share its annual employee meeting. All the questions, even financial, are shared during the meeting.

When people visit Zappos they get the full tour and can speak with anyone they please in the building. There are few limits on what people can access when they seek information about Zappos.

Additionally, the company shares information on its own blog and in interviews with media. Even speeches and talks like this one show that Zappos buys in to the idea of giving as much as possible.

It’s the classic you get what you give mindset. In order to accomplish something or get something in business you need to first give something. It’s a concept that is based on social research so there you have more proof that the concept works.

Conclusion

Tony Hsieh is a very public CEO. His company has exceeded revenues of a billion dollars, but through it all Tony has been looking to take the lessons of his company to others.

In order to do this Tony has had to figure out a way to connect with audiences and convince them that the Zappos way of doing business is effective and can be used by others. He seems to be genuinely interested in helping people find happiness in life and in work.

Much of business is about selling yourself and your ideas. Speaking is a way to accomplish this and Tony Hsieh has mastered the art.

Now it’s your turn.

The post How to Influence Like Billion Dollar CEO appeared first on Executive Speaking.

First time leader? You need this.

Being thrust into a leadership position is daunting. No person is entirely prepared for their first leadership role. All leaders get a start somewhere. All had to learn how to communicate to achieve success.

Below are ways you can become a better leader by practicing your speaking skills. With practice, you can become a confident leader who inspires and gets results.

1. Unify

Part of being a leader is connecting with your audience, but an additional task is connecting the audience members with each other.

Often in business you’ll be faced with a difficult situation that could split your team. Difficultly happens often in sports.

After a loss the members of the team look for blame. This natural reaction can split the players.

The coach of the team is challenged with unifying the team.

One way to do this is to find common ground. Something coaches do is to focus energy on the next opponent. That’s something every team member can get behind.

The coach says something like:

“Okay. Analyse your individual performance today. Tomorrow we focus on the next opponent. They have been winning and it will take focus and preparation to get the victory.”

The next time you give a presentation try finding common ground for all members in the audience to unite around. You’ll find this technique will make for better presentations. It’s also the sign of a great leader.

2. Share Success

Your success is not your own. Yes, your hard work was part of the reason you became a leader. When you speak to your team, though, you’ll need to share your success.

Just about every winners acceptance speech goes for ages. Why? The winner mentions those that helped them. The winner thanks people. The success is shared with many and that makes the person more endearing.

When you are in situations where you are speaking about your success always share that success with others. The success of each individual is part of the bigger success of the organisation.

The best leaders are those that inspire people. When you make people feel part of something they will want to be part of future success. They will do anything to be part of your team.

3. Find Opportunity

Life is about choices. We all have the choice to complain or to find opportunity in difficult situations.

For example, when a business model is destroyed by the competition there are two choices. The business can fold or find a new model that works even better than the original.

The best leaders turn difficult situations into opportunities. Not only do these leaders find opportunity, they will get the team excited about the new challenge.

Everybody has struggles. We often avoid talking about struggles because we’re afraid of how we’ll be perceived. The truth is that everybody in your audience has struggles. They will relate to yours.

In your next presentation, find a struggle you have had and explain how you turned it into an opportunity to succeed and grow as a person. From there you can talk about something affecting the organisation. Then call on the team to see it as an opportunity to improve and become better.

When you inspire your team you get results as a speaker and you also become a great leader.

4. Become a Storyteller

Much of what you read, hear and watch involves a story. We relate to stories. Even if something really doesn’t relate to our specific situation we find ways to make it fit our worldview.

In the Rocky films, Rocky was the underdog in the first movie. People related to the character even though they likely had never boxed. The general theme of the underdog is what allowed them to connect and feel inspired.

As a speaker you can tell specific stories. What you need to find are stories that have a general theme for your audience to relate to.

Great speakers tell stories about themselves and about others. Stories allow the speaker to communicate key points to the audience and convince them to listen.

Leadership works the same way. Find the general theme in stories and you’ll inspire your team to follow you in the pursuit if success.

5. Find the Correct Emotions

Stories do a great job of bringing out emotion. The story of Rocky was emotional. We saw the struggle he went through as he tried to make a better life for himself and his wife. Struggle is a real emotion that everyone goes through.

The best leaders find the correct emotions to use to connect with the audience. It’s a delicate area to tread because if you go to far people will see through it. You need to be reasonable, but relatable.

Be honest. Don’t manufacture emotion. Stick to the storytelling approach mentioned in the previous point. Tell your stories. Tell stories that have had an impact on you. If something touches you it will touch those in the audience and you’ll win them over.

Find the right emotions when speaking and your audience will connect and follow you. That devotion to your cause is exactly what you need as a leader in your organisation.

6. Find Confidence

Stories and emotion are great, but beyond an individual moment you need something more concrete. Logic is required to fully convince people to join you in the pursuit of success.

Great leaders in history have always had the confidence of research and logic. They work hard to figure out the best course of action.

The reason you were put in a leadership role in your company is because you have worked to become knowledgeable. You understand what is happening in your industry and your company.

The research efforts you put in give you the confidence to give meaningful speeches. Do all the research that is necessary to find logic in the points you’re making. When you have sound logic you’ll project confidence, which gives the audience confidence in you.

Earning that confidence is a major step in getting people to follow you and work hard for you.

7. Call To Action

Getting people to listen is one accomplishment, but to really make change happen you need action. A good speaker can get people to listen, but the best speakers know how to call the audience to action.

Think of a politician out on the campaign trail. The first goal is to get people to listen, but the ultimate goal is to get people to vote. Successful politicians use all the points above to earn interest and respect. They close with the call to vote.

As the leader in your business it’s important to close your presentations with calls to action. Focus on the overall vision for the project and then break it down into tasks the individuals in the audience need to accomplish to reach the overall goal.

By breaking the large goal into smaller goals you’ll make the task seem attainable to everyone in the audience and they’ll be willing to get on board with your plan.

8. Set Goals

Vision is what people expect from leaders.

Your position as the leader is to establish goals for the company. These will be based on the opportunity in the industry and the ability of your company.

Along with goals you’ll need reason. Your company will have reason for each goal. It could be a sales goal. It could be a goal to enter a new product market. Your team will understand these goals, but it might not connect with them fully.

Your team needs a reason to get behind a goal. For the most part people want to be part of something successful. They want to know that they have a secure place in the company. Circle back and find the emotion that connects with your team. That will be the reason they get behind your goal.

9. Silence

Silence is something people seem uncomfortable with. Think about times you’ve been with friends and family.

Most people need to fill in moments of silence with words to halt the awkwardness they feel.

Silence is a good thing for leaders. When communicating with your team you can use silence after key points to make everyone feel the importance.

For your next presentation, leave a moment of silence after the important points. Become comfortable with these moments. The audience will get a better understanding of what you’re saying and you’ll come across as a person in control of the situation.

10. Results

Speaking is like sport. Results matter.

A basketball player that goes to the court to shoot random shots for hours may become better, but a player that sets goals for making shots and does so in game situations will find more improvement.

Doing something for the sake of doing it is not constructive practice.

When you practice your speaking focus on the results your speaking needs to achieve. Instead of writing your presentation and reading it to yourself for hours, read it to someone. Analyse the way they react. Focus on getting the reaction you want.

Focus on the results.

Conclusion

These practice tips should improve your speaking skills. You’ll find more confidence because you’ll be practicing in a meaningful way that achieves results.

As you improve as a speaker you’ll also become a better leader.

The post 10 Ways to Become a Better Business Leader appeared first on Executive Speaking.

How to make statistics interesting…..

The post Lies, Dam Lies and Statistics appeared first on Executive Speaking.

• Use them as supporting evidence. Deliver your point and explain it, then drop the quote in. It’s better to show that you have an idea that Obama supports with a quote, rather than having an idea of Obama’s that you have pinched and tried to expand.
• Know the quote verbatim. No reading it out, no putting it on the screen. If it is integral to your message, it stands to reason that you know it back-to-front.
• If you must put the quote on the screen, don’t use ‘Quotation Marks’. Quotation marks reduce the quote to a temporary message.
• Always attribute the quote to the correct source.

As always your thoughts appreciated below.

Cheers

Darren Fleming –

The post Presentation Skills appeared first on Executive Speaking.

When you are send your next group e-mail write it as though you are sending an individual e-mail. This will make it more personal to the reader and you will get a better response. When the recipient reads the e-mail it will sound as though you are writing directly to them – not to a group that they just happen to be part of.

Why does this work?

Compare their point of view to yours. When you write it you are in a one-to-many relationship. However, when they read it, they are in a one-to-one relationship. While they can see that you have sent the e-mail to many, they are reading it on their own and will respond as such. Make you language specific to an individual. Instead of asking, ‘Can someone assist with the training’ try, ‘Can you assist with the training.’ This puts the onus directly on the recipient to respond.

As always your thoughs below…

Cheers

Darren Fleming –

The post Persuade one-by-one appeared first on Executive Speaking.

When your boss/colleague/whoever has finished talking observe how others MOVE. Do they start moving at the same time, shifting their weight from side-to-side, moving their whole body as though they have just woken up? If they do, there is a good chance they have just woken up – or at least come out of a trance.

This happens when your voice becomes monotone. When it is monotone it becomes hypnotic. In the way that a good hypnotist will relax you into a trance with their voice, you can do the same to your team if you are not careful

You can avoid this by varying your voice in speed, volume, tone and even just pausing……………mid sentence. It does not matter how interesting your message is, if it is delivered without energy and enthusiasm it will disengage your team.

Now I know that this does not happen when you speak, but it will for others at your meeting

The post How to tell if people are really listening to the boss appeared first on Executive Speaking.