5: Public speaking vs. executive presence

Today: Can you have executive presence and be a terrible public speaker? Or vice-versa? Find out how executive presence works and what it means for you.

Your turn: We'd love to hear from you. Use the "Message" button on the Anchor app to share a story, question, or feedback related to this episode. Or email us at joe@connectioncounselor.com

Learn more: Details about the book, online course, YouTube tutorials and more can be found at www.connectioncounselor.com/executive-presence-place

Music: Earning Happiness by John Bartmann is licensed under a CC0 1.0 Universal License

Transcript

People often think about public speaking and executive presence as one is the same, but in actuality, they're a little bit different though there is a lot of overlap. You can be the type of person that has outsized executive presence in a smaller setting or one-on-one or one to a few, but totally freezes up or is wooden or just horrible in terms of a large crowd.

I've been fortunate enough throughout my 20 plus career to witness lots of great public and executive presence and some where frankly, I was a little bit surprised. Like if you look at the level of the person and their reputation and maybe your personal interactions, you're kind of shocked when from a public speaking perspective, the executive presence that they normally have, doesn't really come through.

So what's going on and what can you do to ensure that you have great executive presence, not just in a smaller setting, but also on the big stage, which I would argue is not more important, but is equally as important as having executive presence in a smaller setting.

One thing that I've always tried to do is when I see a great public speaker, And someone who has amazing executive presence as part of their public speaking, I watched them like a hawk.

Now it's really important to know what to watch for. I'm not really looking particularly for any specific item, like, okay, how do they open or what are the exact words that they close? Right?

What I'm looking for is. What are they doing that enables them to connect to the audience? Right? So for example, if they say something and the audience laughs, then it's not so much that I should tell a joke, it's that they've identified where there is a situation where humor will help you connect with the audience either because there's some tension or maybe, they don't know what to expect, or maybe it's just a crowd that, you know, enjoys a good joke. They're able to deploy that, that particular strategy to connect with the audience.

So it's really important when you're watching a great speaker to understand why they're doing what they're doing and how it helps them connect with people, not just what they're doing. Because if you do the wrong "what" in the wrong place, then you're not really going to get the same result as that person had, just because you're imitating him.

So last point here, it really depends on the audience, right? If you go to Toastmasters or take any sort of public speaking course, one of the first things they say is it's not about you and your delivery, as much as it's about knowing the audience and knowing what their expectations and their needs are. Because the more you know them, the better you can understand what you need to do to connect with them, and once you're connected, you're full executive presence starts to come through with the public speaking.

So next time you see someone who's an amazing public speaker or has great executive presence, try this. Just watch them. Forget about the specific things they're saying, but watch for effect. Why is what they're saying connecting? How is it helping them connect with the particular audience, which in this case is you, and perhaps other people in the room.

I'd love to hear from you on Anchor.fm or on the app, if you want to leave a message with your thoughts or questions on executive presence. My name is Joe Kwon, the Connection Counselor. Thank you for listening to Executive Presence Morsels. Remember, it's not what you say, do or wear, it's how you make people feel that generates executive presence. Nothing else matters.