February 2, 2012
OPEN Forum Message
Company Culture
Can you recognize signs that your company's culture isn't working? Get advice from the experts on what to look for–and how to fix it.
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Charlotte Beers is one of the most successful business women in the world. She has only failed miserably at one thing: retirement. She's tried four times.
Her resume is impressive: first ever female senior vice president at J. Walter Thompson Advertising, CEO at Tatham-Laird & Kudner, Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy & Public Affairs under Colin Powell. She's graced the cover of Fortune and BusinessWeek, and been named "the most powerful woman in advertising."
In her new book, I'd Rather Be In Charge, Charlotte says that "life at work is just one presentation after another. In every email, meeting, conference, speech, or document bearing your name, you are presenting who you are and what you have to offer."
Over the course of her luminous career, Charlotte developed an 8-point guide for how to put yourself, your insights, wisdom and distinctive traits up front, in full view:
Begin in the middle
"Buried in every presentation is the point of greatest interest or at least one surprising element," says Charlotte. "Start there, out of order, and then spend the rest of the time defending that eye-opener. It increases tension, it's not predictable, and it forces you to state and then support a conclusion."
Find the drama
"Dare to bring the drama and energy of real, raw life back into a dry presentation," Charlotte advises. "Put people back in your presentations by using tapes of them speaking, photographs, or quotes." In other words, put the people behind your data and argument in the room with your audience, virtually.
Use unexpected visuals
"Borrow shamelessly to open up the density of the material," recommends Charlotte. "Try music, sound effects, anything to get out of your rut…always have one or two touches that expand the ideas or remind the viewers of the life around the issues at stake."
Let silence develop
"I used to think a seamless flow was the mark of a good presenter," Charlotte writes. "but I learned that a deliberate pause, a hesitation, returns an audience from its wanderings. You don't have to be at the podium. You can say in a meeting, 'I'd like to comment on that' and pause, and the room's attention will shift toward you. It is hard to do this, but it's worth the risk. At the very least you will be recognized as thoughtful."
Avoid predictable sequences
"This includes not telling the group what you're going to tell them," explains Charlotte, "and not noting how long your talk will take. This is a dreadful habit some speech teacher passed along in the 1940s. If people think 'I always know what Jan is going to say,' you have become way too orderly in giving out your information."
Draw an implication
Charlotte says, "They [the audience] can read the charts…the numbers…without you. Your job is to try to say what it all means. Even if you only have an opinion starter as a complex issue unravels, you have been the one who fielded the first ball."
Think about voice, vocabulary
"Avoid telling rather than showing," Charlotte says, "as in, 'I'm so very excited to be here.' Exaggerated claims about the depth of your feeling leave people uneasy, especially early in the presentation. Show your involvement or your intensity as the presentation unfolds. Let your voice reflect the power of your personal conviction."
Tell a story about yourself
"This can be a simple aside or a quick illustration," counsels Charlotte. "Or it may feature you as a witness rather than the hero."
Charlotte wraps her presentation secrets around what she calls "the golden rule" of communication: It's not what you say, it's what they hear.
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Michael Dezso 21 days ago
Excellent stuff Matt. Thanks for pulling this excerpt together. As an Ogilvy alum, I can attest to the success that can be built from this advice.