It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about dry financial numbers, an engineering design or giving a sales presentation. If you want to be a GREAT presenter, the emotional impact you create matters.
Coaching, Executive Presence
Ingrid Gudenas
I’ve been asked to coach the CEO of a major global corporation. Google his name and an abundance of videos pop up. I’m watching portions of many of them to assess where I can help him.
This is a man who has been given so much advice on “how you need to come across”, it overwhelmed and finally drowned his soul. Unfortunately, he listened to it. It led him into crafting this artificial persona. The persona he’s been told Wall Street and a faceless group of investors demands.
I’m seeing the superficial performance of a well-scripted theatrical role: “the successful CEO you should invest in.”
Coaching, Executive Presence
Ingrid Gudenas
It all began when a re-organization thrust Olivia into a new department. She felt like a failure almost immediately.
The people on the new team were openly hostile, smug, superior, stubborn, cold, uninviting, and often mean.
Olivia very badly wanted to blame them.
But Olivia did something that most people don’t do when faced with a situation like this.
Coaching, Executive Presence
Ingrid Gudenas
It was a virtual workshop on Causative Communication. On my screen were five beautiful faces. Each one of them representing a wonderful person in different countries across Europe.
Julien had just finished practicing presenting a proposal to sell the government of his country a new high-tech product. The others were watching.
Julien knew something was really different about the way he was communicating. He reached the end. Long pause and then he said, “That was Amazing! I never felt that before.”
4 heads nodded. They never had either.
Julien: “What was that?”
Coaching, Executive Presence
Ingrid Gudenas
When Jeffrey started his coaching three months ago, he knew something was off in the way that he was presenting. He said to me, “If I could be 10% of what my boss is as a presenter, I would feel like I achieved a big goal.”
The problem Jeffrey was having was a “There’s so much to say about this” problem.
When you feel like there’s so much to say, it’s easy to fall into the trap of talking too much. The audience completely disengages.
Coaching, Executive Presence
Ingrid Gudenas
In the last group I coached, there was a big discussion in the group about how they were holding themselves back. They were “toning themselves down”. They were intense people afraid of being “intense”. Having coached tens of thousands of individuals and executives, I have observed that many people hold themselves back, and as a result, many people live half a life, not being all they are capable of.
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