The Look & Sound of Leadership

Preparing a presentation raises many questions. How much are you going to rehearse? What will you actually do during your rehearsal? Are you going to memorize your talk? This month’s coaching conversation covers all that and more.

Four core concepts this month:

• Rehearsal is obligatory.
• Manage your self-talk.
• Find your throughline.
• Rehearsal means “out loud.”

In the archive is a whole set of Tips about “self talk.” It’s at:
http://essentialcomm.com/tag/self-talk/

There’s another set about “presentation skills.” That’s at:
http://essentialcomm.com/tag/presentation-skills/

Many different Executive Coaching Tips are referenced in this episode. Four related episodes are:
Captivate Your Audience
I Talk Too Fast!
The Power of Rehearsal
What Compelling Speakers Share

The entire archive of Tips is at:
http://essentialcomm.com/podcast

Holding each other’s attention is a constant challenge. But you can’t achieve The Look & Sound of Leadership if you can’t keep people listening to you.

This month’s coaching conversation emphasizes three little slogans to make sure you aren’t driving your listeners away from you. All three slogans are just three words long: “Short sounds confident.” And “Communication takes effort.” And “Stop talking sooner.”

There are so many reasons why embodying those slogans is hard. And, in truth, it’s easier for some people than for others. But everyone can get at least a little better at this. This month’s podcast will give you lots of practical tips – and some metaphors!—to help get you there.

Past Tips are available at:
essentialcomm.com

Be in touch with us at:
info@essentialcomm.com

We love hearing from you.

Tom exchanges emails with two listeners. One exchange addresses issues of personal boundaries in the workplace; the other addresses scarcity and abundance.

This Bonus Episode is only the second one in the 9-year history of "The Look & Sound of Leadership." If you like this and want more, tell us. Contact us through the homepage at:
essentialcomm.com

Or by email at:
info@essentialcomm.com

The prior bonus episode -- with two other email exchanges -- is titled "Readers' Letters." It was posted in May, 2016. Find it in your feed. It’s not available on our website. (We’re working on that!)

TED Talkers turn us into engrossed detectives, absorbed in solving the mysteries unfolding before us. But TED Talking doesn’t have to be saved for special events. This month’s coaching conversation explores ways to turn everyday presentations into compelling content that will hold people's interest ... like a TED Talk.

If you're crafting an actual TED Talk, use Chris Anderson's terrific book: "TED Talks."

I have a nifty 3-page reduction of Anderson's book. Reach out to me at info@essentialcomm.com and I'll send it along.

Working to improve yourself as a presenter? The Coaching Tips archive are full of related episodes. Go to: essentialcomm.com/podcast and search the topic: "Presentation Skills."

Authority. It’s a slip-sliding sort of thing, isn’t it? Do we get it automatically along with a title? Sometimes. But sometimes not. This month’s coaching conversation examines both the thoughts and the words that give us authority.

The ideas in this month's episode echo motifs embedded in many other episodes. Just a few related Executive Coaching Tips are:

• Assertion vs Aggression
• Choosing Persistence
• Don’t Take it Personally
• Getting Unstuck
• The Look & Sound of Self-Esteem
• Speaking For Yourself
• Showing Teeth
• Status

Every episode is available at:
http://essentialcomm.com/podcast/

Be in touch with us at:
info@essentialcomm.com

At work, we often diminish the importance of feelings – our own or those of others. We think, “I don’t have time for that” or “That’s silly.” But feelings don’t disappear just because they’re inconvenient. And, when unacknowledged, their impact can be severe. This month, two coaches discuss the difficulties of managing “the human element.”

Related episodes:

• Building Empathy
• Building Emotional Intelligence
• Coaching Your People
• Compassion During Change
• Dealing with Emotional Responses

Self-limiting beliefs hold us back. We limit who we are so we don't shatter those beliefs.

This month's coaching conversation serves up several strategies to help you push back against those demons.

Along the way, we mention "Leadership and Self-Deception," a great book to help you on your journey.

We also touch on the topic of "Coaching versus Therapy," something I've been talking about for years. You can find an epsiode about it in the archive.

I also mention an interview I did with Eric Cacciatore on his podcast, "Restaurant Unstoppable" episode 298, in which he and I talk about management and turnover and motivation. It was a blast. Check it out.

Related episodes:
Conquering Fear
Negative Self-Talk
The Look & Sound of Self-Esteem
Thinking Errors
Unmasking a Stand-In

Getting to the next level of executive presence usually demands the adoption of new behaviors. This month's episode explores a three-step process that helps new behaviors become habits.

Helping you change behavior so you can be perceived the way you want to be perceived is the raison d'être of this podcast. If it's time for you develop more effective behaviors, there is an entire category in “The Look & Sound of Leadership" archive that will accelerate your development.

The archive is at:
essentialcomm.com/podcast

The category, "Developing New Behavior" is at:
essentialcomm.com/tag/developing-new-behaviors/

Five favorite episodes in that category are:

• Act “As If”
• Creating New Behaviors
  How Behaviors Change
  The Many Parts of You
  When Learning Makes Things Worse

The episode called "Creating New Behaviors" has a PDF that goes along with it. If you'd like it, just ask. I'd love to send it you. Pop me an email at: info@essentialcomm.com

When we feel threatened or in danger, an old part of our brains, the one that regulates emotions, hijacks our executive functioning. We say and do things we regret. In the workplace, this can have serious consequences. This month’s Executive Coaching Tip has seven strategies for stopping yourself from getting hijacked.

The seven lessons in my conversation with my client, Kimberly, are:

• Emotional hijacks are real. They happen when your emotions take control over your reason;
• Emotional hijacks happen because of a trigger. Triggers activate your emotional flight/fight/freeze response. We all have triggers;
• Your triggers follow a pattern. track them over time and the pattern will emerge. Often those who witness our hijackings know our triggers before we do;
• The first step to mastering your triggers is to be able to name them. By way of example, two of Kimberly’s were feeling left out and being ignored. Two of mine were feeling ineffectual and fearing a bad outcome. Triggers are personal and are different for each person;
• Emotional hijacks are usually preceded by a feeling somewhere in the body, most often somewhere in your core;
• Learning to recognize the pre-hijack feeling in your body as a warning bell can help stop – or at least slow down – the emotional hijacking;
• When you’re struggling to keep your executive functioning online, you can speak about your struggle. “I’m really upset at the moment.” Or, as Kimberly suggested, “I’m not sure I can make good decisions right now.” Speaking about the feeling helps make sure you don’t act from the feeling.

If you want to work on combatting your emotional hijacks. other episodes you can listen to are:

• Building Emotional Intelligence
• Conquering Fear
• The Disruptive Executive – Part Two
• Dealing With Emotional Responses
• The Mindful Executive
• Negative Self-Talk
• Self-Awareness & Self-Management

The entire archive is available to you for free at:
essentialcomm.com/podcast

This episode addresses three issues that arise when you’re facing an executive team. First, what meaning are you making about the event itself? Is that meaning helping you or not helping you? If it’s not helping you, change it.
Second, how will you address the moment when you need to say, “I don’t know”? Prepare for it. It’s going to happen. This episode has lots of ideas to try.
The final issue is confidence and finding your executive presence; the core of every episode of The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast.
In addition to the ideas in this episode, you can ask for a PDF that lists 15 related episodes to help you show up the way you want to show up.
Send an email to info@essentialcomm.com and ask for the PDF that goes with this episode. I’d love to send it to you.