“You came across so authentic!”
This was the immediate feedback after Jayanta’s presentation. Everyone agreed and showered Jayanta with compliments.
It was Day 2 of a Mastering Virtual Presentations workshop. Jayanta, a VP in a global high-tech company, was practicing addressing a large group of employees for his upcoming All-Hands. He was responding to the results of an employee survey that clearly showed employees were anxious about their future during a major re-org at the leadership level.
The comment that Jayanta was authentic reflected a sudden and dramatic shift in the way he presented. Jayanta had definitely changed, and so did his impact on the audience.
The biggest change came when I coached him to focus his full attention on the audience. This is a real skill. Most people have too much attention on themselves: what they’re thinking, what they’re feeling, what they want, what they’re going to say next, etc. etc. etc. etc. It’s a deeply trained-in self-consciousness. It makes the most important question in their mind the absolutely wrong one: “How am I coming across?”
Because of this, they don’t connect with others. This is true whether they’re talking to one or many.
A strong human connection with the other person, or with your audience, is essential in order for communication to be effective. Without it, you’re just talking to air, and your audience knows it.
It’s a common mistake - I’m always coaching people on this point.
Everyone wants to connect. Most people don’t know how.
You create a really strong connection with another when you focus your attention fully on the other person. When you let go of worrying about yourself and you are intensely aware of them. Again, this is true whether it’s one or many.
This is a real challenge when you’re virtual, you can’t see them, and you have to do it through the camera. It’s a skill. It’s a worthy skill to master because once you do , there’s no one you won’t connect with. Virtual or in person, one or many.
It’s also a real skill to look at the camera and see beyond the camera. You want to “see” the actual people who are listening to you, even though they’re physically invisible to you. To have confidence that they ARE there and to FULLY focus on them as you speak.
The audience picks up IMMEDIATELY when you are paying real attention to them and it draws them in like nothing else. And when you are very aware of them, they tune in to YOU like never before. Mastering these skills starts to make your communication impactful.
Looking into the camera with intensity is rare in the corporate world where people have been trained to be self-conscious and detached. It’s impossible to be impactful when you’re either of those.
Jayanta looked into the camera and focused on his audience, very aware there were real human beings on the other side of the lens. He got to the point where he could FEEL them there. Jayanta also felt tremendous affinity for them. He communicated the org changes and their reasons in simple terms, using simple down-to-earth words, and delivered his words with powerful intent.
This combination of attention, affinity and intention got his message across and blew everyone away.
All of them were saying, “Wow! You come across so authentic!”
Translate that as, “I believe you.” Anxiety and doubt were replaced by trust.
The irony of ironies is that Jayanta always was authentic!!!! This compliment never made sense to him. My coaching most certainly did not make him more authentic than he already was!
But Jayanta had been coming across as “Corporate”. Detached. Safe.
And that made him look insincere.
This afflicts many VP’s and leaders at the top. They stop looking REAL to their audiences. They look bland and detached. Corporate. That earns them doubt.
Learning these skills brought out the authenticity that was already within Jayanta. It brought it to the surface and gave it powerful expression, powerful enough to create an impression - through a camera - on thousands of people.
Thousands looked at Jayanta. They saw he was focused on them. They listened to him. Jayanta was real. Jayanta was authentic. The impact on his audience was dramatic.
They believed their leader. The employee survey after the presentation showed 80% of them were now on board with the new re-org. He freed them of anxiety. Because they now believed in what Jayanta was telling them, they were now willing to pour themselves into making the new vision happen.
Quite an amazing outcome for 30 minutes.
That’s the power of real communication.
All the talking in the world does not add up to communication if it’s not done right. There are many ways of doing it wrong, and there are a few, very precise ways for achieving it.
I predict nothing but success for Jayanta and his team. A team led by a real leader who can truly communicate can do nothing but succeed.
Be the cause!