There are times when I’m coaching higher level executives that they also have multiple speech writers to craft the key messages, and Comm’s Departments to create their slides. Now a number of them are also relying on AI to write their speeches.
What do you think about that?
As a curiosity, I asked AI to craft a motivational message for an exec’s speech at the end of a significant off-site with his team. I gave AI the points he wanted to get across, told AI to get passionate and here’s what I got. (I don’t know what your reaction will be, but I was reading it out loud to someone I work with and we were howling with laughter. This is truly best read out loud.).
Unlocking Our Collective Potential for Transformative Excellence
Today, I want to talk about something bigger than targets. Bigger than objectives. Bigger than key performance indicators.
I want to talk about our journey.
Not our destination.
Our journey.
Because in today's rapidly evolving, increasingly dynamic, highly disruptive, continuously transforming, customer-centric global ecosystem, success is no longer defined by where we are.
It is defined by where we are going.
And more importantly, by who we are becoming while we become it.
We are living in an age of unprecedented change.
Technology is changing.
Customers are changing.
Markets are changing.
Expectations are changing.
In many ways, change itself is changing.
And that means we must evolve our relationship with change.
Because it's not about adapting to change.
It's about changing how we adapt.
It's not about thinking outside the box.
It's about transforming the box into a scalable innovation framework.
It's not about moving the needle.
It's about reimagining what a needle can be.
Every day, we have an opportunity.
An opportunity to innovate.
An opportunity to collaborate.
An opportunity to elevate.
An opportunity to activate our authentic potential in service of organizational excellence.
When we come to work, we are not simply completing tasks.
We are creating value.
We are generating impact.
We are building synergies.
We are operationalizing possibilities.
We are architecting the future.
Each email matters.
Each meeting matters.
Each conversation matters.
Each spreadsheet matters.
Each calendar invitation matters.
Each reply-all matters.
Because excellence is not a destination.
It's not a milestone.
It's not a benchmark.
It's a mindset.
A mindset of continuous improvement.
A mindset of relentless innovation.
A mindset of proactive collaboration.
A mindset of strategic agility.
A mindset of mindset.
As we move forward together, I encourage each of you to ask yourself three questions:
How can I be more innovative?
How can I be more collaborative?
How can I leverage innovation and collaboration to collaboratively innovate?
These are not easy questions.
But easy questions do not create extraordinary outcomes.
Extraordinary outcomes are created by extraordinary people who are committed to creating extraordinary outcomes.
And that's who we are.
We are problem-solvers.
We are innovators.
We are collaborators.
We are thought partners.
We are stakeholders in the experience.
We are catalysts for transformational transformation.
And let me be clear:
It's not about working harder.
It's about working smarter.
It's not about working smarter.
It's about working differently.
It's not about working differently.
It's about redefining work itself.
The future belongs to those who are willing to embrace uncertainty, navigate complexity, unlock opportunities, challenge assumptions, accelerate growth, drive value, maximize impact, and optimize optimization.
That future starts now.
That future starts with us.
That future starts with you.
Together, we will unlock new opportunities.
Together, we will create new possibilities.
Together, we will achieve new achievements.
Together, we will transform transformation itself.
So let's lean in.
Let's level up.
Let's think bigger.
Let's act bolder.
Let's innovate innovation.
Let's disrupt disruption.
Let's synergize our synergies.
And most importantly—
Let's continue our journey of becoming the best version of ourselves that we can collectively become together.
Thank you, and let's go make the future happen.
Are you laughing? The problem is that we’ve heard too many speeches like that. Haven’t you?
There are probably more, but I can think of 2 problems with having AI write your speech. The first is that AI is trying hard to impress. Not to communicate, but to impress. The downside is that people aren’t impressed when they see you’re trying to impress them, and they can always tell.
The second problem is that AI is clever. People don’t trust clever. Think about it. Do you trust someone because they’re clever?
You don’t need to impress. You don’t need to be clever. You need to be understood.
Many people don’t know that the qualities plain and simple are greatly appreciated by audiences around the world.
And sincere. Sincere is not complicated. Sincere is what you really mean.
Plain, simple and sincere. People are afraid of trying it. Don’t be. It’s powerful.
Compare the AI talk above to this actual one below (read out loud) and see what you think.
An executive said this spontaneously when I gave him the coaching instruction, “Just talk to them.”. No speech writers. It came straight from him without editing:
“It was a fabulous week. I am so happy to be here, and so grateful for the work and the effort that you all are putting in preparing and evolving your team. Each of you should be proud of how far you’ve come in the last 5 months. Look at what we’ve accomplished.
I want to talk about a few of the things we’re taking away from this week. Number one is that you’re evolving your business like I haven’t seen before. You’re doing it fast. I’m hearing throughout the organization we’re moving faster than they have ever seen.
We’ve come from a legacy business and we’re evolving to where the company wants us to go. That’s a tremendous amount of work, I know. It’s a lot of mental strain as well.
Thank you all for that and let’s keep moving out forward.
Number two, look at how we’re actually learning about and executing all the new products we have, and in the new markets. And look at some of the wins that we’ve already had. We talked about them this week. Those are all a testament to how we can all evolve from our current business and enter a completely new market.
So, hat’s off to everybody for the evolution! And let’s keep growing together!”
AI could never have written that. It’s what he wants to tell them. Plain, simple and sincere. It’s a speech that will be well delivered, will touch their hearts, inspire them, bring them together, make them happy to be working there and for him, have them smiling and full of energy as they give him generous applause.
I’ve helped many people learn how to express themselves, learn how to take what’s in their thoughts, and even what’s in their hearts, and inspire the world successfully. Mastering the art of plain, simple and sincere is the platform for all other communication skills. Plain, simple and sincere, well delivered, is what enters the hearts and minds of your audience.
One of my clients wrote me a message about learning this:
“That changed my life. Once I learned that, I completely relaxed, and my career took off with a trajectory I never even thought was possible. I don’t ever worry about impressing them. Ironically, they are all impressed by me. Because I do communicate.”
The more people lose confidence in their own ability to create meaningful communication, the more they look to AI. I can understand using AI to save you time or generate some ideas, I use it every day. But not to create meaningful communication. Only I can create what I create, only I can say what I want to say, just as only you can create what you create, and only you can say what you truly want to say.
If the creative force inside you is trapped, I can help you release it. The impact it will have on the world around you is immeasurable.
Be the cause!
Ingrid