Secrets of excellent communication

Q: What are the secrets of being an excellent communicator? A: Being someone who is founded in integrity, truthfulness, sincerity and congruence. Q: How important is good communication as a leadership skill? A: It's number one on the list - but ignorant corporates still think hatchet men who cut, slash and burn the staff component are number one. Q: Is good communication and the art of excellent public speaking a talent or a learned skill? A: It's the Edison formula: 1% inspiration or talent and 99% hard work - with rare exceptions. Anyone who wants to, can, with effort become a darned good speaker. Q: How important is the content/message? A: Paradoxically, sometimes not as important as the process - the 'how' - of what you do. That's why misleading motivational speakers still manage to thrive. However, the process can only ever be the packaging for the content. So watch it! Q: How important is delivery/confidence/speaking well? A: This falls into the realm of linguistic intelligence. I've recently sat through listening to a woman with a great mind, great ideas and dreadful linguistic intelligence. The greatest idea is worth little if badly communicated. Confidence is a separate issue - it may be acted. It won't be sustainable that way of course, but it can fool some of the people some of the time. Confidence at its best is not situational. When you're confident, even outside of your comfort zone or field of expertise, that's probably real confidence. Confidence is also the visible expression of healthy self-worth. Q: How can you develop speaking confidence? A: By focusing on and further developing what you do well. Circumcising mosquitoes doesn't change anything. Identify your forte - and go with it. If you can't pinpoint it - go to someone who can. Q: What techniques can people use to make their speeches interesting? A: Bear in mind the 'U-shape' of concentration spans. You need to start well, finish well and have anecdotes, analogies, what I call 'souffl