If you’re pursuing fundamental innovation you simply can’t do it alone. You need to enlist a team, find allies, win customers, get funding. You must capture the power of communicating well to propel your innovation to the place it deserves.
If you’ve been reading since March, you now understand the six powerful communication skills that propel innovation, and you’ve read the 10 posts detailing these skills. If you’re just arriving, here are the six skills in brief:
You deliver a clear, compelling vision – your message is the essential thing
- You have a truly provocative, useful idea. What do you see that others don’t see? What do you do that can help? What are you showing that can transform? What are you building that can inspire?
- You tell powerful stories: Stories inspire people because they impact us on a subconscious level (our brains get a dopamine hit when they experience the satisfying pattern of a story). Stories engage hearts and minds – which is the best way to inspire your employees to follow you in chasing that big vision.
You have an audience mindset – it’s not about you, it’s about them!
- A speech is a gift, not a performance: Give your audience something that will make their business or lives better. You do this best when you know who your audience is and what matter to them.
- You know where you are: You understand the context (and culture) you are speaking in – tone and content for your all hands meeting and your board meeting are different, obviously!
You remember that you are in a body – your body
- Your body is what’s actually giving the presentation – even if your brain is trying to direct it: You ground yourself in your body before you present your QBR or a keynote. You use gestures naturally (not in a weird, fakey calculated way), make eye contact, pause and breathe. Because you are human! And because your body is speaking louder than you are – the research on mirror neurons is stunning!
- Technique and preparation: So many people underestimate how much preparation a great speech takes. But not you. You invest seriously in preparation to reap real rewards. Whether you’re presenting at the company holiday party or TED, you pay attention to the physical setting and your needs – notes, mike and earphones, teleprompter, slide display, water, etc.
I know all of this is easier said than done. Being a great communicator is hard – it takes real commitment and work to get there. And it takes help – which is what poseycorp was founded to do!
I just hope that these posts have convinced more of you to dive in and make the effort to master these powerful skills. Because we can’t wait to hear what you have to say!
