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Speak for Success!

"Be a voice not an echo." - Albert Einstein

Uh, Er, Like . . . Is It Time to Call in the Speech Coach?

You're good at your job. You're dedicated and hard-working. Knowledgeable and experienced, you're recognized as a leader in your industry.

But when it comes to speaking dynamically at meetings, pitches to clients, and in presentations and speeches, you're not as accomplished or as confident as you'd like to be. That can be easily fixed though, can't it? After all, there are hundreds of books on effective public speaking.  Audio tapes, CDs and DVDs too. Plenty of resources for you to improve on your own.  . . .  So why would you need to work with a speech coach?

Actually, there are probably as many answers to that question as there are professionals who would like to be better speakers. At Public Speaking International, we not only work with clients from virtually every field of expertise. We've also come to appreciate the mix of varied and subtle reasons people seek help with their oral communication skills. (To learn the key traits of effective communication, download our cheat sheet, "4 Characteristics of an Influential Speaker."

Yet even amid this variety, certain key issues and problems keep asserting themselves. What follows are 6 characteristic situations in which business people and other professionals decide "it's time to call in the speech coach." Books, CDs and DVDs can contain a wealth of information. But they won't offer the personalized expert evaluation and feedback that a good speech coach will in the following frustrating situations.

"Um, Uh, and You Know" . . . The Hesitant Speaker: These truly non-verbal interruptions to the flow of speech are known as "vocal fillers" or "vocalized pauses." Audience members call them irritating. Remember the college professor who filled his or her speech with so many of these that your classmates started a betting pool to see who could come closest to the grand total for the day's lecture? Presentations filled with vocalized pauses defeat the speaker's purpose, since they focus listeners' attention on the non-words, rather than the essence of the speaker's message.

Yet interestingly, a speech coach's value to a professional with this issue may be in helping that speaker ease up on the self-criticism. Very few speakers, that is, use so many vocal fillers that they actually detract from what they're saying. It's more likely that sometime in the past, someone mentioned too many "um's" and "ah's," and all the speaker seems to hear when they speak now is those annoying non-words. Your speech coach may give you the good news that there are other things you should be focusing on to reach and move your listeners.

The Speaker Who's Stuck or Not Coming Across Dynamically: This is a category many highly accomplished business people find themselves in. It is not uncommon for a speech coach to be approached by a C-level individual who is dissatisfied with their speaking skills and reputation in their industry. And actually, it isn't much of a surprise. Aren't these the people, after all, who are unhappy unless they're among the best at what they do?

A recent client of mine is a senior VP at a Fortune 100 company who felt that he just didn't come across as a dynamic individual when he spoke at conferences. And he was exactly right: he didn't. Through our coaching sessions, I discovered he is a no-nonsense task master who constantly reminds himself not to overwhelm his direct reports during meetings. Once I heard that, I knew how to help him: He was overcompensating, which was the reason he came across as a weak speaker rather than a powerful one. We then worked to put him in touch with the speaker (person) he really was. Imagine trying to get to that critical juncture by reading a book on public speaking! 

The Person in Transition: Another excellent meeting time for an executive and a speech coach is when that client is in transition. Whether the new situation was the executive's idea or the company's, professionals in transition naturally feel a bit unsure on their feet. Twenty, thirty, or even more years in an industry is no guarantee that when a situation changes radically, we'll approach it with complete confidence and verve. Sometimes, we need help. A speech coach, who after all helps a client speak confidently and successfully in any situation, can be the individual that executive needs.

Recently, a woman who had hired PSI for a three-month coaching assignment in 2011, decided to leave her job. She was starting a business consultancy, had the intelligence, drive, and industry know-how to do it well, and had an excellent management team in place. But since she knew that her new firm would be pitching business constantly, she came on board for another three-month coaching assignment. The speaking she'll be doing will be radically different from previously: not to her team, but to prospective companies she'll be hoping to make into new clients. We're now working on an entirely different skill set and array of needs—the type of challenge coaches of any kind help working professionals negotiate.

Women Speaking for Leadership: In terms of vocal skills for business, women have tremendous advantages as communicators. They are collaborate, and empathize easily with audiences. They "speak from the edge" rather than the center, and welcome input from others to help them reach their goals. And they are comfortable with language and use it well.

But women face challenges as speakers as well. At times they are hesitant to speak their minds boldly at meetings (have you noticed how many women preface their remarks with, "Can I say something?"). But perhaps their most significant challenge is physical: men have an advantage over women in the power and sheer size of their vocal apparatus. In terms of the body parts that produce and amplify sound—the lungs, the resonating chambers in the chest, sinuses, and head as well as the thickness of the bones which conduct sound—along with breath capacity and size of the voice box which creates the projected voice, men have a physical advantage over women when speaking. A speech coach (especially one with a background in performance or in teaching voice and diction) can help women leaders produce a powerful voice to match their other advantages as a communicator. It can truly be "the voice of leadership."

The Fearful Speaker: We all know that fear of public speaking is widely prevalent, and for some people, a real impediment to professional success. Speech coaches, of course, are experts in helping people cope with their glossophobia, use their jitters to energize rather than diminish their speaking effectiveness and enjoyment, and calm their nerves before speaking.

For some professionals, however, stage fright is a "dirty little secret." These people find it hard to admit to the irrational yet devastating fear that keeps them literally sweating the next speech or presentation. And can we blame them? I've listened with wonderment to clients who tell me of bosses who announce at meetings, "Jessica is going to give her report on the new marketing initiative. Now, she's really nervous about speaking in front of others, so let's all make her feel warm and in friendly hands!  . . . Jessica?" Speech coaches, very much like therapists, can be a sympathetic and knowledgeable presence to help these executives work through their fear. And as public speakers themselves, they can zero in on the practical on-your-feet performance skills that help professionals both broadcast and feel a greater sense of confidence.

The Analytical or Content-Heavy Speaker: Here is the speaker or presenter who is somewhat content-crazy, and usually isn't aware of the fact. After all, most speakers believe their job is to convey information, and focus all their preparation on accoomplishing that goal. Notice, please, that I didn't say, "all their preparation and practice," because the chances are good that these speakers don't practice, or at least don't practice enough. If such a speaker believes he or she is a clear expert and therefore can speak at any length on the topic, well, look out below.

The speech coach is an invaluable resource for these left-brained speakers. The lesson must be imparted that content only goes so far in influencing an audience—and the truth is, sometimes it doesn't go very far at all. Nonverbal communication—body language, voice, use of space, facial countenance, visuals, the speaker's physical relationship to objects, the audience, and the stage itself—these things can have a tremendous influence on whether a speaker moves or inspires an audience. The highly analytical speaker who ignores the messy right-brained areas of persuasion and emotion may be in for a considerable surprise. It's the speech coach's job to make these speakers aware of the fact.

Key takeaways from this blog:

  • Strong communication skills compliment sheer subject area expertise.
  • Unlike books and CDs, speech coaches offer personalized evaluation and feedback.
  • Vocal fillers usually aren't an important element of public speaking.
  • High-level people sometimes need help coming across as their true selves.
  • Women speakers can benefit from strengthening their vocal production.
  • Fearful or overly analytical speakers need to use a more physical approach.

Dr. Genard's previous blogs related to this topic:

Dr. Gary Genard's free cheat sheet, Leadership Skills: The 5 Essential Speaking Techniques.


Tags: Speaking for Leadership,speech coach,speech coaching

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