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Be Astonishing
Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers is undeniably one of the most charismatic speakers in Corporate America today. His speeches are astonishing. Now imagine how successful your preaching and speaking ministry would be if your listeners described you as "astonishing." Here are five ways Chambers electrifies his listeners that you can incorporate into your personal playbook:
Sell the benefit. What does Cisco sell? On its face, Cisco sells hardware that most of us never see-routers and switches that link networks and direct traffic over the Internet. But listen to a Chambers presentation and he sells much more. He sells the dream of a world made better by Cisco's products. How does your "product" make the world better or bring hope?
Tell stories. Cisco's newest advertising and marketing campaign is aimed at inspiring potential customers and investors by telling stories. The campaign's ads are called "Voices of the Human Network" and demonstrate how the Internet changes lives every day and connects people around the world. It's very consistent with the way Chambers speaks on the topic, selling the benefit of his technology by telling stories about how it improves people's lives.
Undoubtedly your ministry is having a life-transforming impact on people. Their stories are heartfelt, personal, and full of emotion. People are drawn to the stories of other people. Find them; tell them in a captivating manner.
Make preparation a part of your routine. When it comes to preparing for an interview, presentation, or conference, the rehearsing that John Chambers puts into his communications is second to none. In a room of 5,000 employees, each and every person feels as though Chambers is speaking directly to him or her. That's because he works hard to make people feel emotionally connected to him.
Chambers completely internalizes the content of his message. If he's speaking from a PowerPoint presentation, he will review six slides on a sheet of a paper to memorize the bullet points on each slide and get the flow just right. But it doesn't stop there. He knows where the inflection points are, when he's going to leave the podium and walk into the audience, when he's going to praise people by name, and when he's going to pause.
He is in complete command of his material and the way he's going to deliver it. His rehearsals allow him to make all-important eye contact with everyone in the room instead of reading from notes or slides. His preparation shows. Chambers appears enthusiastic, engaged, and completely at ease.
Use confident body language. Observers say there is a "Baptist minister" quality to Chambers' speeches. He is an evangelist in many ways. He preaches the power of the Internet to connect people and illustrates it by breaking the physical barriers between himself and his audience. He walks away from a stage or podium at every opportunity. He touches people on the shoulder. He looks people in the eye. He gestures. Chambers' body language is authoritative, confident, and in control. Chambers makes sure the power of his movement matches the power of his words.
Overcome personal challenges. Chambers has battled to overcome dyslexia that caused him much pain as he grew up, but it also instilled in him a Spartan work ethic. He also used the challenge to transform himself into a polished communicator.
His dyslexia forced him to see the big picture instead of be mired in details, and it's helped him as a speaker, because audiences are often bored by listening to details. They want to see the big picture, and Chambers delivers. His dyslexia also forces him to memorize major sections of his presentations and to prepare more diligently than most speakers-the result is a leader who speaks with conviction, clarity, of a vision that leaves listeners in awe.
So how do you get to be an astonishing speaker? Work at it. To appear natural, spontaneous, and unrehearsed demands a lot of hard work.
(Adapted from Carmine Gallo's article, BusinessWeekOnline 10/11/06)
