Perhaps you’ve seen the “Peanuts” cartoon in which Charlie Brown says to Snoopy, “I hear you made an impassioned speech to the jury yesterday…” Continuing to look at Snoopy in the next panel, he then asks, “Did it bring tears to their eyes?” Snoopy, looking slightly embarrassed, looks down and replies, “No, they fell asleep!”

Cute, right? But how often, I wonder, does this occur in real life? An impassioned presenter who none-the-less leaves us bored to tears. An impassioned speaker full of facts and figures who cannot connect with his or her listeners. Why is it that some people seem to ignite our imaginations, engage us so completely, almost effortlessly, while others leave us flat and counting the seconds until the whole thing is over?

These questions are important and relevant to each of us—whether we have an audience of one, a dozen, 100, or thousands. It is one of the fundamental reasons for writing this blog. I’d like to begin a conversation about effective communication, not simply focus on the problems or symptoms—those have been described countless times—but to hone in on solutions, ideas that will help you to be the best you can, every time you speak no matter what the context or how large or small the audience.

Do you know what impression you make on your listeners? Are you someone who can easily, effectively and cogently contribute to a meeting or an event? Do you know how members of the audience respond to you? If they were in a cartoon, what would the balloons over their heads say as they listened to you speak?

Recently I was working with a young executive—she’d just made partner in a mid-sized firm—and after seeing herself on video during our first communication mentoring session said, “Oh my—I look so ill at ease! I look like my most gawky 13-year-old self—wearing a suit! I never realized. No wonder I never get questions at the end of a talk and no wonder I always feel shattered after a presentation to more than two people. I look totally stressed out.” And with a nervous laugh she added, “which of course I am!”

Over the course of our work together, she came to realize that she could indeed relax and be her best self when she gave a presentation. Much like a fitness training program or a doctor’s set of recommendations, we worked out a strategy that helped her to become one of the most effective speakers in her firm. But as she said, it all began with a deep personal awareness. “Without that first session,” she said, “I don’t think I’d ever have realized just how much I was limiting myself—or how negatively I was affecting my audience.”

Do you know how you affect your audience? Knowing—really knowing—the answer to that question is the critical first step to becoming an outstanding communicator—no matter what the circumstances. Meaningful and effective communication is a life-long goal for many of us. And when you think about it, you realize that good communication is not just about skills and knowledge, it’s also about our understanding of ourselves and how we affect others. That’s the art of people.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 17th, 2010 at 4:38 am and is filed under Communication, Presentations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.