Speaking and Listening

by V S Rama Rao on October 28, 2011 James Humes is a former speech writer for US presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, and dozens of top business executives. Humes himself is a popular speaker, delivering more than 100 talks a year. Winston Churchill is a good example of an orator and speaker. Most CEOs and senior executives violate all the speaking norms and principles which the audience or the listeners cannot follow. The result is expected. Most of their speeches are incredibly boring. Principles of speaking should be

Open with a bang: Too many speeches die before they begin. You still have executives opening up by telling the audience, what a pleasure it is to be with them. Thats an amenity reduced to insanity. Focus on one theme: A speech may have three or four major points, but they should be wrapped up in a single theme such as Peace through Strength or achievement of strategic goals or performance etc. You write the last part of your speech first, so that you know where you are heading. And write out the single most important thing you want to communicate. Keep the language simple: Stuffy syntax and the use of self important words can rob power from a speech. Churchill used lots of dashes and dots in his speeches to be sure they were simple. Use analogies and illustrations: Mr. X the speaker was a painter so he tried to paint pictures when he spoke. He knew that words such as depreciation, balanced budget and under capitalization go straight into one ear and out through the other. A word like pollution doesnt do much, but when you describe the feeling of taking a bloated trout out of a muddy river, the idea of pollution hits home. Make the conclusion emotional or dramatic: CEOs have big trouble with endings; they should see the ending as their last chance to stress the message. If you dont hit your dominant theme strongly when you close, your audience may not grasp your real message. Humor should never be used at the end or beginning, but should be slipped into the middle. Humor must always be seen as a matter of surprise. Speeches should not be memorized. Good speakers read all their major speeches and they were so powerful that they are credited with helping save a nation on the brink of defeat or a firm on the verge of losing. Good speakers read from notes. Great speakers read their speeches because memorable and quotable lines do not emanate for their brief notes. The lines have been carefully crafted.

Listening: Listening is giving attention to someone who is talking or to a sound that you can hear. Most people, even under favorable conditions, are said to hear only about 25%; sometimes there is hardly 10% listening. The favorable conditions for listening are:

The listener liking the person talking Some interest on the part of the listener in the subject The speaker making it easy for the audience to listen to him.

People cannot give their interest and undivided attention for long periods. The attention span for most people is 5 minutes. Assuming the speaker has done his job well, the responsibility is then upon the listener, although if he is a conscientious executive, he will always take the onus upon himself and listen carefully, even where it requires a real effort. He cannot afford not to listen. To listen well to others, you begin by listening to yourself, as you talk you know what you are saying; how you are saying it; and in a short time it will transform itself into a habit of listening to others. It will begin to influence other people, for it may sometimes shock people to discover they are being listened to attentively. The discipline of listening is very satisfying and brings quick, immediate rewards, and it is largely a matter of conscious effort and practice.

Hold a high standard for yourself in all your talking and listening. Try and say nothing less than your best. Set yourself a regular program for your own improvement

Listen appreciatively, so that the other person knows you are listening and feels he is being helped.