Business Stimulus Package<br>Turn Your CEO into a Great Speaker
By Suzanne Bates
In good times it may not be that important for your CEO to be an excellent public speaker. When you're hitting on all cylinders and the company is successful, your chief executive may not see a compelling reason to spend time on the speaking circuit. While speaking to industry conferences, business and civic groups and community events is always important, in times like these it can be a major differentiator in the marketing of your company, especially as you seek new opportunity in an environment of technological disruption.
When your CEO goes out to speak, he or she is really putting a face and voice on the organization. As someone who supports the executive it is up to you to work together to prepare and deliver outstanding presentations. This is no time to leave it to chance. You need to be on the same page about what constitutes an excellent presentation, and how to best connect with your important audiences.
First you must identify the places where it will make a difference for your executive to be seen and heard. Be strategic in determining where your customers, influencers and stakeholders are. Pick up the phone and offer up your executive for a panel, presentation or keynote. Once these speaking engagements are on the calendar, you will both have the reason and incentive to work hard to make it great.
We've spent years working not only with executives, but also their communication advisors on how to work together to make the most of these events. In my new book, Motivate Like a CEO, I offer numerous tips and strategies that will help you to build a close, collaborative relationship with your chief executive. A collaborative effort is essential to your success, and the product is a confident, well prepared leader who commands the room and connects with your important audiences.
We are firm believers in brainstorming and writing "with" the executive, not "for" the executive. You can spend days on a beautifully crafted script but if your CEO gets up and sounds like he's reading it without passion or enthusiasm, you've wasted your time. You need time together to develop ideas for talks, to write and refine the message, and to practice so that the executive comes across as energized, enthusiastic and authentic.
We provide workshops for communications advisors on developing a trusted partnership with your executive, so let me know if you would like to learn more about those.
In the meantime, here are a few tips on how to strengthen your working relationship with the CEO:
- Advise the leader as a trusted partner
- Be an expert at what you do
- Attend all important business strategy meetings
- Educate yourself on all aspects of the business
- Tie your communications plan to the business strategy
- Schedule routine meetings with the executive
- Bring a tape recorder
- Capture their words, their way
- Look for opportunities to make the executive more visible
- Work closely with the administrative assistant to schedule time for writing and rehearsal
- Travel with the executive and take advantage of any "found" time
- Develop and improve your writing and speaking skills
- Be fearless in providing clear, candid, timely feedback
- Recommend coaching and resources
- Protect the leader's time so he or she can focus on what matters
If you would like the "companion" list of tips FOR your CEO on how to work with YOU, please email me at info@bates-communications.com