He looked the part. In
fact he surpassed ‘looking the part;’ he was the part! The ‘he’ being a 30-something professional
(His profession will not be revealed so his privacy is protected.) He was
dressed in a bespoke light grey-blue suit, not a hair or eyebrow out of place,
with a freshly-scrubbed look about him despite the time being 6.30 in the evening.
As he walked the few steps to the lectern, the audience
members’ eyes followed him, anticipating a brief and friendly welcoming
speech. It would be the typical ‘This is
who we are and this is what we do.’ Fifty
to 60 professionals and managers were seated in the function room. Most people in the audience were in the corporate,
government and higher education sectors.
All possessed the ability to influence - if not the authority to make -
decisions about suppliers.
All he had to do was to capture the audience’s attention and
interest about his firm for a few minutes.
Ideally his short introductory presentation would be both impressive and
memorable! At the very least, it would
have to be competently delivered.
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| Executive Presence: Looking the Part and Sounding the Part. |
From behind the lectern, the presenter started to speak as
he looked down at his notes. He kept
looking down as he read word for word in a tentative and deliberate manner. It was as if he was learning this information
himself for the first time. Had he only
just joined the firm that week? Why was he having to read this basic
information word for word? Why did he
not try to connect with us, his audience, and engage our attention and involvement? He plodded on, continuing to look down as he
spoke in a cautious ‘I’m feeling my way” manner. Many audience members were thinking, “Why is
he not making eye contact?” “Why does he not know this information off the top
of his head?”
Mercifully it was only a short speech and the audience
members’ pain stopped as soon as he sat down.
What can be said of this presenter’s preparation, presence and performance?
On the positive side, he was well presented and looked very
professional and self-assured. As the
audience, we were looking forward to the evening. There was plentiful goodwill in the
room. But when he started to speak, these
good impressions were overturned. They
were contradicted - and even shattered – because of his poor preparation and
inept oral presentation.
Would this poor speaking performance reflect on the brand,
reputation and professionalism of the firm?
In all probability, the answer is “Yes.” Poor impressions will linger in the minds of the
audience members but hopefully not for all time. They will remain until other more positive
impressions and judgments accumulate over time and replace them.
It is true that we can’t ever go back and make a second
‘first impression.’ If we have hit the wrong series of notes the first time round,
they linger in the ears and minds of those we are communicating with for some
time. In executive presence terms, all the various elements of personal
presentation, of how we speak and interact with others and our actions should
align and reinforce each other.
At People Results, our mission is to develop leaders who confidently think, speak and act. Can we be of assistance to you and your team? We look forward to your telephone call or email.
Lynne Lloyd
Managing Director
People Results
1300 167 981
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