Bad communication skills can ruin your biggest opportunity.
You have been given a platform. You are standing in front of hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of people. You have been trusted to be the spokesperson, the presenter, or the headline speaker at an event. That’s an opportunity, and your communication skills will define whether it will take you up or down.
When you get on stage and nobody can see your eyeballs because you are reading from a script, you become completely disconnected from the audience. And even if you are good at reading, the question remains:
– If you are going to read every word, why not just send everyone an email?
I see this happen over and over again. You might be a Premier League footballer, an Olympic gold medallist, or the owner of a Fortune 500 company. You have achieved incredible things, but nobody has ever taught you how to speak about them. As a result, you don't know how to stand on a stage, hold an audience, and deliver a message that connects with people.
The worst thing is that people will remember. A successful person who was just standing there and reading from a piece of paper will get noticed immediately and will stay in memory for a long time. This is why teleprompters exist. People need to feel that you are talking to them, not reading for them. But even to use a teleprompter, reporters do special training. Otherwise, it still creates the same barrier and disconnect with the audience.
The best thing you can do, if you are a credible, successful person who has been given a platform, is invest in learning how to speak and deliver your message. And that's not something you learn the night before. It takes 1 week at the very least.
This is what I have been doing for years, and I can't stop caring about it. I don’t understand why, after working so hard to become successful and known, you would risk undermining your reputation by standing on a stage and reading from notes.
The risk for you as a professional is just as real as it is for the White House Press Secretary. You should approach your platform with the same level of awareness, responsibility and strategic thinking.
