​Communication Techniques to Enhance your Executive Presence

Whether you are giving formal presentations to groups of people or leading meetings with clients or your team, your communication style conveys a lot about you as a leader, and specifically your executive presence.  This roadmap contains a list of common communication techniques that will improve your credibility and the messages you want to convey. 

Leading a Discussion (rather than delivering a monologue) 

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Engaging the audience during your meetings or presentations is a key to keeping them engaged.  Rather than presenting a long presentation, identify opportunities to get input or engage in conversation about the topic. 

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Your objective should be to get a conversational rhythm going early, and to keep it going with targeted questions. Why? 

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People stay alert when they talk 

 

People listen better when they expect to be asked about what they're hearing 

 

People like and respect you more when you ask for their comments/opinions 

 

You relax more when you're engaged in conversation versus delivering a performance

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Asking prompting questions is an easy way to get the dialogue going. 

 

"What surprises you about these findings?" 

 

"Would it be more valuable for me to dive into Option A or Option B?" 

 

"Who else should we engage to drive this forward?" 

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Know Your Audience

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It's critically important that you know your audience and understand what they want and expect to hear from you. Ideally, you should gather this information before your presentation or meeting, or you can ask what they want to learn or key questions they want answered at the start of the meeting.  If you know your audience, you are able to deliver the right amount of detail and can keep their attention. 

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If you know people personally who will be in the audience, you may be able to do an early walk-through or talk-through of key findings or conclusions with them.  It will help to hone your key messages to that audience. 

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Answering Questions Effectively 

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Providing thoughtful answers to questions reassures the audience, including those who did not ask questions, that your content is accurate. Weak answers to obvious questions make the audience wonder about the quality of your work. 

 

Take time before you present to think about who will be in the audience and anticipate the obvious and hardest questions you could be asked. In some cases, you may be able to preempt those questions with your comments or the content of your slides. 

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Avoid Using Distracting Filler Words 

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Many professionals do themselves a disservice by heavy use of filler words that undermine their professionalism and distract from the content of their message. Most people are shocked, even horrified, when they realize how often they use “like, umm, uhh, essentially, does that make sense, things like that, I was thinking, basically…". Most people don’t point this out to you, but it’s very obvious to the listener, and suggests that you are nervous, unprepared, or inexperienced.   

 

To identify and eliminate your filler words, follow these steps: 

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1. Record yourself speaking in several meetings or presentations using your cell phone or a dictaphone. 

 

2. Listen to the recordings to identify your filler words.  Get a good baseline of the filler words you commonly use. 

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3. Focus on eliminating one filler word per week. Note that it will feel REALLY awkward the first couple times you focus on speaking without these phrases.  You will forget your main points because you are worried about saying your filler words.  That’s OK.  It gets easier quickly and you will become less awkward and self-conscious when talking over time.

 

4. Make another recording of you speaking and listen to the recordings to see if you have been able to eliminate using the filler words. 

 

5. If you have made progress, congratulations.  If not, repeat step 3 again.

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In conclusion, effective communication techniques play a vital role in enhancing executive presence and conveying credibility as a leader. By leading discussions rather than delivering monologues, you create an engaging and interactive environment that keeps your audience attentive and involved. Understanding your audience's expectations and tailoring your message accordingly ensures that you deliver the right information in the right way. Answering questions thoughtfully and anticipating potential inquiries demonstrates your expertise and reinforces the quality of your work. Additionally, eliminating distracting filler words from your speech enhances your professionalism and helps you maintain focus on your main points. Continuous practice and improvement in these communication techniques will undoubtedly strengthen your executive presence and establish you as a persuasive and influential leader.

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