Bulidling Engagement

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Leaders can learn micro-skills for building engagement with their message

Your role as a leader will require you to speak at meetings, presentations, committee chair duties, and workshops.  Yet so few leadership programs specifically train you in ‘the micro-skills of building engagement’ or specific skills of public speaking. This is with the knowledge that having to publicly speak is feared by more people (19%) than the dying (16%), spiders (13%), and the dark (12%)[1].

You can, however, learn and practice many micro-skills that will make your public speaking engaging, compelling, and inspiring.

Leaders speak publicly in order to motivate change

While there are many metrics one can use to measure the success of a public speaking engagement, one of the most important ones is whether those that were present were motivated to take the action you wanted them to take after hearing you speak.

This is incredibly hard to do if you haven’t defined, or, at the very least, put some thought into the following things:

1.     What action do you want your audience to take after the event?

2.     What do they currently think and feel about your message?

3.     How do you want them to think and feel about your message?

4.     What is the hardest part of your message for your audience to hear?

While we can’t possibly know exactly the answers to these questions, any efforts you spend in answering these questions prior to the event will help you be more engaging.  And, if you do practice this intentional exercise, you will also more easily build engagement through your practice of leadership.

When public speaking, engaging-leaders practice being present

Regardless if you are speaking online in a workshop, webinar or interview, or face-to-face in workshops, meetings, or speeches, engaging-leaders are consciously present.  If you can build your skills at observing your audience, you will see the ques of engagement and the signs of dis-engagement. These are very useful data-points for you.  Practicing the act of consciously observing your audience as you speak, will enable you adjust your presentation style on the basis of the subtle (and not-so-subtle) non-verbal cues of your audience. This skill, incidentally, is already an expectation for APS leaders who, according the Integrated Leadership System, must ‘Adjust presentation style on the basis of subtle non-verbal cues.’[2]

Skilled APS Leaders consciously practice the insightful micro-skills of leadership

Research has shown that most APS Senior Executives have not had the benefit of tailored leadership training to give them the tools, micro-skills, and knowledge of how to use these as a leader.

A conscious practice of drawing your attention to the micro-skills of engagement is invaluable for mastery as an APS Leader. If this is something that interests you, why not contact Insightful Path today and see how we can help you to be the thriving leader you know you can be!

[1] National Institute of Mental Health: HTTP://www.statisticbrain.com/fear-of-public-speaking-statistics/)

[2] APS Integrated Leadership System (ILS) SESB1 self-assessment: https://www.apsc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-06/sesb1selfassessment.pdf