Speaking Like the Prez

Communications coach Steve Adubato analyzed President Obama’s inaugural speech and offered his thoughts/take-aways. I distilled Steve’s column to six bullets – many of which are common areas of growth for talent:

• Be focused; have a clear theme
• Be brief; don’t confuse quantity with quality
• Disagreeing is OK but being disagreeable isn’t
• Own your content; speak from your heart rather than someone else’s script
• Challenge the audience to look inward/become emotionally involved in what you’re saying instead of just talking at them
• Speak with confidence; share what you care about in a way that makes me care too

Listen to your airchecks in light of these bullets to see if any of the President’s techniques would improve your communication skills.