As an employer presentation skills can be valuable. Leaders must motivate and inspire their teams in order to achieve success. Think back to the best leaders you’ve had and you’ll likely remember them also as great communicators and speakers.
One of the best leaders I experienced was not in the workplace but at the high school I attended. The Principal was a dynamic and powerful communicator who influenced staff and students through his presentations every morning at school assembly.
He was in many ways a very traditional Headmaster, wearing his black academic gown on stage and delivering sometimes thundering addresses on topics from racism to the importance of reading. Yet the sense of power and clarity he delivered was inspiring and motivational. Most importantly it was memorable. Almost thirty years later I still remember his words and his message.
I recall him speaking about reading in particular. He explained in visual detail, how, as students we all had a unique opportunity to access knowledge and the greatest minds in history and the present by reading their works. He explained also that by reading fiction we opened and stretched our imagination to new worlds and new ideas, and as he went on to quote – your mind, once stretched by a new idea, is never the same again.
I’ve been a reader ever since.
If employers can achieve such memorable communication in the workplace not only will they motivate, they will be remembered and that has to be the ultimate test of any communication. Memorable presentations are based on many of the things we admire as human beings – integrity, bravery and intelligence. Those who are recognised as memorable communicators become people that others want to follow and once you have people wanting to follow you, you become a powerful and motivating leader.