Recently a client pointed out that, in a quest to become great at speaking in front of audiences large and small, he had studied business people who are outstanding at delivering a high impact message. In our work together, however, he has come to realise that these high profile communicators are operating at a standard which he will not meet and doesn’t actually need to attain.
Moreover, we noted that we know very little about the other skills and qualities which are needed for these role models to be outstanding (or even good enough) at their respective roles. Communicating with impact is about developing personal presence first and this is not charisma. Part of this is about ‘owning’ your particular style and working on the parts which may get in the way of your message.
I find sometimes that the very attributes which a person feels they need to ditch contain the seed of something distinctive, maybe a bit quirky, which is both impactful and memorable when embraced and developed intentionally.