The temptation to be perfect is often based on the fear of failure, but perfection is not all it's cracked up to be, and failure is never as fatal as feared.

Communicator of the Week Award goes to US broadcaster Dominique Dillon.

In a clip that has now gone viral, the cameras cut back to Dillon in the news studio, but she had dozed off, and the world saw it.

If you are asking yourself how and why a screw-up can possibly be an example of good communication, you are asking the right question.

In 1966, psychologist Elliot Aronson introduced a phenomenon he called the Pratfall Effect, which stated that an able individual who commits a major mistake (a pratfall) will receive a significant increase in liking and an insignificant decrease in respect.

In short, mistakes make you more relatable (so long as you are otherwise capable).

Oprah Winfrey once said that great communication begins with connection.

However eloquently you speak, however well prepared you are, if you do not connect with your audience, your communication will not resonate.

When Dillon, a mother of two young children, fell asleep on camera, the moment connected with her audience. Instead of triggering derision, viewers flooded the station with messages of support because they recognised in Dillon, their own experience of working as a parent on zero sleep.

Her mistake made her relatable.

You must, of course, be good at what you do, as this principle only works if you are generally viewed as competent.

But once you have competence locked down, remember that connection is what resonates, whilst perfection alienates.

Kolarele

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