Good at what you do, but struggling with your communication skills? Igotchu! 😎
Someone said it before you...
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Always consider if someone before you has said it better! Communicator of the Week Award goes to my friend, Alex Ktorides for the moving eulogy he gave on the sad passing of his father. Eulogies are tough to get right. Should you go through the whole life of the departed one or just give snippets? Should you be funny or sombre or a mixture of both? Do you let your emotions show or button them up to get through it? And what theme can you use to tie it all together? Alex’s answer to the ‘what theme?’ question was to use a quote from the 1950s dystopian novel, Fahrenheit 451 by the American writer, Ray Bradbury. It's a beautiful quote that, I think, sums up the essence of life and death. “'Everyone must leave something behind when he dies', my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built, or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way, so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you’re there. It doesn’t matter what you do, he said, so as long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that’s like you after you take your hands away.” It's a quote that fit perfectly with the stories he and others shared about his late father, George, who lived a full life and definitely left his mark on the world. Sometimes, it is difficult to find the right words to communicate the thought you want to share. Sure, you can agonise to work it out in your own words; you can use ChatGPT or Gemini and hope it doesn’t feed you some vanilla-sounding tripe. But one of the most effective options is to simply borrow the words of someone, who said it better than you could ever say it yourself. Quotes, sayings, and proverbs are wonderful ways to capture and communicate ideas to audiences. They are like mini-stories that engage. They encapsulate a wisdom or an insight that resonates with your audience, who will still give you the credit for the idea and sentiment that the quote conveys. My advice to all my comms clients is to build your Quote Library. Create a simple file or database, and whenever you come across a great quote or saying that you might like to use at some point in the future, just drop it into the database. Your audience will see you as erudite and well-read. You will know that you just did the work. Kolarele |
Build your Communication SuperSkills
Good at what you do, but struggling with your communication skills? Igotchu! 😎
A double-header this week. As the Artemis II orbited the earth, the crew held a press conference, at the end of which the pilot, Victor Glover was asked for his thoughts from space on Easter Sunday. His first words in response were that he did not have anything prepared, which, if you've heard me talk about the importance of your speech opening, you will know is a terrible way to start. But then he delivered the most eloquent short speech about the beautiful oasis in the universe that is...
Sometimes you just have to get in people’s faces to get them to take action. Communicator of the Week Award goes to coach Brenda Frese, who was video in a now viral clip as she literally shouted in the face of an underperforming player on her basketball team. ’I need you to lock in’ she bellowed. ‘I believe in you.but you’ve got to want it the most’ if you watch it, it is uncomfortable, but the outcome was that the player went on to transform her performance and help the team close the gap...
You know the saying (often attributed to Warren Buffett): it takes years to build a reputation, and 5 minutes to ruin it. This week's MisCommunicator of the Week has proved that adage to be truer than ever. Prior to this week, not many members of the public knew much about John Healey. He was one of the more respected members of the Labour cabinet, quietly getting on with the difficult job of Defence Secretary. In an increasingly dangerous world full of wars, conflicts and terrorism, he...