Remember when “can you hear me?” was the opening of all our virtual meetings? Often with a hand on the headphones followed by muting and unmuting ourselves a few times. I don’t miss those days. I’d rather ask the question to the people at the back of a room as I am presenting to a large group.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking at an Annual Training and Team Building Day event. It was in a long skinny room and as I was standing at the front. I could feel some restlessness from the back. What was going on? Were they having a private joke, maybe discussing some work? I needed to grab their attention and include them in the conversation.
Connection is key to presenting with impact. Call it immersion, engagement or inspiration. Without it, you may have the best prepared research, most incredible data or funniest anecdotes but you will still fall flat.
This happens on many levels
Some of the audience will connect with the subject. Others the statistics, personal stories or the interactive activities peppered within the keynote. Some will connect with your presence or your voice. Others may be particularly inclined to listen or drift off depending on the time of the day…
The fact is, grabbing people’s attention and making them feel part of the show is essential. Also important is giving them something they need, even if they don’t know it to begin with. When an audience leaves feeling ready to take action, you know your message was heard. Success!
The Law of Impact keynote I was delivering that day explores how teams can thrive and maximise their impact through alignment to purpose, trust, communication and accountability. Why typical organisational models of centralised, hierarchical decision making and leadership are making it increasingly difficult to respond in a world moving at such high speed. And how new models with collaboration, connection and empowerment at their heart are flourishing to tick all your organisations’ performance boxes.
At the end of the day, this is what the client had to say:
‘We all came away with a newfound confidence on how our individual leadership styles can have impact in our workplace. We are excited and looking forward to focussing on our firms’ intentions for the future and working as a team for greater outcomes’.
This is a not to be missed opportunity to have your people hear how our Law of Impact work can help. Walk away with increased awareness of how to leverage your team’s potential and understand the skills required of leaders to unleash their leadership impact.