Page 43 - Develop your leadership skills- John Adair. -- 2nd ed

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34 ■ Develop your leadership skills

part of a much larger communication skill: effective speaking.
Here are some guidelines:

■ Be prepared. Rehearse and practise. Make sure that you
have some professional-looking visual aids: ‘A picture is
worth a thousand words.’

■ Be clear. Double-check that what you are saying is not
vague, ambiguous or muddied – leave talk like that to the
politicians!

■ Be simple. Reduce complicated matter to its simplest form
without oversimplifying. Avoid technical language or
jargon that your audience will not understand.

■ Be vivid. Colour your message with enthusiasm, confidence
and humour. Make it live – make it exciting and chal-
lenging and fun.

■ Be natural. You do not need to be a great orator. Just be
yourself – your best self.

Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly;
for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.

(William Penn)

Briefing is not something that you do only at the outset of a
project and then forget about. Most probably, especially if the
team is new or inexperienced, you will have to repeat the objec-
tive and plan as work progresses. It is always a function
waiting to be performed.

Communication is the sister of leadership. Briefing points
to only one skill, namely public speaking. Remember that