Sims Wyeth founded Sims Wyeth & Company, Inc. in 1995 in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers.
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Presence is knowing what to say
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Robert Selander, the former CEO of MasterCard, had a thing for “presence.”
When asked what he looked for in those he hired, he said, “Leadership, results, and presence.”
About presence he said, “At varying levels of the company you deal with different stakeholders. Having somebody spend time with a member of Congress is very different than having somebody go downstairs and see that they were appropriately replacing a torn carpet.
As I’ve gone through my career, I’ve been challenged to deal with different stakeholders. Internally when I was younger and more junior, I probably did pretty well with peers. But how do you credibly communicate with more senior people, who are not as concerned about details, but want a bigger picture?
So it’s a combination of how you convey things and what you convey to various stakeholders. Presence is learning to deal with different audiences in a way that allows them to get what they need out of interactions and ensures that the well-being of the company is looked after.
I think you can be a good communicator and you still may not have presence. There may be someone who is very articulate on a subject and they know levels of detail. When you get with a particular audience it may not be appropriate to go into those levels of detail, or you may create doubt by even going into the subject matter.
Some people are not very good communicators, but boy, when you get them into their subject matter, they know exactly where and how far to go.
Others are brilliant communicators, but because of the connection between their thoughts and the synapses firing and the words coming out, there isn’t enough time and introspection. Therefore, they brilliantly communicate something that they shouldn’t be talking about.
Presence is knowing what to communicate, and how.”
Sims Wyeth is an executive speech coach in Montclair, NJ specializing in presentation skills and public speaking training in order to give accomplished people the knowledge and skill they need to become accomplished speakers. Learn more public speaking tips at www.SimsWyeth.com.
Tags: communication skills, effective presentation skills, effective speaking, empathy, leadership skills, presence, presentation skills, public speaking, public speaking training