The Beauty Of Jacaranda Trees (The Cost Of Poor Communication)

I was reminded that as we’re now in late August, at time of writing, that while my summer nears an end, winter is nearing it’s end in the southern hemisphere, and spring is on their horizon with Jacaranda trees now in bright purple bloom. Here is a link with a great photo of Jacaranda https://www.refugeesintowns.org/harare

A Toastmaster friend sent me an email covering a few topics and he told me of the progress of the Jacaranda, and reminded me that I had expressed appreciation for the beautiful blossoms when I visited Zimbabwe for just one day in 2016. He sent me a link to a local article that was published when I visited and I had commented on the beauty of these trees. You can read the article here

https://www.herald.co.zw/toasting-to-success/

I re-read the brief article from the Harare Herald and found new appreciation with how the author Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe wrote about Toastmasters and noted the need to effectively communicate with peers, clients, subordinates, the media and other key people.

It can be difficult to fully assess the cost of ineffective communication, but one cost is lost opportunity. Opportunity is lost when people fail to offer ideas in meetings if they are not confident they can deliver their message well. Another is when an unskilled speaker comments to media and the organization needs to correct a poorly phrased message. If someone is representing an organization publicly in any capacity, they really need their communication skills to be sharp.

Earlier this year I wrote a perspective on the cost of poor communication skills (https://gycz.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-cost-of-poor-communication-skills.html). In that post I wrote I had been interested in an online university course at a U.S. institution, but during a presentation promoting the program I quickly tuned out because the presenter was very bad at making his point. His presentation was disorganized, difficult to follow, and filled with ums and ahs as he struggled to sell the program. I did have sympathy, and I did have interest, but my unwillingness to fight through his poor communication skills resulted in me signing off early. You may have had similar experiences. That university lost a revenue opportunity, and possibly a public relations opportunity.

Another view on the cost of poor communication is provided in this Forbes posting

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/11/15/the-true-cost-of-poor-communication/?sh=2b8a3f1c20ab

Although difficult to fully assess, poor communication skills are costly to organizations. However, good communications skills can be learned and practiced.

Preparing Speech Feedback - About Donald Trump

Have you ever been asked to provide feedback to a presenter? If so, how did you organize your analysis and feedback? Members of Toastmasters become skilled at giving, and receiving, feedback. I believe the ability to receive feedback is underappreciated. It is very valuable to have team members who are eager to consider feedback to improve individually, as well as collectively.

During 2015-2016, when I served as International President for Toastmasters International, there were a great number of public relations requests. There were lots of newspaper interviews, podcasts, some TV and radio. One Wednesday in July 2016 I received a call from our lead PR staffer Dennis. We had a brief chat and then he said the organization had a tremendous PR opportunity.  The Los Angeles Times, a well known and well distributed publication, had asked Toastmasters to write speech analysis and commentary about the acceptance speeches that were to be soon delivered by the nominees for the 2016 U.S. Presidential election. He continued and said the first acceptance speech was the next evening by the Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump.

I was silent. Trump was already controversial after comments about building a wall, and about some groups “not sending their finest,” and with credible allegations about his behavior towards many women coming to light. Dennis heard my silence and quickly said “no, no, this will be good for us, we’re simply providing speech and performance feedback as we do, in Toastmasters style. We’re not commenting on policy.”

We talked a little further, and I clarified and then agreed to prepare a Toastmasters style speech analysis for publication. Dennis said great, the speech would be Thursday night and I had to submit the column within two hours of its completion. The following week I did the same for Hilary Clinton’s acceptance speech.

Organizing For Speech Analysis and Feedback

On the Thursday evening, I watched the speech online with some note paper in front of me. I listed some typical areas to assess and wrote them on my page so I could organize my observations. My list of observation areas included speech structure, gestures, vocal variety, eye contact, and segment transitions. As I watched, I made notes detailing key points and transitions so I could later analyze the flow and see how one part of the speech led to another. Once the speech was completed, I reviewed my notes, analyzed the delivery, and prepared my commentary. Once I was satisfied, I submitted it to the Times within the two-hour deadline. Here is a link to the content (may be behind a paywall).

 https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-republican-convention-2016-trump-toastmasters-20160721-snap-htmlstory.html

Because I’ve been speaking for years, when I’m watching a speaker, I usually perform some sort of analysis considering their skills and techniques. Mainly I focus on the clarity of the message and how well it was delivered, and hopefully received by the audience. I don’t typically offer any feedback unless it’s requested, or I notice a glaring opportunity for improvement or an outright error or miss. I’ll note that when people become Toastmasters members, they’re implicitly indicating they desire developmental feedback, and each receives feedback from a variety of people over their tenure, some feedback publicly and some privately. And public figures, based on position, have opened themselves up for commentary and forms of criticism.

The Value of Structure and Experience

I was fortunate to have experience and some structure for analysis and organizing my thoughts when preparing this speech commentary for the Times.  Structure is helpful in planning and preparing presentations, and also in assessing speeches and then delivering developmental feedback.

 

Panel Discussion - Area Director Developmental Role in Toastmasters International

 

This week (August 10, 2022) I hosted a panel discussing the many benefits of serving as an Area Director in Toastmasters.  Many of us in the organization feel this is the best developmental role in all of Toastmasters.   

One other Past International President appears as a distinguished guest.  

https://youtu.be/Rzr8GHV3ahI

Developing Youth Leaders

A few weeks ago, I delivered five hours of public speaking training to a group of high school students.  I don’t enjoy the anticipation of long training events as they require more preparation than most people realize, and the delivery of long training sessions is physically draining, particularly for the voice. As the day goes on, I begin to hear the tiredness in my voice.  It’s also difficult to keep the audience engaged for long periods, so I rely on my content, some video, and I work to engage the group in conversation. I much prefer 20-to-40 minute presentations, but will occasionally perform longer training events.  Once they’re complete, I enjoy considering the impact, but I usually feel some dread anticipating the event.

The event with the high school kids is now complete and there were many rewards. Part of this training was to prepare some of the group for speeches before a larger group later in the month. Feedback I received later was that three more of the kids stepped forward and decided to speak at the larger event. That delights me.  I had provided them with a simple, bulletproof structure that works anytime to build a simple, well-organized speech and, as a result, it seems their confidence grew. 

Also, a hallway conversation I had with one of the students was very rewarding. During the short lunch break I refilled my water bottle and was walking back to the class room. A shy young woman in the group smiled and thanked me for attending. I simply smiled and said it was my pleasure. But she continued, she wanted to share some more.  She said she used to be very confident, but she was bullied by a young jerk in class who always commented and mocked her after anything she’d say. She didn’t know how to manage that at the time, and it’s affected her. Something in the training event helped her.  I’m not sure what specifically helped, but I learned she was one of the students that later spoke to the larger assembly. 

We Can Have An Impact With Youth  

I wasn’t looking forward to delivering five hours of training. Now I’m glad I did.  I could have predicted that I would be pleased once the training was complete. I had no idea what the exact outcome would be, but I was confident some attendees would receive great value.

I didn’t do much more than offer the attendees some simple organizational techniques, some ideas about how to engage audiences, and some practice time before an audience of peers. I suppose I gave them the opportunity to experiment telling some of their stories and assessing and shaping the stories impact and value. I showed them some video of some great speeches including the well-known Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford University. In that speech Jobs tells three stories, makes sure the audience understands the point of the stories, and is done in 15 minutes.  It’s such a great speech for so many reasons. It's been viewed 40 million times at time of writing. You can see the speech here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&t=4s

We had a humorous moment when I introduced the Jobs video as content from “the late, great Steve Jobs,” and one of the students stopped me to say ‘wait, you said late.” The young man who was surprised with this news would have been around age 7 when Jobs died. Most of the class was aware Jobs had died 10 years ago and this was a humorous moment shared with the group.    

So, the end result for the students was increased confidence in their speech preparation and skills, a good discussion on what makes a speaker effective, and some experience sharing their personal stories and ideas.

There are times when I, and you, know we have value to share from our experience. Like me, you might not revel in the anticipation of presenting. But more often than not, the impact we have is a remarkable reward for our efforts. 

 

 

Communication: Efficiency versus Effectiveness

 

Do we rely too much on text and email for communication these days?  I think so. And this reliance will only grow.  

Recently I was contacted about speaking at an online event. During some back and forth, the booker requested a list of topics and their duration and she’d let me know if there was a fit.  I was happy to provide such a list but also requested time to talk. Occasionally when I’m asked to speak to a group it’s simply because a booker needs some content, almost any content. But usually, a presentation helps a group make some progress on a problem or issue they’re working to solve, or assists the group with skill development.  If I am able to understand the problems or issues they’re dealing with, a little tweaking of material, and perhaps a little research, increases the impact of a presentation.  

This recent request reinforced for me the seeming efficiency of e-mail and text, but the opportunities missed when we don’t speak with the human. Email communication lacks the subtlety and intimacy of voice, or in-person, communication.  Perhaps the digital products will evolve, but at this point they fail in this measure.

I speak generally on communication skills, leadership skills, and sometimes on sales and marketing topics. In this interaction the booker looked at my descriptions and thought the topics were too general for her group. However, during our conversation I asked what challenges the group was working on. She said they’re having some issues with teams working within silos, and there has been some distrust and subtle conflict amongst leaders of teams that need to work well together. (I wrote about perceived conflict here Perceived Conflict)

I indicated that I do sometimes speak about one-on-one conflict, perceived conflict, and team dynamics and achievement, and this would likely fit well with her needs. We talked further and decided there is a fit.

Is E-mail Inefficient?

My purpose in sharing this experience is to show an incident where electronic back-and-forth was insufficient in understanding a mutual opportunity. Our e-mails didn’t enable me to understand the issues the group was managing, or the booker to understand the value available with a presentation. E-mail is often a good choice, but not always.

Back in 2015, I shared lunch with Jim Clemmer, a leadership expert based in the Greater Toronto Area. Earlier that day, I had presented Jim with a leadership award and recognition from Toastmasters International.  Over lunch we discussed the gap between digital communication and verbal communication. He later wrote about the topic and he included a helpful table. I particularly liked how he highlighted where inspiration, courageous conversations, and personal connection occurs.  You don’t need to see the table to know which column these benefits are in, but regardless, here is a link to his post https://www.clemmergroup.com/blog/2015/11/19/communication-confusion-balancing-electronic-and-human-connections/

A Tree Falls In The Forest

It seems to me that as humans we don’t often consider which is the best medium for delivering a message, and email provides a very fast, convenient option to just get it done and delivered. Too often our priority is efficiency of distribution, and we don’t consider the effectiveness of message receipt.

If the message isn’t received and understood, then communication has not taken place. A tree fell in a forest.