COMMENT
Pleasant words always soothe the audience. Each person is hid behind his tongue. History records numerous individuals, who through the power of speech have moved mountains and mobilised men, towards attainment of objectives, both the virtuous and the ignoble. We can contrast Churchill and Hitler; both were great speakers, who could charge the multitudes, but one represented ‘the right’ and the other, ‘the wrong’. We know the speaking talent of Mr Jinnah, Nehru, Bahadur Yar Jung, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto – all from the political walk of life.
I will move away from the spin doctors in the political theatre to the corporate world. Speaking at meetings and conferences requires great deal of talent, skill and preparation. Even those who walk into meetings to speak ‘extempore’ must realise that it is for the audience to believe that it is ‘extempore’ and never the speaker, must do so. Prepare, the extempore speech, too.
The speaker must convey confidence and control. It is best to set up an agenda to organise before delivering a thought. The speaker must discourage interruptions; appear open and convey a relaxed and calm composure. There must be confidence in content and delivery. Those who demonstrate a lack of it suggest that only empathy is on offer. Give solutions; don’t ever leave thoughts with interrogative endings. Like, “So what do you say”? “Food for thought” or “Sleep over it”.
As a speaker, be conscious about volume of voice. Your decibel level should be moderate, not too high, neither too low. Voice variation is extremely important to keep the audience’s interest. Shouldn’t sound as a monotonous sound – the heart monitors in ICU’s, give bleep sound at every beat of the pulse, when the sound gets to be monotonous, what does it indicate? Be, alive to your audience by changing every now then the tonality of your voice.
During the course of my career, I have had the good fortune to sit on numerous meetings and conferences, cutting across cultures and in different geographical settings. I always have taken notes of who interrupts, who just watches and who doesn’t speak at all – while I accept that on many occasion ‘silence’ is a great medium of communication tool too, especially if its user and practitioner knows its potential, that is, when he possess the ability to align it with right timing. But certainly, it would be the pinnacle of foolishness to be silent, when speech is imperative.
As a chairperson in any meeting, watch out for those who make a comment and then lapse into hibernation either for the remainder of the meeting or such may suddenly make an intrusion into the proceedings, with illogicality as the basis of their comment, and can impishly ask, why? I classify these as trouble makers, who aren’t prepared to contribute to a meeting or let others to do so.
As speaker don’t indulge in self contradictions. “I may be wrong, but ….”, “Since he said so…”, or even, “Not sure, if this is true, but…”, Such statements defile the strength of your case and argument. Also to avoid, especially if you are chairing the meeting, are remarks like, “you are wrong”; “That’s a bad idea”, “it will not work” – such reactions push the participants into their shells and they may all end up in withholding what they would have wished to say. It kills creativity and openness. Instead, if you have a contradicting view say, “I believe we can look at it again from a different perspective…”. Distinguished and experienced speakers exercise discretion more than eloquence.
If the speaker has to for good and positive reasons, throw the weight of his positional power into his thought or an appeal for action, he must do without the usage of any apology. It must be straight and direct. No ambiguities – just straight forward; your thoughts must not appear like entangled shoe laces, where all effort is spent, finding the right corner of the lace. Never, use sarcasm or double edged words; they achieve nothing, except ill-will. The use of improper language will make the speaker realise in fastest time, that the dumb are to be envied.
Winston Churchill could be witty, dry, rousing and wise. He indulged in razor edged parries thoughts at his opponent, both within and outside the house of parliament. He said once, “In politics, when you are in doubt what to do, do nothing…. When you are in doubt what to say, say what you really think.” I would however, caution that not every thought should find expression. The paragon of frankness usually is the summit of verbal cruelty. If there is reason to speak, we must know that to remain silent, we need no reason. Mouth and tongue alone shouldn’t be at work all the time. No harm would it cause, to give them rest, when needed. An Italian proverb says, from listening comes wisdom, and from speaking repentance. Speaking shouldn’t be a disease.
Use wit and humour sparingly in meetings, lest the session converts into a joke sharing competition. I completely agree with La Bruyere, when in ‘Characters’ he says, “It is a great misfortune not to possess sufficient wit to speak well, nor sufficient judgement to keep silent.” Also it must be noted that quoting in Latin, Greek or French does not add any weight to the speaker’s opinion. Speak in simple language. Use simple words that are easy to follow. Speaking shouldn’t be made into a luxurious folly, where the speaker is found dancing over all things. Any speech is like a love affair, any fool can rush to start, but to end it requires considerable skills. Subtlety is good, but not so much, that the message intended remains un-captured by the listeners.
On a slightly lighter note, Graham Edmonds, in his book “The Business of Bull…..” has constructed a table of sixty words, which, he refers to as, “BS Bingo - The classics”. He says if you in any meeting end up using at least six of them, then celebrate and say loudly, “Bingo”. Since, I have used and heard almost all of them; my own favourite six of the sixty are: Game plan, park it, big picture, cherry pick, low hanging fruit (have never used it - though have been tortured with it in every meeting), and ball-park.
Speak, without being a demagogue. Sincerity should be the cornerstone of any need to speak. Choose silence, if you have the option, for the idiom with an all-time universality is, “Speech is Silver, and Silence is gold”. Remain steadfast to this principle.
The writer is a senior banker and freelance columnist
