#SPEAKING – Is a company #CEO the best person to speak at events?

Hola!

Steve Jobs has been one of the most important public people in the past years. It has been a reference for many people, although always trying to emulate him is not usually the best idea. A clear example of this, is to see how many CEOs are the main Speakers at events and this is not always the best option. In the past 15 years I have been invited to many sessions where the CEO was the main speaker. Thanks to this I have met great speakers and not so great ones. Best to explain it with an example.

Think of a large food company. Among employees probably find different profiles:

· Technical agronomists responsible food production farms

· Industrial profiles working in production plants

· Experts in logistics

· Business development

· Marketing

· Etc.

The CEO of this supposed company, has a broad background in business. It is very likely that in during his speech, she really "connect" with people with a similar background. But it will not do so with marketing people, or more technical profiles, etc.

Going back to Steve Jobs, if we see the analysis of their presentations that makes Nancy Duarte in his book "Resonate", we will see that behind them there is a highly polished technique. In addition to a great effort to ensure that the general idea is clear among the public.

If I have to share a humble proposal to improve this, I should start with 2 basis points:

· Communicate with passion. Is very important to know the message with passion and charisma. For a job at this level, the necessary skills are others. That’s why maybe is a good to do a brief introduction and then "pass the microphone" to other people.

· Search for the right person for each message. We don’t need to get Jimmy Fallon or Kevin Hart to start a great session (although it is not a bad idea). What is really important, is to identify the best speaker for each message. Uses criteria such as "relevant to the audience", "motivated skills", "public recognition" and "experience" help to go to the right person.

Not only Steve Jobs is a great speaker, personally I think the transparency with which transmits messages Elon Musk is comforting. Other examples could be, Jeff Weiner or Tony Hawk if I have to get out of the technical speakers and there are many others that serve as a reference.

To finish, if someone really wants to improve this skill, revisit great presentations is an excellent starting point. In example: review the most popular TED sessions help to watch different styles of presentations. Then it is time to see which fits best and things we can learn / take each.

Enjoy the weekend!

Saludos @ Madrid

/El Bruno

Bonus: I think this is also important “work on the message”. We often have people who are experts on a specific topics and they also have great communication skills. At this time, it is important to work on the best method to transmit the message. Techniques such as "Rethorical Triangle" are suitable to improve the message to be transmitted. Other techniques such as "Start strong and close stronger" help that the session also has a big impact.

References

· Steve Jobs 1997 – Macworld Boston– Apple and Microsoft Deal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOp5mBY9IY

· Steve Jobs 2005 – How to live before you die http://www.ted.com/talks/steve_jobs_how_to_live_before_you_die

· Steve Jobs 2011 –Apple iPad 2 KeyNote https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGxEQhdi1AQ

· Nancy Duarte, Resonate http://www.amazon.com/Resonate-Present-Stories-Transform-Audiences/dp/0470632011

· Jimmy Fallon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Fallon

· Kevin Hart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Hart

· Elon Musk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elon_Musk

· Jeff Weiner https://twitter.com/jeffweiner

· Tony Hawk https://twitter.com/tonyhawk

· Rethorical Triangle https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RhetoricalTriangle.htm

· 10 Ways to End Your Speech with a Bang http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/10-ways-to-end-your-speech/