Ever wonder what separates the people that actually kick goals from those who just talk about it?

It’s the new year. You’ve made your resolutions and you’ve set your goals for 2019. Tick. This edition of insider tactics is not going to help you with that.

In fact, we’re pretty sure you’ve got the ‘making plans’ part under control. That’s the fun bit after all.  The problem lies in the execution – in actually getting the stuff done.

From senior executives to team members – we’re all the same. We have big ideas and bold aspirations but then we allow our fears to get the better of us – we overcomplicate, over consult, procrastinate and ultimately, we shrink.

We make excuses for why we’re not making progress and then eventually we throw in the towel. It was an unrealistic goal to begin with, wasn’t it?

A gutsy development goal for executives

We see this play out all too often, none more apparent than executives wanting to master the art of presenting. Some have the competence, some have the confidence but it’s rare to have both.

We see so many people start each new year with a goal of getting comfortable with addressing an audience. Richard Nixon, ex-president of the USA, once said, “People are persuaded by reason but moved by emotion; [the leader] must both move them and persuade them”.  To be a good leader you need to be a persuasive communicator and emotionally connect with your audiences.

Some people even start the year by having the guts to commit to speaking at a key event to force them into action. This is a great idea in principle – but unless you do something different, you’re going to get the same outcome.

The difference between someone who is going to succeed and master the art of presenting isn’t the absence of fear and discomfort. We all have that. It’s having the guts to take action in spite of it. Let us repeat, everybody feels uncomfortable presenting, but they get up and do the work anyway.

The secret to actually achieving your goal

So what is the difference you ask?

The people who succeed have an objective, a preparation framework and some simple tactics to execute their strategy. That’s it. Then they just get on with it and do the work. This is very true for our wannabe persuasive leaders, but the same rule can be applied to pretty much any goal.

We want to see you succeed in 2019. So if you’re really committed to mastering the art of presenting (or whatever your goal may be) follow these 4 steps:

1. Find someone to be your on-the-job coach. Look for someone that already demonstrates the skills you seek to build. This could be a colleague or an enlightened leader. Don’t forget, we have a global team of Tacticians, highly skilled in the art of persuasive communication, to provide guidance when required.
2. Get a framework to help you prepare – If you’re looking to improve your communication this year try the TACTICIAN presentation planner. This is given to graduates of our Gutsy Presentation program and is the tool they find most useful to help them spring into action.
3. Don’t compromise on your preparation time. Analyse your to-do list based on ‘urgent’ and ‘important’ categories and block out time in your diary for the important and not urgent (ie, your preparation). If you’re struggling to prioritise preparation, just remind yourself how you feel in that moment when you realise you’re not prepared. That sinking feeling of anxiety isn’t fun.  Will you feel that bad if you turn down an invite to another irrelevant meeting or delegate a task to someone else?  No, you won’t.  So do that and spend your time on what really matters.
4. Find tactics to help increase your chance of success. Don’t let your confidence compromise the project’s success. Start small and build momentum from your achievements.

If you’re committed to mastering the art of presenting in 2019, join our signature program, Gutsy Presenting which will give you both the preparation framework and tactics to help you nail your delivery and connect with your audience. Download the program outline or contact us for more info.

Cheers,

TACTICIAN