Speak to Lead

Speeches: Words Do Matter - The Example of Winston Churchill

What is the value of the words you use? In the last post we debunked the oft-quoted figure that words only account for 7% of the message received by the listener.

If that were the case, then the speaker was using the wrong words.

Winston Churchill's speeches are a superb example of the power words contain, as summed up in this comment by American journalist Edward R. Murrow:

"[Churchill] mobilized the English language and sent it into battle to steady his fellow countrymen and hearten those Europeans upon whom the long dark night of tyranny had descended."

Here are two of Churchill's tactics you can use in your writing:

1. Use short words. "Short words are best and the old words when short are best of all."
2. Use active voice. "What if I had said, instead of 'We shall fight on the beaches,' 'Hostilities will be engaged with our adversary on the coastal perimeter'?"

Public Speaking: Words, Voice, Body & the Oft Quoted Bogus Study

If you've ever had a public speaking course or read more than a book or two about public speaking, you've likely encountered the statement that 55% of the message you convey comes from your body language, 38% comes from your voice, and only 7% comes from the words you use.

The problem? Although the statistics are accurate, their application is BOGUS!

The study was not about audiences listening to speeches. Unfortunately, most of the "experts" quoting the study have never read the study. And hence, why it was able to become a communication "urban myth" without the aid of the Internet.

For an excellent explanation of what Albert Mehrabian's study was about, go to Lisa Braithwaite's blog, Speak Schmeak.

And the next time you hear it referenced, feel free to yell out, BOGUS.

More on Ending Nervousness, Quotable Quotes and Churchill's Speaking...in a Moment

It's been so long since I last posted, even our dog, Daisy, noticed. Here she is in my study, pencil in mouth, signaling it's time for me to get back to work.

What she won't acknowledge is that she is part of the problem. You see she is not technically our dog. She belongs to my daughter who is living with us for a few months while her husband is deployed as a flight surgeon on the USS Kitty Hawk.

I do most of my writing in my study at home. Daisy, a one year old English cocker spaniel, is constantly interrupting. She brings me her tennis ball wanting to play. She lies at (or on) my feet. She feels compelled to alert me to the dogs or kids walking by the house. When I leave the room, she follows me.

And frankly, she's fun to play with and  productivity is down. But now I'm in London for a fortnight, and will get back to posting. So look for more on quotable cliches, ending nervousness, Winston Churchill's Chartwell, and how to handle interruptions!