Great communicators make you feel smarter

They are happy to rise your status by helping you see things for yourself that now you are proud of having uncovered. They are happy when you take that knowledge and spread it. They are happy when you do great things based on that new knowledge.

Their biggest win is when that knowledge helps you to come up with extraordinary things that they themselves would never have thought of.

That’s a big difference to mediocre communicators whose biggest concern is to show up as the smartest guy in the room. They work hard to make us see how smart they are. Their biggest triumph is when their audience recognises just how much smarter they are than us – up to the point where they don’t even care when they makes the audience feel dumb.

Which is not what anyone likes to feel. And so they don’t get the appreciation they think they deserve.

Life as a communicator gets so much easier when we leave our ego at home. When we consider our communication as an opportunity to boost our audience’s ego rather than our own.

Check out my new book
The PATH to Strategic Impact

Get my free guide The Best Talk of Your Life.
Finally give talks that actually change things.

You’ll get the guide and my free weekly briefing “This Moment Counts.
Unsubscribe anytime. I value your privacy.

Read More

The team

It’s not “we, the leaders“ and “you, the team.”It’s “us, together.” Watch for language that separates you from the team. It can be subtle, but

Read »

Getting unstuck

If you could ask me one question about your communication, e.g. a question about something that’s holding you back. Or some aspect of lighting the

Read »

Where great ideas go to die

Recently, in a marketing brainstorming session with a table full of snacks and charts. Chief Trend Officer (CTO): “Alright team, we’ve got the latest trend

Read »