Leadership Speaking
Definition, Process, Benefits & Strategies
There is tremendous power in having our world upended for half an hour while we look at a topic with a fresh perspective, guided by someone who knows both the subject matter and how to connect with an audience.
What Is Leadership Speaking?
It's an oversimplification to think of leadership speaking as a learned individual delivering perfectly-turned phrases to a passive audience. Sure, that happens, but leadership speaking is about communication, and communication is a two-way street.
The audience plays a critical role in successful leadership speaking. This represents a certain risk to the leadership speaker in that the audience may be responsive and engaged, or they may sit there passively, seemingly unable to be cajoled out of their passivity.
Expect your leadership speaker to engage your audience, helping them become invested in the content and delivery.
Who Uses Leadership Speaking?
Ultimately, the "user" of a leadership speaking event is the individual in the audience, who may learn something, make a new cognitive or emotional connection, or otherwise be inspired to be a better person today than they were yesterday. But it's usually someone in top leadership who brings in a leadership speaker in an attempt to engage, inspire, and renew commitment among their teams.
Any industry can benefit from the right leadership speaker—from healthcare to telecommunications to education to government. Organizations that can expect to benefit are those that want to:
- ✓Transform or reinvent their organization to support key business initiatives
- ✓Strengthen leadership attitudes and skills of current or future leaders
- ✓Build a stronger culture of leadership or talent to support operational goals
What Are the Benefits of Leadership Speaking?
Fresh Perspective
Often the outsider is the very person to help teams take a new, fresh look at things, and discover new ways of approaching problems and challenges.
Reconnect with Values
The right leadership speaker can help communicate an organization's goals in a new and fresh way, helping employees reconnect with company (and personal) values.
Engagement & Inspiration
A great leadership speaker can definitely have a positive effect on teams, inspiring them to take action and be better than yesterday.
Break from Routine
Beyond brief joy of breaking out of routine, leadership speaking offers rich, varied content that may include exercises, case studies, and group discussion.
Exceptional leadership speakers know that audiences shouldn't remain passive.
John Mattone's Leadership Speaking Approach
John Mattone offers fast-paced, high energy leadership speaking that is anchored with the gravitas that comes from over three decades in business leadership.
Intellectual Connection
Top-notch content delivered with genuine passion, making lasting cognitive connections.
Emotional Resonance
People assimilate and retain information better when they make an emotional connection.
Direct Interaction
John is known to leave the stage and interact directly and up close with the audience.
Ultimately, John delivers leadership lessons that are simple, practical, and that can be put to use. But he also ensures that the audience is invested and has a great time during his speaking engagements. Your audience will learn, they will laugh, and they will have their own "Eureka!" moments during his presentation.
Does Leadership Speaking Work for Everyone?
Anyone who doubts the effect that outstanding speaking by a leader can have on an audience only needs to read Winston Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech, or Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator" speech.
Leadership speaking has immense power, but only if it is used in the context of an organization that is receptive and committed to positive change. Unfortunately, some organizations break down under the weight of disaster or scandal to the point where nothing short of starting over from scratch could possibly bring it back to excellence.
In most typical business or organizational situations, however, an exceptional leadership speech can make an immediate and lasting difference.
Glossary of Key Terms
Audience Engagement
An environment where audiences feel empowered to interact with a presenter, due to outstanding presentation content and delivery, and a human-to-human connection.
Cultural Transformation
A dynamic process where a living culture adapts to internal and/or external forces. In a business context, this begins (but doesn't end) with transformation in leadership.
Executive Coaching
Personalized training in leadership from a professional who understands both business leadership and principles of successful coaching.
Keynote Speaker
The public speaker invited to start off or bring to a close an organizational event, able to energize an audience and leave them with plenty to think about.
Leadership Content
The "meat" of the leadership speech—information that helps change perspective, inspire new achievements, or impart critical knowledge.
Book John Mattone for Your Next Event
Leadership speaking can do what online communication cannot. Experience the electricity and excitement of a live speaking event featuring someone who really knows how to engage an audience.