In The Truth About You, Marcus Buckingham shares how former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani came across as a gifted public speaker arguing his cases in the court room when he worked as a prosecutor. When he gave talks while running for office though, he came across as stiff. He really struggled when he had to stand behind a podium and give a talk to a room full of people. He hired a speech coach, he practiced constantly, he read speeches of other great speakers but he continued to come across a bit like a robot.Giuliani responded, “I like arguing, I like taking a question and then making a case for why my answer is the best answer.”
So he and his coach set about a strategy of re-shaping his talks. He began standing behind the podium to make a few brief remarks and then comes out front and takes questions, arguing his case. It worked brilliantly. He began coming across loose, natural, and comfortable in his own skin. And then an interesting thing happened. Over time he also became more comfortable when he was forced to give talks that didn’t allow for his now signature interactive style.
This is a great story that can be applied to any number of jobs. Is there any piece of a mostly uncomfortable job that you do well? How can you expand that piece so that it eclipses the parts that you don’t do as well?
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