Women Seen and Heard: Speaking With a Strategic Vision
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• Score of 4 or 5: You have a track record for effectively using your presentation skills and personal style to advance yourself and your organization to a whole other level.
Develop Strong Communication Skills
Public speaking has almost always been structured as a monologue, not a dialogue. The audiences’ eyes and ears focus on the speaker, who is expected to have a strong personality and point of view. Women tend to be more conversational and less authoritative in their delivery of facts and a story. They want to relate, are interested in how others feel, and seek common ground. These are admirable qualities in intimate gatherings and useful in presentations, but being a public speaker or leader requires a more assertive communication style. At the podium, your commitment to your vision must trump any tendencies to be deferential. Women in technology industries have barriers to break; research tells us that women aren’t reaching the executive level in technology any more easily than they have in more traditional industries. A University of Pennsylvania study found that women make up 9 percent of executives at telecom, media and Internet companies, lower than the 13 percent average for all companies. This statistic is unfortunate because women bring a new perspective to the business world that could develop a more diverse customer base for products waiting to be designed.
If unrewarded, women become discouraged and frustrated and leave corporations to start their own businesses where they are assured greater likelihood of success. In fact, the number of woman-owned firms has grown by 28% in the past seven years, three times the growth rate among all employer firms, and women now control about half of all the small businesses in America. As women move up in technology fields, they are not only going to be starting companies but also providing new opportunities to other women seeking top positions.
Here are seven techniques that will help you take charge and stay focused.
1. Be Direct
If you propose action, be direct about your proposal in a way that is easy for everyone to understand. For example:
What we need to do now is . . . . If not, there are going to be three predictable consequences. They are…
2. Be Logical
When you present arguments, use logic and stay focused on your topic. For example:
When our industry analyzes the impact of practices that produce pollution, we must consider the quality of our air and water, and toxics in our soil, particularly if we want to show our business partners that we can be a good citizen.
3. Be Specific
Avoid generalizations. Be specific about your expertise and concretize your success. This can be difficult for those of us who want to avoid bragging. For example:
I’ve spent ten years in the field working with over 300 corporate clients as well as computer science researchers and graduate students, and I have learned five lessons that saved our company millions. They are…
4. Don’t Disclose Too Much
When you present an emotional story, make sure you aren’t venting, blaming, or playing the victim. Use just the right amount of self-disclosure, not so much that you become self-indulgent or sink to self-deprecating humor. Be brief and frame the story in such a way that you are making a specific point. For example, someone might gain credibility in this way:
“I am a cancer survivor. At first, I was devastated by the news. While I certainly wouldn’t recommend choosing to have cancer, ironically I feel that I’m a better person and have a richer life as a result. I’m even a better manager. Today I’ll share three lessons I’ve learned from surviving cancer that apply to ensuring that our company survives and thrives…”
5. Collect Facts. Use Facts
Research and refer to the most current and accurate facts to back up your opinion. You can have a lot of legitimate feelings and great stories to tell about your subject, but without the facts to support them, you’ll probably lose your audience. For example:
We need to understand how California economics are affecting our bottom line. When I first traveled out of our cocoon in Silicon Valley to visit urban schools and colleges, I was shocked to realize that only 2% of all students own computers and – most of them do not own ours.
6. Keep Your Eye on The Big Picture
Leaders focus on the big picture and don’t get mired in the details. Leaders are futurists who can mastermind big changes. What’s the biggest problem in the industry? They’ll take it on. For example, Cynthia Dwork, a senior researcher at Microsoft, has tackled the problem of spam because her company has a major financial stake