Leadership communications with Rob Cottingham

Getting carried off on a tangent in an interview or Q&A session can be risky. At best, you spend the time you wanted to use getting your message across on some other topic. At worst, you end up talking about sensitive, damaging topics that endanger your organization's reputation. This episode, we look at how you get back on track — quickly, honesty and graciously. Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Zane Lee on Unsplash

Rehearsal doesn’t kill spontaneity — it gives you the confidence that lets you be spontaneous. You don't just know the material: you know its emotional and literal meaning,nd you've made your big choices about how you're going to convey it. If you want to make the most of your speech, you need to rehearse. And to make that rehearsal count, behold: The Ten Commandments of Rehearsal. Links: The elusive Episode 17, where I make my case for rehearsing Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo:  Photo by Kyle Head on Unsplash

Before a speaker steps up to the microphone, there's usually somebody who introduces them. And that introduction could be helping to set the stage and prime the audience. But too many introductions are just tedious recitals of a speaker's biography. And they're so loooonnnng. Instead of revving an audience up, they put them to sleep. Let's kill those introductions off once and for all. This episode, we look at what an introduction can do for you and your audience, by promising some combination of six elements: authority, affinity, attraction, value, intrigue and entertainment. We'll talk about how to make your speaker intro effective, engaging and — most important — short! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

Pick up a collection of speeches or quotations from history, and chances are most of those voices belong to men. That's changing. More women are claiming their time at the microphone. And it turns out the oratory of the past was a lot more female than many of its curators would have us think. One woman in particular, Dana Rubin, is working to change our understanding of public speaking history — and the role women have played in shaping it. And she's my guest on this episode. Links: The Speaking While Female Speech Bank — a tremendously useful resource for speakers, speechwriters and anyone interested in women's oratory The Kickstarter project for the Speaking While Female book: get in early! Dana Rubin's firm, Speech Studio Dana's LinkedIn group, The Leadership Communications Roundtable — now over 5,000 members strong! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

You’ve probably heard the expression “stay in your lane.” And sometimes that’s good advice — but right now, we’re facing global emergencies on an unprecedented scale, and we need voices speaking out for truth, democracy, science and our very survival. If you have a platform, you can be one of those voices…even if you aren’t an expert. Here’s how to do it responsibly. Links: That Kris Straub cartoon about Internet "research" Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

There probably isn’t a speechwriter or speaker alive today who hasn’t heard the advice “Tell a story.” But you want them to do more than listen. You want to tell the kind of story your audience will turn into their story. Crafting that story is the heart Tamsen Webster’s terrific new book, Find Your Red Thread. Tamsen joins me this episode to talk about the five steps of an effective Red Thread — which just so happen to be a great way to outline your next speech or op-ed. And we talk about how great stories can move audiences and create change. Links: Follow Tamsen on Twitter and Facebook Learn more about Find Your Red Thread Sign up for Tamsen's newsletter Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.

Well over a year into remote presentations as the norm, people are getting pretty good at it... but some mistakes are still cropping up again and again. Last time, we looked at four of the seven deadly sins of online presentations. This time we tour the final three... and then we'll look at how to flip those sins into shining, saintly virtues. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! Tamsen Webster's new book Find Your Red Thread is an absolute must-read for crafting messages that move audiences. And stay tuned, because she's joining me for an upcoming episode! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Cullan Smith on Unsplash

Well over a year into remote presentations as the norm, people are getting pretty good at it... but some mistakes are still cropping up again and again. In this two-episode series, we'll meet the seven deadly sins of online presentations — from not looking at the camera to not knowing your platform. And then we'll look at how to flip those sins into shining, saintly virtues. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! Tamsen Webster's new book Find Your Red Thread is an absolute must-read for crafting messages that move audiences. And stay tuned, because she's joining me for an upcoming episode! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Cullan Smith on Unsplash

Sure, you and I would never take someone else’s writing and pretend it was our own. But not all plagiarism is deliberate. It can be surprisingly easy to steal someone else’s words by accident. Plagiarism scandals have caught up leaders ranging from presidential candidates to university officials. They’ve derailed campaigns and ended careers. Here’s how to keep that from happening to you — by making sure your words, really are your words. Links: Care to jog your memory? Here’s the background on Joe Biden’s and Melania Trump’s plagiarism issues. And in case you missed last episode’s notes: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! I'm thrilled to be reading Tamsen Webster's new book Finding Your Red Thread. Highly recommended for making the most of your message! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Hand modelling, photography and keyboard in desperate need of cleaning are all me.

So many leadership communications mistakes come down to one thing: not having a clear goal and a roadmap to get there. That’s especially true when it comes to areas where leaders aren’t as familiar with the subject matter. This episode looks at a high-profile communications failure: an op-ed that blew up in CEO's face, damaged the company's reputation and forced an embarrassing public about-face. We'll look at what went wrong... and how you can keep your communications on track. The important thing: Don't let stories like this discourage you from speaking up! You can make a positive contribution to the conversation… but it starts with doing the work. Links: Washingtonian CEO Cathy Merrill's op-ed in the Washington Post Just one of the news articles on the backlash against her op-ed My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. Highly recommended for making the most of the new workplace! I'm thrilled to be reading Tamsen Webster's new book Finding Your Red Thread. Highly recommended for making the most of your message! Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Fakurian Design on Unsplash 

Public speaking has changed a lot in the past year, since conference halls and auditoriums went dark and we traded stages and amplifiers for webcams and video. But those changes can help us be better speakers, when the time comes to return to the stage. Links: My wife Alexandra Samuel has co-written a terrific new book on making the most of remote work, called Remote, Inc. There's a chapter on presentations in there that I got to advise on, and it covers some of what I talk about here. (Think she'd be up for an interview in an upcoming episode?) Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Photo by Chris Montgomery on Unsplash

Mispronouncing someone's name from the stage is a lot more than a minor screwup. Here's why speakers should never go to the mic without knowing the correct pronunciation of every name they mention — and why speechwriters should never let them do it. Links: This episode of KUOW's RadioActive podcast delves into mispronunciation and race. And here's one of my favourite comments on the subject, from actor Uzo Aduba, quoting her mother: "If they can learn to say Tchaikovsky and Michelangelo and Dostoyevsky, they can learn to say Uzoamaka." Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Presenting online? Don't make the mistake of thinking longer is better. When you're speaking via video, you want to keep things short. Here's how to embrace short, even when you're scheduled to run long. Links: We spoke to Dr. Nick Morgan back in episode 58. His latest book is Can You Hear Me? How to Connect With People In a Virtual World. And since I recorded this episode, a new book is on the scene: Standout Virtual Events by David Meerman Scott and Michelle Manafy. It's really, really worth reading, whether you're a speaker, an event planner or just someone trying to wrap your mind around how things are changing in the way we come together to share knowledge, ideas and experience. Photo: Vlad Tchompalov on Unsplash

If you're spending all day in Zoom meetings, then it's easy to think that speaking by video automatically means showing your head and shoulders... and nothing else. Let's talk about what you (and your audience) are missing by not letting the rest of your body get in on the act. (The bad news? You're gonna need to start wearing pants again.) Resource: Hanna Thomas Uose‘s post The Trauma of Zoom Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Image: Robert Thiemann on Unsplash

You might have thought up-close video would be more intimate than speaking from the stage. But one big thing we're learning from remote presentations is this: You need to bring more energy to your speaking style when your audience is at home in front of their screens. Find out why... and how. Music: All music is by Lee Rosevere. The theme music is "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Image: Thomas Kelley on Unsplash

This time, we look at how the technology visionaries at Mozilla are making the pivot from face-to-face leadership communications to virtual channels. We're joined by Justin O'Kelly, Mozilla's senior executive communications manager. Links: Mozilla, makers of Firefox, Monitor, Send and more. Music: All music by Lee Rosevere. Theme: "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Image: from Mozilla

If sharing really is caring, then the content you share needs to be content you really care about — and content your audience will care about too. This episode we look at content curation... and why just shovelling links onto Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn without care or context isn't just bad for your reputation — right now, it's dangerous to your audience. Links: I mentioned those mysterious letters "RSS", which really can make your life easier! If you're baffled, here's a pretty good primer. Feedly is my newsreader of choice. (My wife and I still feel resentful about what happened to Google Reader.) By the way, the great OG RSS explainer video (which helped launch a thousand imitators) comes from Lee and Sachi Lefever. Some of the references are a little dated nearly a decade later, but I still love it. Talkwalker is a handy tool with a free option for searching social media for mentions of keywords, hashtags and usernames. Music: All music by Lee Rosevere. Theme: "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Jessica Lee on Unsplash

With so many face-to-face presentations being cancelled, a lot of speakers are looking at going virtual. But with webinars and online conferences suddenly getting a second look, it’s important to keep in mind their special demands. This episode, we talk to presentation coach, theorist, blogger, speaker and author Dr. Nick Morgan about what we lose when we go virtual, and how to make up some of that lost emotional connection. And we’ll hear from author and (her delightful description) camp counselor for grownups Kim Werker. In roughly a week, she’s had to move an event months in the planning into cyberspace. She’ll tell us all about it. This is part of a series on how leadership communicators are grappling with the coronavirus pandemic. Links: Here’s Nick’s book on restoring clarity and connection to online conversations, Can You Hear Me? And be sure to check out his classic on moving audiences to action, Give Your Speech, Change the World. I love everything about Kim’s book Mighty Ugly. And this might be the perfect time to subscribe to her podcast, Mighty Creative. Kim has a great Twitter thread summarizing how her team took their event online. (And that event itself is A Multi-Faith Discussion on the Climate Emergency.) Music: All music by Lee Rosevere. Theme: "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Image: Based on a photo by Lucrezia Carnelos on Unsplash

Cancelled speaking gigs are a fact of life, but never more than today. And hey: with social distancing and disease prevention rightly taking precedence over oratory, we know better than to feel sorry for ourselves over postponed conferences and scrubbed events. But when you're left holding a speech without a stage to deliver it on, what's your next move? Instead of letting all your work writing and preparing your presentation go to waste, try these suggestions for getting some real value out of that broken speaking date. This is the third episode of our five-episode series looking at leadership communications in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Links: Episode 27 goes into more depth on ways you can spin great content from a speech. The Nonprofit Technology Network hosts my absolute favourite annual conference. They announced this week they're cancelling it for the year, which is devastating for them because it's where most of their revenue comes from. They do terrific work helping nonprofits make the most of digital tech, and they could really use your support. Music: All music by Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/). Theme: "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license. Photo: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Getting leadership communications right is never more important than in the middle of a crisis. And as COVID-19 coronavirus outbreaks happening throughout much of the world, you may well be facing a crisis soon. Last episode, we talked about planning for your crisis leadership communications. This episode, we look at putting that plan into action with seven key principles: Be transparent and honest. Communicate early. Be proportionate. Connect emotionally. Be flexible. Listen. Inspire hope. And stay tuned all week, as we look at some of the implications of the coronavirus outbreak for leaders and the communications teams that support them. Be safe, everyone. Music: All music by Lee Rosevere (https://leerosevere.bandcamp.com/). Theme: "Twitter Will Kill Us All." Used under a Creative Commons license.