Why Corporate Talk Dies a Fast Death: Executive Presentation Skills

• June 9, 2011

There is a new buzz word in corporations called, “employee engagement.”  Have you heard of it?

Have you ever wondered why new buzz words keep cropping up to describe something that was better described the old way?  Or have you ever wondered why corporations state a goal or theme for the new year and it feels like “flavor-of-the-month?”

It is not that corporations are fickle or that employees don’t get it.  It really all has to do with the fact that when corporations are looking for a new behavior that they need to see, it seems the easiest thing is to give it a new label. (Check out ImpressionManagement.com for seminars to help you to more effectively engage employees and change behavior.)

Why don’t new labels create change?  Because when we crave a change in behavior our brain tends to try to “rationalize” what the behavior should be.  We then put a label on it that feels new, unique and seems to put a perfect box around the problem as we see it.  But all that has happened is you have doctored up the same problem.  Think of the problem as being a gift in a box and labels are like the wrapping paper.  Now if that gift is an ugly painting, it doesn’t  matter how pretty the wrapping paper is because once a person opens it they will reject what is inside-hence no change in behavior.

What you need to do is really dig in and find out what  is in the box and whether it is something you want or a white elephant gift.  If it is trash, stop dressing it up.  Instead get to the root cause of what the problem is and eradicate it  once and for all.  I would rather teach you how to take out a paint brush and redo the picture so it is beautiful than teach you how to wrap it.

As an executive it is your job to introduce Executive Presentation Skills and to make change happen for the right reasons in the right way.  Check out how Outcome Thinking® can help you uncover what’s in the box and make it what it should be.