nathan beccord
Speaking “like a CEO” is both about what you say and how you deliver it.
Have you ever spoken out loud and thought to yourself: Wow, it looked so much better in my head? Dr. Laura Sicola knows how to solve that problem.? “I help bridge the gap between your brain and your mouth,” she says. “You have genius in your brain. You have a passion in your heart. But you do it in a way that makes people want to help make your vision a reality.” Can you tell me?”
Laura runs Vocal Impact Productions, where she provides vocal coaching to help founders and executives communicate with confidence. “Command the room, connect with the audience, and close the deal,” she says. “Those are my three Cs of vocal executive presence.”
In this article, Laura shares her top tips for entrepreneurs to take control of the venue to close a meeting, rally their team, or nail their next speaking engagement.
Why you need to learn how to speak like a CEO
“Founders love to build things. They love to create. They love to experiment. They don't understand that some founders are CEOs,” Laura explains. But venture capitalists want to invest in founders who can lead people. “Can you see yourself running a company with 10,000 employees in five years?” she asks. The answer won't be yes if you can't pepper your speech with “ums” and “ahs” to keep your audience engaged.
She likes to use the phrase “it's the jockey, not the horse” to explain why a product alone isn't enough to attract investors: “It doesn't matter if you have a great, world-class thoroughbred horse,” she explains. “If you're an inexperienced jockey, VCs aren't going to believe you can take the horse to the finish line.”
Laura adds that presenting an impression as a leader is not just important for attracting investors. Customers and employees want to know and trust the person behind a company's logo. “People won't buy your product or service unless they trust you,” Laura explains.
Captivating an audience doesn't come naturally to every founder, but Laura shares simple vocal coaching skills and presentation tips to increase your executive presence.
How to command a room and speak like a CEO
1. Set goals
Whether you're pitching down Sand Hill Road or leading an all-hands inside, Laura recommends having a goal. “Begin with the end in mind,” she says. “What do you want people to think, understand, and feel when the work is done?”
She describes these as three levels of impact: cognitive, behavioral, and emotional. Every presentation impacts your audience on all three levels, so it's important to actively consider what results you want at each level.
“You don't get in your car and ask Siri where you want to go,” says Laura. “Think of it as inputting your destination into your GPS, which can then help you navigate your journey and find the best route for your presentation.”
2. Think about what qualities you want to develop
We often hear that founders should be authentic, but what happens if you don’t have natural communication or leadership skills?
Laura rejects this question as too black and white. “This is not a coin toss,” she says. “Humans are not so monochromatic.”
She points out that everyone naturally behaves differently depending on the situation and audience. “What's it like when you're with your grandparents and grandchildren? Or are you playing with your best friend?”
Laura describes this change in personality and attitude as “your prismatic voice.” Just like wearing business casual to the office and workout clothes to the gym, you can be confident and authoritative in some situations and relaxed in others.
“Which color in the prism needs to shine brightest in a given situation for your message to get across as intended?” she asks. In other words, what qualities do you want your audience to perceive as uniquely you?
Think about the goals you've set. If you're aiming to secure term sheets from top tier VCs, you should strive to demonstrate maturity, passion, and authenticity.
“Think about what that trait looks and sounds like,” says Laura. “What is 'mature' enough to make an investor trust her with a $10 million investment?”
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3. Measure your baseline
Once you know how you want your audience to perceive you, you need to evaluate how well you convey those qualities.
Laura insists that all of her coaching clients start by watching themselves on video. “Video cameras are a great equalizer,” she says. “It tells you exactly what went right and exactly what went wrong.”
The videos reveal habits that can ruin even the most compelling pitches, like saying “um” every few seconds, fidgeting, or staring at your notes without making eye contact with the audience.
Similarly, just because you're a good speaker doesn't mean you can get away with terrible content. Laura points out that language is important. She says, “If your words aren't coherent, if you have to use foul language, or if you're not attentive, the message you want to convey won't get across.''
4. Get to work
Here are some presentation tips that Laura uses in her private vocal coaching sessions and workshops to help speakers improve both their content and delivery.
Meet people on the same level as you. One of the most common problems Laura sees is what she calls the “expert curse.” She explains: “You're passionate about the problem you solve. You've been fixated on it for years, so you tend to forget that other people in the world aren't as passionate about it as you are.” . And don't think about what they know or don't know.”
Laura says speakers tend to over-talk their audience or get bogged down in details. Take a step back and think about who you're speaking to. Why are you telling them? What do they need to know?
Please explain “why”. “Tell your company's story in a way that touches the head and the heart,” advises Laura. “It goes straight to your wallet.” Laura finds that many founders focus too much on market size and the technical details of their products.
“If you don’t inspire people with your vision and passion, they won’t bother investing in you,” she says. “It takes a personal story to understand why you care beyond the fact that it's a $20 billion market.”
Don't forget the punctuation. “If you have great content but your delivery is terrible, it's like dipping pearls in mud,” says Laura. Common issues include talking too fast, mumbling, and “uptalk” (a vocal pattern that makes you sound like you're asking questions when you're not). “Uptalk is usually a sign of insecurity,” explains Laura, and it can undermine your efforts to come across as an authority figure. “When you do it, give it your all.”
She also notices that many of us tend to speak in long sentences. “If you listen to your own voice, can you tell where to put a period?” she asks. “Or do you just use a lot of commas and 'ums' and 'sos' and question marks?”
Speaking in rambling sentences can cause another common problem: vocal fry, which is a creaky or gravelly voice. “When you're in stream-of-consciousness mode, you often forget to breathe,” explains Laura (who has a PhD in educational linguistics). “There's not enough air in the tank to support breathing. That's where the physiology that creates vocal fry comes in.”
You can control these issues by simply remembering to include the punctuation marks you use when writing.
Communicate confidently and capture your audience
Ultimately, commanding a room and speaking like a CEO is about both content and delivery. If you can pull both levers and find your persona as a leader, Laura says, “That's the secret sauce. And if you can learn it, you can rule the world.”
This article is based on an interview between Nathan Beckord and Dr. Laura Sikora in an episode of Foundersuite. How to raise Podcasts.
About the Author
Nathan Beckord is the CEO. foundersuite.comwhich makes software for startups to raise capital. Nathan is also the CEO. fundingstack.comis a new platform for venture capital and investment banks to raise capital and support their clients and portfolio companies. Users of these platforms have raised over $9.7 billion since 2016.
