From an Icy Will to a Fiery King, No Wonking Allowed

The founders of Executive Communications Consultants LLC teach that there are three different styles of speakers: icy, fiery and hazy. Icy speakers are usually very factual and succinct, like George Will and Dick Cheney, Elise Mitchell said. Martin Luther King Jr. would be a good example of a fiery speaker. Most of the rest of us probably fall into the hazy category.

“We don’t want everybody to walk out of here and be Zig Ziglar,” said Blake Woolsey, Mitchell’s partner in the consulting firm. “That’s not the point of the day.”

One thing that isn’t allowed is speaking in a particular business jargon that others might not understand, Mitchell said. Of course, downright “wonking” is a big no no.

Woolsey said “winging it” is also a very bad idea. People need to be prepared to make a presentation. Winging it often results in rambling, and the audience will start to wonder if you’re wasting their time, she said. In business, everyone knows, time is money.

Fear is the No. 1 obstacle when it comes to public speaking, so Mitchell and Woolsey tell stories to help participants overcome fear. One way to do that is to tell people it’s not about them, it’s about the presentation — the information they have for others.

“Have a healthy self-esteem but not a healthy ego,” Mitchell said. “It’s not about you … That’s a very self-centered approach about presenting.”

Mitchell said the two have also developed a different half-day seminar called “Projecting a Professional Image.”

Mitchell said the workshops aren’t focused entirely on people who do outside sales or deal with the public. Many people need help to communicate with executives in the company where they work or with people in their own department.

“It’s something you can walk away with tomorrow and put into action,” she said.

Betsy Reithemeyer, director of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart, said she plans to send managers this fall to another series of workshops by Executive Communications Consultants.

“I think they have a unique way of finding out truly what [a company’s business communications] needs are,” she said.