Building Leadership Communication Skills
a program for
This program will help you build the skills you need to be seen as a trusted advisor who recommends integrated, client-led solutions.
This program will strengthen your ability to consistently:
Lead effective meetings, presentations, and conversations
Prepare clear, concise, and compelling communications
Use presence to engage listeners and project credibility
Respond to questions with confident, focused answers
Simplify complex content and build commitment to action
Craft storylines that are easy to understand solutions to a client’s needs
Convince a range of stakeholders at a client with varied perspectives
Write well-structured, persuasive PowerPoint decks
Manage projects to build more productive client relationships
Personalize content to make it relevant for specific stakeholders
Handle resistance, being put on the spot, and other challenging situations
Motivate people to think and act differently
The program is in two parts — Part One is three days and Part Two is two days. You will build your skills in highly interactive and practice-intensive sessions.
Small working groups will ensure you have a very personalized experience. You will practice with two colleagues from Aon and an experienced coach from McAlinden
We don’t think there is one right way for everyone to communicate to all listeners. Instead, we will help you strengthen your skills while remaining true to your own personality
Each day, you will have one or two one-to-one coaching sessions, during which you will watch recordings of your practice, so you get a clear picture of your strengths and areas for work, as well as concrete suggestions for how to improve.
The rest of this page explains how to prepare for Part One and provides an overview of those sessions.
Choose material
You will practice your own real communication situations. Pick two meetings or presentations that will happen after Part One and bring any slides or notes you may have.
Piotr has suggested two examples: client pitches and report outs. If you have questions about the best material to practice, he has offered to discuss this with you directly.
Both should be important to you because you will improve the content as well as your skills.
Do not script yourself or over-prepare. You can bring work-in-progress. You will use your laptop to prepare content during the program and adjust it based on feedback.
The first situation you practice should be a presentation or meeting.
Ideally it should get across a point of view or a recommendation, rather than simply inform.
You will present up to ten-minutes of content. If the actual material is longer, you can condense it before the program or during the preparation period.
You have the option to use four or five slides. You can bring draft slides / work-in-progress.
You will be asked to try different approaches to the messages and structure of the content.
At first, you will not practice taking questions or challenges, even if the real meeting will be interactive. Later in the program, you will practice responding to questions / challenges about your presentation.
The second situation you practice should include complex content and / or be a controversial situation.
Ideally it will be an interactive sales or project management meeting where you need to persuade.
Don’t pick an easy situation. Think of a meeting where the other participants do not understand the issue being discussed or the solution you are proposing — or a meeting where some people prefer sticking with the status quo or implementing a different solution.
You can practice responding to challenges, interruptions, and difficult personalities, if any of those dynamics might be part of your real meeting, or you want to build those skills.
You will need 5-10 minutes of content. If you want to practice more interaction, you will not get through as much content.
Bring a draft PowerPoint deck, which can be a pre-read, a presentation, backup slides to answer difficult questions, or a summary to be sent afterwards.
Tell us who you are and what your goals are
If you would like to use a self-evaluation to think about your skills before answering these questions, click here. Many people also seek input from a few colleagues whose opinions they value.
Part 1
Day 1 – Morning
Opening
Discuss the challenging communication situations you face and link the agenda to them.
Set goals
You set personal goals within our framework of intellectual, emotional, and physical communication skills.
Increase presence
You practice telling a brief story — expanding your use of eye contact, voice and body language — to increase your presence, confidence and impact. We make a video of you.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your story privately with a coach.
Create compelling messages
You use our preparation tools to work on the first meeting or presentation you plan to practice. You analyze your listeners and then create an outline with a clear opening, compelling messages, and an action-oriented close.
Day 1 – Afternoon
Discuss visuals
Discuss how visuals support messages, where they get in the way, and how to use them well.
Engaging presentations
You present a ten-minute version of the material you prepared in the morning. You practice and receive feedback on your ability to be persuasive and engaging. We make a video of you.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your presentation privately with a coach.
Day 2 – Morning
Executive summaries
You practice delivering your material from the previous day as a two-to-three-minute executive summary, without visuals, to strengthen your ability to be concise and get across a memorable message.
Answer questions
You practice answering questions and responding to challenges on your executive summary — with credibility, confidence and empathy. We make a video of you.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your executive summary and responses privately with a coach.
Day 2 – Afternoon
Prepare complex or controversial content
You begin working with the second communication situation you have brought in for practice. We provide a framework for analyzing your stakeholders’ different points of view and then structures to efficiently prepare complex and controversial content.
Create a visual outline
You create a visual outline of your storyline to ensure it is clear, compelling, and convincing. We exchange feedback on the storylines to improve them
Day 3 – Morning
Feedback on a PowerPoint deck
Based on the feedback you receive in the second afternoon, you may adapt the draft PowerPoint deck you have brought in. We review your deck and exchange feedback on how well it communicates your storyline.
Verbal summary
You talk through a verbal summary of the same content. This challenges you to clearly and concisely summarize complex content and demonstrate your ownership of the story. We record a video.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your summary privately with a coach.
Day 3 – Afternoon
Lead a persuasive sales or project management meeting
You role-play the situation you have prepared in the second afternoon and third morning. If appropriate for your situation, your colleagues may interrupt and challenge you with different points of view. We record a video.
One-to-one coaching
You review the video of your persuasive meeting privately with a coach.
Action planning
You decide upcoming meetings to apply your skills and commit to tracking your successes and challenges between Parts 1 & 2.
Part 2
After three to six months of workplace application, Part 2 will reinforce the skills you gain in Part 1 and add new skills to further enhance your ability to be seen as a trusted advisor.
Questions?
Email us goals@mcalinden.com or call us +1 212 986 4950
About us
Visit our main website McAlinden Associates