Communications Insight For More Inspiring Leaders It's Not About What You Say...

It's Not About What You Say...

 12th Mar 2022

Effective communication is not about what you say. It's about what your audience "thinks" you said.

The other day, I rewatched BBC documentary "Putin: The New Tsar" on BBC iPlayer (see link in Comments below).

I was again struck by the importance of a single #presentation back in 2003, in shaping Putin's relationship with the oligarchs.

Leading oligarch at the time, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was invited to give a presentation to Putin in the Kremlin, complete with PPT slide deck, on the topic of Corruption.

In so doing, Khodorkovsky used as an example a major oil deal involving Yukos... little realising (or failing to appreciate the importance of the fact) that Putin himself had been intimately involved as a beneficiary.

The result?

Inadvertently, Khodorkovsky gained a most powerful enemy. Putin perceived both the presentation and its presenter as a direct threat to his own position and, one assumes, personal wealth.

It wasn't long before Khodorkovsky was on trial - and in jail for a decade.

Again, it's not about what you say. It's about what your audience "thinks" you said.

The documentary (made 2-3 years ago) makes for compelling viewing...

#communication #leadership #politics #presentationskills #oil #publicspeaking

I have learnt so much ... had an opportunity to present to an audience just a couple of days after and it was the most successful public speaking I've ever done.

 

Agnes Guzik | Category Manager, FM & Trading Assets, Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd.

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