It's Not About What You Say...

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