I don’t often run with the big dogs. Most often I don’t even qualify to shovel their… wood chips. And I figure most of the time there’s a reason the big dogs are in the front. So I was a bit surprised when I was directed to an archive of Bill Gates’ presentations. I don’t recall ever seeing him speak (seen a clip or a soundbite, maybe). This is the richest man in the world — he can afford as much help as he needs. And yet he speaks with his hands clasped a la Mr. Burns, has little to no direct eye contact (sprays the crowd with nervous glances), and delivers with about as much confidence as a Spelling Bee contestent who has no idea. And yet because of his position, when he speaks the world hangs on his every word. Just imagine what a little polish could do!Then tonite I’m watching the (Tostitos’) Fiesta Bowl with Brent Musburger as the play-by-play man. I’ve never thought much of his commentating (a word?), but he makes nearly 8 figures a year doing it, so I thought I must be the one who doesn’t know what I’m talking about. But then I started counting his ums and ahs and listening to his sentences, and I’m pretty sure that there’s (a lot of) room for improvement. Again, the thought comes to mind — imagine what some shine to that position could do!Not that we all don’t have room for improvement, but somehow I just expect people who have positions of power to polish their communication. I realize I expect too much and that’s the world that I observe, but I’ve always felt that a true measure of a great leader is to use his/her strengths and rely on others to fill in for the weaknesses. I am quite sure that most of us can’t see our weaknesses as well as we should, so that makes it all the more important to find someone who can help us. Proverbs 16:20 says ” Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers”. Clearly the converse is not always true, but there’s no reason not to get that taken care of.
Find an honest appraisal of your weaknesses and then secure the help to shore them up.
Hi, Alan. Just found it odd that I thought exactly the same, um, thing last night as I, um, watch ed the, um, Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. After I heard the first, um, two or three vocal pauses, it became the, um, only thing I heard. Very distracting.I’ve also become very critical of most NFL announcers, especially the trio of clods on Sunday night football. Truly brutal (Watch his feet!!!).
Once it’s brought to your attention, you’ll notice it more andmore on the radio, TV, or any public event. Most people,regardless of how much they’re paid to talk, waste at least athird of their verbal output. Low expectations and skewedpriorities create a perfect petrie dish for breeding mediocrity.