For a long time we have thought of leaders as being logical, serious, and perhaps even able to argue their point. But a new age of leadership is already here. And if you use this sort of attitude when giving presentations, chances are they will fail. Why? Here, we will look at the new era of leadership and presentation skills that are budding. We will tell you more about how to get your audience engaged. You will also learn how to put these new ideas to work for you.
Six Aptitudes of Leadership
There are six aptitudes of leadership that everyone should be aware of. Daniel Pink in his book, A Whole New Mind, laid these six aptitudes out. They include:
- Design (or making your presentation look great and function great).
- Story (or appealing to the human side of your audience, not just their logic).
- Symphony (or getting things to work together).
- Empathy (or helping your audience to get your points and keeping them from being bored).
- Play (or not taking yourself so seriously throughout the presentation).
- Meaning (giving your audience a so what and who cares for each of your presentations).
Engaging Your Audience
When you use all of the above aptitudes together, you will have no issue engaging your audience. Use story to lay out the logic of your argument. Make sure the story is one that appeals to both emotion and passion. When everything works together, no one feels left behind. And when the audience is left behind, the leader will pause to help lay things out again, if needed. A bit of playfulness helps you audience to instantly connect and feel put at ease. A presentation that looks great also runs very little risk of putting your audience to sleep.
Passion is Contagious
One thing we want to tell you here is that passion is contagious. When it comes to ideas, nothing is more infectious than passion. Being able to expose the human side of your idea and put it all together helps to get your audience engaged. When you seem to be having fun, they will be having fun, as well. Granted, having fun during a presentation can take a bit of practice. This is why we highly recommend that you practice. Run your metaphors, jokes, and stories by others before you use them. Tell any and all stories as if you were there.
Strong proponent of individual liberty and free speech. My goal is to present information that expands our awareness of crucial issues and exposes the manufactured illusion of freedom that we are sold in America. Question everything because nothing is what it seems.
