Focuses during communication to improve executive presence.
Things to focus on:[^r11]
- Ask questions & then wait—don’t add to them. Count if needed.
- Ask for feedback about executive presence.
- Improve writing by putting more attention into editing.
- Tailor communication style to discussion context: executive discussions are action-focused and brief, other types may allow more exploration.
- Avoid responding immediately where deeper thought offline is needed.
- Speak definitively (remove “I think”), but enable disagreement by asking for weakenesses in ideas.
Similarly:rS13
- Show confidence where experience/data/logic allow; okay to have no opinion.
- Don’t destroy confidence by freaking out—freezing, anger, lashing out.
- Avoid defensiveness. Consider all angles of your role, even if indirect. Avoid whataboutism. Take control of problems leading to excuses.
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“A Practical Guide to Executive Presence,” May 27, 2023, https://staysaasy.com/leadership/2023/05/27/executive-presence.html. (See notes.)