Do you have a sneaking suspicion that what it took to be a good communicator just five years ago may no longer cut it today?
Increasing business complexity, continued social media channel explosion, and employee change fatigue have made your job as a corporate communicator all the more challenging. To help you redefine your role to succeed in this environment, we’ve mapped out (and shared with you at length) the 16 competencies of the modern communicator.
While each competency is critical, it’s unreasonable to improve all 16 at once. You need a tailored plan for action! We’ve uncovered how key skill strengths group together and how these groupings create four distinct Communicator skill profiles:
- The Presenter—Knows What to Say and How to Say It
- The Influencer– Builds Relationships Across the Organization
- The Consultant– Solves Business Problems
- The Coach– Helps Others to Communicate
These profiles emerged from our analysis of 600 communicators’ responses to CEC’s Skills Maturity Assessment, a self and manager diagnostic of communicators’ proficiency across the 16 competencies. The value in knowing which “type” of communicator you are is two-fold:
- Spot additional opportunities to use your strengths to deliver greater impact on your projects
- Make deliberate efforts to build less-developed skills through specific projects, responsibilities, or roles
Today, I’ll share a bit more about The Presenter; we’ll cover the other profiles in subsequent posts right here!
The Presenter
The Presenter is skilled at crafting messages that are crisp, clear and resonate with key audiences. The CEO trusts this person to make boring and bland strategy messages sound engaging and compelling. The Presenter—as much as they enjoy writing—doesn’t always want to just write great content, she wants to deliver it! She is skilled at speaking and presenting. She can understand when to use certain channels—including emerging media and other people—given the desired intent of their communication.
The Presenter, while strong in core communications skills, is less adept at business partnership skills. She lags behind other communicators in her ability to advise and influence skeptical business partners. Moreover, rooted in a strong communications background, presenters tend to default to past experience versus hunt for new solutions using critical thinking skills.
The Presenter in a Nutshell
- Represents 35% of communicators
- Transforms jargon-filled speeches and memos into simple, memorable messages
- Master at motivating audiences to take action in live presentations
- Most likely to come from a formal background in Communications or journalism
The Presenter’s Key Strengths
The Presenter’s Development Areas
If this person sounds like you, use The Presenter Skill Development Pack to create an individual development plan tailored to your needs as a presenter. If this doesn’t sound like you, have no fear! In coming posts, we’ll explore the other communicator skill profiles. To get a head start, learn how to guide your career in Communications.
CEC Related Resources:
- How to Guide Your Career in Communications
- Communication Skill Development Pack: The Presenter
- The 4 Communicator Skill Profiles Webinar Replay
- The One Person You Want on Your Comms Team
- 3 Skills to Ensure Your Job Security
- Strongest and Weakest Skills for the Communications Profession
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