As a Public Speaking Coach who works with various public figures on their public speaking, I find the dynamic of the coaching relationship fascinating from client to client. Every client is unique in their wants, needs, challenges, and goals.
Earlier this year Harvard Business Review posted some interesting findings on why coaches are called. They found that ten years ago executive coaches were hired to fix “toxic behavior”; however, now coaches are being hired to develop skills and improve potential. This is probably why we have seen speech coaches hired more and more. Couple this finding with the fact that communication skills ranks high in necessary leadership skills and you have a growing need.
So when it comes to speech coaching, how can both the client and the coach create a successful relationship?
1) Motivation
As the survey shows, the client must be motivated to change and improve. The coaching relationship will come to a screeching halt if the client isn’t motivated and willing to make changes. In a speech coaching relationship, this means trying new approaches and tactics, doing the homework, practicing, and taking an honest look at their communication style and effectiveness. Continuous push-back does not facilitate growth and improvement.
2) Trust
There needs to be complete trust between the client and their speech coach. When you either reach a certain level of fame or rank within your organization, fewer and fewer people will give you their honest opinions, especially when it comes to speeches and how meetings were run. No one wants to feel the backlash of upsetting the “the big guy” (or gal). That’s why the client needs to trust the coach to give them honest and educated feedback.
3) Work
Hiring a good public speaking coach isn’t the same as hiring a speech writer. Speech writers will give you the words to say. A speech coach works with you on anything from developing the message of a speech, setting goals for the speech, the delivery of the speech, measuring the effectiveness of the speech, the persuasive power of the speech, and the follow up communications after the speech. Needless to say there is a bit more effort involved for the client than just reading words on a page. Plus, the return on investment is much higher because the client is developing a skill-set that will serve him/her for the rest of their career, improve their leadership abilities, create an improved corporate culture, increase positive publicity,…the list can go on and on.
That’s it. Only 3 main ingredients, but all three need to be present in order to create the best speech coaching relationship possible.
