You can Be a STAR Copy

Communication Excellence Part II Copy You can Be a STAR Copy
You are a Star

Well, you will be when you learn to “Speak Like A STAR”

Yep, here is another acronym. They are easier to learn and remember though.

One of the things you will have to learn to succeed in most jobs is to speak, or at least speak up in teams, and in front of your peers and your leaders and employers. Now I know this might scare the absolute bejeebies (whatever they are) out of some. It doesn’t have to though. Like everything, if you have a plan or a strategy, and practice a little, it can remove the fear of it for you.

Let’s have a look how the DISC profiles are affected by speaking in public. Remember these are natural behaviours and are not right or wrong – they just are. So we don’t pass judgement, and we don’t attribute motivation to anything re- DISC. It is just the way you were born, and that’s ok. So…

The Core ‘D’
  • Confident
  • Self assured
  • Don’t care what anyone else thinks
  • Happy to speak in public
  • Believe they have something of value
  • Will risk upsetting people, and have no idea they have done so – they are focusing on the task, not people
  • Leaving out detail
  • Will be about getting results for themselves, the team and the company.
The Core ‘I’
  • Loves attention
  • Will make it fun
  • Lack detail as they are big picture people
  • Will go off track
  • Not be aware of time
  • Will inject energy into the team
The Core ‘S’
  • Does not want the spotlight
  • Is non-emotional so will be matter fact, even aloof
  • Will provide a plan and structure
  • Will involve others as they are about team
  • Will have to be pushed to speak
  • Are worried about upsetting relationships
The Core ‘C’
  • Will be precise and accurate
  • Will provide too much detail
  • Will need time to prepare
  • Be afraid of criticism of their contribution
  • Will make sure it is right

Each of us have different challenges when it comes to speaking in public. Equally we all have a lot to give. Do the following exercise to get prepared and a little more comfortable for speaking public.

After you have made a list, for each item make some notes on how you do it. This will give you confidence when you eventually have to get uo and speak in public.

Back to the acronym of STAR

S = Situation T = Task A = Action R = Result

Situation: First state what the situation is, like a summary. Try to keep it to one sentence. Remember a short speech is a good speech. To help with this, ask yourself Where, Who and When. this will give you a good summary.

Task: Next briefly explain or re-cap the task. Again one sentence is enough.To help frame your sentence start with What, and then add the Why if it is appropriate.

Action: State what you did, or are going to do to solve the problem or deliver the result. Use How to frame this part of your statement.

Result: Lastly simply present what happened. To keep this concise, just cover the 4 points in one sentence. As a summary.

Here is an example of STAR in action

Someone asks you what the highlight of your week at work was. As it happens, you had a great week, and there is a lot to talk about. You use STAR to focus your answer so you don’t bore your friends and so that you send a clear message.

You respond: “On Tuesday, I was in a director’s meeting at our head office. I was asked to present last year’s sales figures to the group. I pulled out my laptop, fired up PowerPoint, and presented my slide show. Everyone was wowed by my prep work, and by our great figures!”

Did you get the STAR breakdown?

  • S – “On Tuesday, I was in a director’s meeting at our head office.
  • T – I was asked to present last year’s sales figures to the group.
  • A -I pulled out my laptop, fired up PowerPoint, and presented my slide show.
  • R – Everyone was wowed by my prep work, and by our great figures!”

This format can be compressed for quick conversations, or expanded for lengthy presentations. Practice framing statements with STAR, and see how much more confident you feel when communicating in public.

This process helps you stick to the facts at hand, not waffling on, and importantly not wasting everyones time. Give detail where it is needed, leave it out if its not. Sure, make an appropriate funny if you must, but be very careful of the company culture and remember what is funny to you, is not always funny to others. If in doubt – don’t. Be confident and speak up. If you have practiced then there should be no problem. At the end of this course I will give you some NLP tips ( Neuro Linguistic Programming) that will help here.

For now here are a few simple ones:

  • Stand or sit straight. It helps with posture and breathing
  • Prepare and practice your delivery to build confidence
  • If your mouth goes dry cause your as nervous as hell – “close your mouth, gently bite your tongue for 5 – 10 seconds. You now have generated saliva and no longer have a dry mouth. (if you are a singer, this is a great tip before you sing)
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