Executive Presence
Everyone has presence, however, not everybody has Executive Presence. Executive Presence is far from just the way that one looks, rather, it is a compilation of physical, verbal, and emotional actions and appearances. As you will notice from the list presented below, there is a great deal of emotional intelligence, self-awareness, physical presence, verbal, and non-verbal communication that is involved in building someone's Executive Presence.
Thee Executive-Panel works with our clients to enhance their Executive Presence, allowing them the ability to gain greater self-awareness, influence, positioning, and results. Our methods add various pieces of military structuring into the coaching design that enable our clients to add a unique level of strategic organizational engagement.
The 7 Traits of Executive Presence
Composure: Self-awareness and understanding others are essential components of executive presence. The ability to control your emotions, recognize emotion in others and manage your response to them is key.
Connection: It's critical to engage others when communicating and make them feel comfortable. The best way to connect is to understand your communication style challenges, how to overcome them, and how to read and adapt to the style of others.
Charisma: People who embody executive presence have the ability to draw others to them. This is often achieved through strong listening skills and an ability to stay "in the moment." As a result, the people with whom you are communicating know that you are solely focused on them, and not distracted by the many other things you could be doing at that moment. They matter to you.
Confidence: One key aspect of executive presence is to communicate confidence both in what you say and how you say it. To appear confident, good posture is essential. Next, eye focus is critical. Ensure you only speak when making eye contact and manage your eye focus appropriately when communicating with more than one person — one thought per person. Ensure your facial expression matches your message and that your voice has good pitch, volume, and pace. And of course, you must look the part. Choose your wardrobe and accessories carefully.
Credibility: Not only is your content important, but the language you choose to deliver it will impact your credibility. Filler language such as "um," "uh," and "so" immediately detract from presence. As do minimizers like "just," "sort of," and "this may not be a good idea but…" When someone with strong presence speaks, others take note, and there is no doubt of the conviction behind their words.
Clarity: For you to exude presence, the ability to clearly communicate is fundamental. If your point is unclear, any hope of commanding attention is lost. Ask yourself, "What is my message in 10 words or fewer?" If you can't articulate it to yourself you are not ready to communicate it to others.
Conciseness: Being verbose kills presence. Just as it is critical to know what you want to communicate, you must be able to do it concisely. Once you've delivered your message and validated it briefly, reverse back to others by asking, "What else can I share with you about this idea?" This way you stay on point and only expand on a topic with the content that your listener needs.