Welcome back to Speak Up, the podcast for high performing introverts, including you, social introverts, where we reveal the charisma and communication secrets of A-listers so that you get the recognition and the opportunities you have earned.
I am your host, Laura Camacho, your magical executive presence coach, godmother, and strategist.
And Welcome back.
This is Speak Up 12 Days of Christmas, where I give you 12 tiny but mighty tips between December 25th and January 5th to help you create big presents this year, to get recognized and rewarded for your contributions.
This is day nine, so we're getting to the end.
And here's the reality about executive presents that nobody wants to believe.
And it's that composure doesn't come from confidence.
It comes from preparation.
Now, I know there is a type of person who wings it and they feel confident, but they don't sound like they know what they're talking about if you listen to what they're saying.
So the thing about you listening to this is that you don't just like throw stuff out there.
You think about it and you are highly conscientious.
And so you want to sound like, oh, I just thought of this.
You know, you want to sound relaxed, right?
But did you know that preparing can help you sound relaxed and confident and calm?
We admire leaders who stay calm under pressure, even when there's like some kind of attack in the meeting or pushback.
And it's not because they're fearless, but they know how to say what they want to say.
They know why it matters and they can argue back.
Like you're not going to win every time somebody pushes back against you, but you always want to give your ideas and your point of view the best case possible.
So you don't need hours to prepare.
You don't even need 10 minutes.
I think with nine minutes, you can prepare for any high stakes meeting or conversation.
And there's three P's I want you to get clear on.
The point, the purpose, and the presence.
The three P's framework.
So point, what is the one thing they need to understand?
And remember, you cannot transmit all the information about a topic in one paragraph or in one meeting.
You have to layer it out of all the information that you have or that you want to share.
What is the main point?
What is the one thing they can take away?
And that was one of Steve Jobs signature communication practices.
Purpose everybody wants to know why are you talking, why does it matter?
Why is this important?
And finally, presence like how do you want to show up?
Do you want to be calm?
Do you want to be excited?
Do you want to be convincing?
The emotional tenor of the conversation has more impact than you realize and you can influence the emotion by proactively deciding How do you want them to feel.
They're going to mostly feed off of what you are transmitting.
And also the nine minutes of prep, allows you to walk in with clarity, speak with authority, be concise, not chaotic, and be more influential.
It's not just busy work.
It's a power move.
And for those of you listening, especially the ones that I want to sound better speaking off the cuff.
Well, you can actually prepare for that.
Point, purpose, presence.
Preparation is presence in advance.
So enjoy today, the end of this vacation holiday period.
Soak in some relaxation and we're going to hit it hard in 2026.
Have a fantastic day and I will catch you on the next episode.
And tomorrow's little tip is about being more magnetic.