The general election was quite the journey. It was most vexing to see highly motivated politicians completely failing to get their message across to cynical interviewers and, more importantly, to the long-suffering electorate. If we did this in the business world, we would not last long.
Graham Davies first learnt his trade as President of The Cambridge Union, arguably the world’s leading debating society. He then practised as a barrister, working on both prosecution and defence cases. As he liked to include humour to sweeten the pill of dry content, he was soon a very popular after-dinner speaker at corporate events.
At these events he soon noticed that businesspeople were struggling to communicate effectively to both internal and external audiences. All of us have cringed at a presenter who puts up an impossibly busy slide. This is often accompanied by the coup de grâce for their performance: “sorry you won’t be able to read this slide.”
Graham went on to moderate conferences, setting the scene for each speaker, drawing out the learning points for the audience and, crucially, keeping the event running to schedule. He now works one-on-one with the world’s top businesspeople, preparing them for board meetings, internal events, international conferences, and TV interviews.
He honed his techniques while working with big-name politicians who inevitably face massive communication challenges. First, they have to go through the arcane and often soul-destroying process of selection when they have to persuade local activists to adopt them. This is highly competitive as they can be up against more than 100 equally determined political aspirants.
When finally elected to Parliament, then the real fun starts. Not only are they bombarded with an indigestible amount of detailed information, but they will soon be performing themselves in the brutal bear-pit of The House of Commons Chamber. Then, there are television appearances, facing aggressive interviewers who are expert in the catching out and humiliation of poorly prepared wafflers.
Graham encapsulates his presentation methodology in three words: Process, Precision and Performance. While businesspeople understand their own commercial processes, the problem is how to communicate their ideas and decisions using the right words in the right way, at the right time.
Precision, the selection of exactly the right words, is then essential. A presentation that tries to include everything usually achieves nothing.
The final ingredient is your Performance on the day. You need to be confident, clear, even statesmanlike. This requires meticulous preparation combined with rigorous rehearsal.
Long ago we used to look up with reverence and submit with cheerfulness to politicians and senior businesspeople. But nowadays, you can instantly destroy your reputation on TV or in front of a Parliamentary Select Committee through a lack of tailored preparation.
Graham is a frequent commentator on the BBC, Sky TV, and GB News, dissecting the common errors which make politicians look unprepared, shifty, and insincere.
Graham prepares very senior executives for a every type of business presentation scenario.
He has even enabled the CEO of a tobacco company to survive and thrive on live TV, despite being shouted at by Piers Morgan.
So, if you are facing a communication challenge, just remember Graham’s core belief: Every Word Matters.
Graham Davies:
0203 488 0715
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