碧昂斯假唱带来的沟通启示

    2013年的沟通目标应该是真实可信。

    我一直在关注当今世界需要什么，碧昂斯是一个催化剂。和其他人一样，我也曾为她在美国总统就职日的表现深感震撼，为她的美貌，她的嗓音……因此当有传言称，她可能是在假唱，还强迫Marine Corps乐队一起作假，不免让人有些扫兴。

    我知道这很让人扫兴，但很多艺人都假唱。

    碧昂斯的目标是做到完美。她不想犯错。但事实是即便她犯了错，她的表现可能也会让人惊叹，像我们很多人那样错过几个音符，只会显得更真实。

    这让我想到了包括商界领袖在内的很多客户，他们同样担心暴露真正的自我，担心把缺点显现在员工和公众面前。

    我曾经和医疗保健行业的一位高管合作，他总是坚持使用提词机，哪怕只是面对小规模群体的非正式讲话，因为他相信演讲稿撰写人会让他的言辞更加得体。我问他如何定义在这些情形下的成功。是做到完美，使用漂亮的零错误句法？还是将演讲与员工和客户联系起来？他承认是后者。我让他每周练习根据提纲讲话。慢慢地，他开始习惯偶然出现磕巴，因为他意识到这就是我们讲话的方式。听众们告诉他，他从没讲得这么好，越来越连贯。

    还有一位女性，她把零售生意打造成了一家数百万美元的公司，但始终拒绝演讲邀请和媒体采访机会，因为她害怕自己听起来不够入时……担心“听起来很土”，用她自己的话说。我让她听了一些有口音的领导人视频，这些人同样也坦诚自己并不是全然胸有成竹。我提醒她，她必须赢得很多高端听众，为她的业务获得融资。她试了几次，还通过回放录像逐步建立信心。如今的她已是个中高手。

    The communication goal for 2013 should be aiming for authenticity.

    I've been looking for what the world needs now, and Beyoncé was the catalyst. Like everyone else, I was in awe of her on Inauguration day--her beauty, her voice...and then it went just a bit flat with word that she was probably lip synching, forcing the Marine Corps band to fake it.

    Oh, I know it was cold, and plenty of entertainers lip synch.

    Beyoncé was aiming for perfection. She didn't want to make mistakes. But even if she had, she would have been amazing, and authentic, missing a few notes like the rest of us!

    It reminds me of so many clients, business leaders and all Type A's who fear showing their real selves, exposing shortcomings to their employees and the public.

    I worked with a top executive in the healthcare sector who would insist on using a teleprompter even with relatively small, informal groups because he said his speechwriter made him sound better. I asked him to define success in these settings. Was it being perfect, using beautiful syntax with no mistakes? Or was it bonding with his employees and customers? He decided on the latter. I had him practice talking from bullets every week. Eventually he got comfortable with a few stumbles because he realized that's the way we speak. His audiences told him he'd never spoken better and connected more completely.

    Then there's the woman who built a retail operation into a multimillion-dollar business and refuses speaking engagements and media opportunities that others would die for because she is afraid of sounding unsophisticated..."sounding stupid," to use her words. I had her listen to videos of leaders who have regional accents, who admit they don't have all the answers. I reminded her that she had to win over many sophisticated audiences to get the financing for her business. She got her feet wet, reviewed tapes to build her confidence, and she is now swimming laps.