Postcards
Lessons from the best commencement speakers
May 24, 2013: 12:03 PM ETGuest Post by Mary Civiello
College commencement speech season may be the best time to learn how to communicate powerfully. This season is off to a good start with President Obama at Morehouse College, Arianna Huffington at Smith, Steven Colbert at the University of Virginia and Twitter CEO Dick Costolo at the University of Michigan. From their talks, we can derive a few takeaways:
There's no excuse for not knowing your audience.
Arianna Huffington and Steven Colbert show that if you do a little to understand your audience, you can connect with them much more effectively. Arianna told Smith grads that she had stalked them online to learn what they were thinking, doing and blogging about. She picked up a few tidbits to make the students laugh, to praise their achievements and to inspire them to higher callings.
And after making the UVa grads laugh, Colbert showed his serious side to inspire them.
People don't care how much you know unless they know how much you care.
President Obama has been criticized for coming across tired and unenthusiastic. Business execs with too much on their plates take the same rap. My advice: Get personal. At Morehouse, Obama talked about wishing that his father had been present in his childhood and how he feel motivated to be a better father and husband…and a better man. Be brave enough to let your caring show.
Acknowledge your weakness. It makes others stronger.
Highly successful people often have trouble acknowledging shortcomings. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo played up his vulnerabilities and limitations to show the students at the University of Michigan that you don't have to be the most dynamic guy to run one of the most dynamic businesses in the world. That's something to Tweet about.
And let's not forget: Keep it simple.
No compilation of commencement greats would be complete without referencing Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford in 2005. The late Apple (AAPL) founder shared three "stories from my life"—and if you're not one of the 17 million people who have watched the speech on YouTube, you might want to do so before you try your next inspiring talk.
Mary Civiello is an executive communications coach. She works with leaders at companies and not-for-profit organizations including Morgan Stanley (MS), Merck (MRK), American Express (AXP), AIG (AIG) and MetLife (MET).
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H20 2.0: Speech lessons from Marco Rubio
You can learn from yesterday's laugh line--to make sure you aren't tomorrow's!
Guest Post by Mary Civiello
By now, most of us have seen Senator Marco Rubio's awkward snatch of Poland Spring during his State of the Union response.
And if you have spoken in front of an audience, you can empathize.
A combination of nerves and bright lights causes you to sweat, dehydrate, and need H2O NOW.
The longer you wait, the worse it MORE
Patricia Sellers - Feb 14, 2013 2:41 PM ETPosted in: Mary Civiello -
Learning from Beyoncé: How to win an audience
Guest Post by Mary Civiello
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 MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 24, 2013 11:52 AM ETPosted in: Guest Post, Mary Civiello -
How Michele Bachmann tries to be Margaret Thatcher
Michele Bachmann appears destined for a single-digit portion of the votes in today's Iowa caucus, but low Presidential poll numbers are not stopping her from comparing herself to Margaret Thatcher. In a final plea to Iowa voters, she said, "We need to have someone who's going to campaign and govern in the image of a Ronald Reagan and a Margaret Thatcher."
Bachmann is no Ronald Reagan. But after Mary Civiello wrote MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 3, 2012 1:15 PM ETPosted in: Mary Civiello, Michele Bachmann -
Streep's Iron Lady shows us how to win a crowd
Last we heard from media and presentation coach Mary Civiello, she weighed in on lessons from the Oscar-winning The King's Speech. She's back in the movie theater studying another icon of British history: Margaret Thatcher, portrayed by Meryl Streep in Iron Lady. Civiello knows of what she speaks: She works with executives at such companies as Morgan Stanley (MS), American Express (AXP), DreamWorks Animation (DWA), Merck (MRK) and Fortune's parent, MORE
Patricia Sellers - Dec 29, 2011 9:36 AM ETPosted in: Mary Civiello -
Tips for bosses in The King's Speech
by Patricia Sellers
Of three movies that I saw this weekend (a record cine-immersion for me), True Grit was disappointing, The Fighter was thrilling, and The King's Speech was inspiring -- my favorite of the bunch.
The King's Speech is about King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father, and his determination to cure his paralyzing stammer at a moment when England is at the brink of war and in desperate need of inspiration. MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 10, 2011 1:13 PM ET -
How to hold a crowd: Expert advice
I've been in Washington, D.C., welcoming Fortune-U.S. State Department mentees from around the world -- rising-star women leaders who will shadow U.S. participants of the Fortune MPWomen Summit from companies such as General Electric (GE), Wal-Mart (WMT), American Express (AXP), Google (GOOG), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Exxon-Mobil (XOM).
Tonight, they and more than 100 women leaders will be with us for a MPWomen dinner that will also include U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, MORE
Patricia Sellers - Apr 28, 2010 9:59 AM ET -
How to capture a crowd: Expert advice
Guest Post by Mary Civiello
Most of the executives I work with--at companies such as Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MS), American Express (AXP), DreamWorks Animation (DWA), and Siemens AG (SI)---are experienced presenters. But even pros who just want to put some polish on the silver may underestimate the opportunity--and the risk--in any given presentation. If you want to shine and avoid the tarnish, consider these four tips to help you be MORE
Patricia Sellers - Mar 2, 2010 12:12 PM ET
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Fortune senior editor at large Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Marissa Mayer: Ready to Rumble at Yahoo," "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), and "Remodeling Martha" (Martha Stewart). She has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women in Business" package every year since its launch in 1998. Pattie is Executive Director of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business and beyond. She oversees MPW programs that enable women leaders to extend their influence and empower the next generation—such as Fortune MPW Entrepreneurs and the Fortune-U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership. Beyond her Fortune duties, she is also developing Live Content across Time Inc. Pattie grew up in Allentown, PA, graduated from the University of Virginia, and started at Fortune in 1984. Her blog, Postcards, is about how power players lead, manage others, and navigate their careers.
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The Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership brings rising-star women from countries around the world to the U.S. for three-week mentorships with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them Ursula Burns of Xerox, Laura Lang of Time Inc., Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, and Tory Burch.
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