Personalizing a presentation with candor is one of the C’s of good communication. Other C’s include: Conversational, Convincing and Compassionate which help to create a speaker’s Charisma. As Bloomberg News reported on a recent Chicago conference for the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care, Ben Bernanke was refreshingly and characteristically candid:
“I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and was unsuccessful in doing so.
I’m not making that up.”
Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke (courtesy of the LA Times)
If the two-term, former Chairman of the US Federal Reserve can’t refinance his home, who can?
In the aftermath of the 2000’s housing bubble burst, lending institutions have become extremely cautious and, according to Mr. Bernanke, much too limiting on their lending standards.
” Tactful candor and simple honesty is very refreshing in today’s world of bluffing and hype,” our CEO Anne Ready writes in her latest book from Career Press, Off the Cuff/What to Say at a Moment’s Notice. But she cautions not waiting until you arrive and step to the podium or are asked a question, to decide what you can reveal.
“Ahead of time, explore with yourself and your company, what you/they are willing to share.
If you can’t give your audience or interviewers everything, which in most cases you shouldn’t,
know what you can give them to make a story or anecdote colorful,
interesting and worth listening to or writing about.”
No matter what your experience or level of presentation skills, use Candor and the C’s of Communication to deliver your message effectively… as evidenced by Mr. Bernanke’s candid constitution.