For school leaders, oral communication is more crucial than it might seem. Poorly handled conversations, monotonous speeches, “because the district said so” policy announcements, and insensitive remarks can result in disillusioned staff, ineffective professional development, irate parents, or a stalled career.
In contrast, leaders who communicate clearly, thoughtfully, and effectively can foster positive feelings and cohesive teamwork across various audiences and situations. In his latest book, Before You Say a Word, former teacher and speaking expert Erik Palmer shares practical guidelines and advice drawn from his own experience and those of active school and district leaders who have witnessed the benefits of improved speaking skills.
A great starting point for school leaders looking to enhance their oral communication skills is to consider the types of messages they need to deliver. In this exclusive book excerpt, Palmer addresses the number one guiding question for every speaker: Who will you be speaking to?
The Value of Audience Analysis
Most speakers begin by thinking, “I have something to say,” and they focus on what they want to talk about. Powerful, effective speakers do things differently. They begin by thinking, “I need to understand my audience,” and they focus on what the listening experience will be like for the people they’ll be talking to.
Yes, many speaking occasions necessitate some required content. If you are leading a professional development session, for example, you will have information to convey or ideas to share. If you are leading a collaborative work group, you will have an objective to explain and pursue. Consider, though, that every time you convey information, share ideas, and explain and pursue objectives, you will do so within a particular context and before a particular audience.
You know what I mean about context. We have all been in situations where we decided not to mention a specific topic because we could sense our audience would not be receptive. For example, when my son told me he had just been rejected by the girl he wanted to take to the homecoming dance, I decided not to mention that he was supposed to have cleaned his room. His room was a mess, and I did have something to say about that, but the moment seemed wrong. You’ve likely seen your share of school leaders failing to recognize the wrongness of the moment for the message they had to communicate.
Here is an example from Gabrielle Price (a pseudonym), a counselor at a grades 6–12 private school in the Northeast United States. Gabrielle tells the story of a first-day-back in August when the schedule had all staff gathering for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. before beginning the day’s official activities at 8:00 a.m. Most of the colleagues at the various breakfast tables hadn’t seen each other all summer. Not surprisingly, many conversations spilled past the 8:00 a.m. start time, and staff members were still straggling in a few minutes past the hour. When the last teachers had settled, the head of school took the mic and opened with this: “Excuse me, but in this school, ‘early’ is on time, ‘on time’ is late, and ‘late’ is not tolerated.” How do you think that message went over? What tone did it set? And do you think it was an effective way to communicate what the head intended to be an important community value?
An effective message is never created in a vacuum.
An effective message is never created in a vacuum. The best ones require getting into the listeners’ heads and designing messages with that specific audience in mind. Yes, this can be complicated, especially considering the varied audiences you need to address.
Asked to catalog all the situations in which he is expected to speak, Steven Weber, a high school assistant principal, came up with this list:
- With curriculum planning teams
- With one student
- With the student body
- With parents/families
- Presenting to the board of education
- Delivering professional development
- At a retreat or during team-building activities
Steven also noted that not all of his speaking is done in person. In recent years, on-camera speaking via Zoom and YouTube videos has taken up a larger share of communication with district colleagues, students, and families. When I asked him to put together a list of all the occasions education leaders might have to speak during just the final month of a school year, his response underscored the astonishing amount and variety of speaking these positions demand—everything from announcing staff resignations and retirements to recognizing career and technical education (CTE) students and announcing each one’s post-graduation school or work assignment to greeting (and impressing) incoming 9th graders and their families during their orientation session to having one-on-one, post-evaluation conversations with staff to conducting focus groups to discuss and gather feedback on written and taught curriculum to talking with families about student behavior issues to creating video pieces for the school’s official social media accounts.
It was an impressive list—and a daunting one, when you consider how varied these audiences are. And Steven mentioned just what we might call “big talks.” How about all the little talks leaders engage in daily? Those quick conversations in the hallway, the teachers’ lounge, or the cafeteria? It’s partly because school leaders wear so many hats and have so many different kinds of messages to communicate that they need to be adept at analyzing each audience, each listener, and designing talks specifically for them.
Who needs to hear this message? Who will benefit from hearing the message?
Sometimes the audience is a given: students and their parents at New Student Orientation Day, members at the monthly meeting of the parent-teacher community organization, attendees at the middle school band conference, and so on. But often, the audience is selected—and education leaders sometimes deliver messages to people who don’t need those messages. I’m thinking specifically of a talk given to the entire staff about not parking in the spots reserved for building guests, even though the only car that had ever been seen in those spaces was Greg’s. Why require all teachers to attend all meetings when the content at some meetings applies only to a few? Or only to GREG? (Come on, Greg.)
There are two simple questions you can ask to zero in on the real right audience:
- Who needs to hear this message?
- Who will benefit from hearing the message?
Limit your audience to those people.
The speaking occasion and the top-level label you give an audience can tell you only so much about who your audience really is. For example, if you’re preparing to give remarks at a school board meeting, is your audience the board members? Is it the board members and the meeting attendees in the room? Or is it the board members, meeting attendees in the room, and families and community members watching at home via a livestream or a video recording? Which of these various audience factions is the most important to reach? Should your message incorporate “ed speak” in order to speak more precisely and efficiently with board members, who are fluent in it? Or should you avoid ed speak in order to communicate more effectively with the public listening in?
There’s no getting around it: there are times when you have no choice but to tell listeners something they don’t want to hear. If you understand your audience, you will know before you begin what will be unpopular, and you will be able to both build in answers to the likely questions and lay out possible remediation.
This post is excerpted from Before You Say a Word: A School Leader's Guide to Clear and Compelling Communication by Erik Palmer, Arlington, VA: ASCD. Copyright 2024 ASCD.
Before You Say a Word
Learn what the best speakers do and don't do, and communicate with more confidence in both formal and informal situations, with audiences big and small.
