Honestly Speaking in Paris.
Until May 2022, I had never been to Paris. I have had the luck and pleasure of being able to travel extensively as a consequence of my work, with a few holidays travelling for pleasure thrown in - but somehow, even though I had the ambition to go there, Paris had eluded me. So, late in 2021, as the world was beginning to open its doors after what seemed like a lifetime of confinement, I decided to set the intention to go to Paris. I had no idea how I would get there because a holiday was not really an option - I had a business to nurture and develop after the shock of recent times, which left my clients and me feeling uncertain about how to navigate the times we were in. However, I’m a strong believer in setting my intentions, visualising the things I want and working towards them, and Paris became a goal!
Then, out of nowhere, in early 2022, I received a call from a close business colleague and friend. He had recommended me for a speaking consultancy job in Paris! He had been asked to go but couldn’t, so he kindly said I would be perfect for the job. Can you imagine how I felt? Well, of course, I was grateful and overjoyed, and even though I knew setting clear intentions is powerful, my mind was still bending over the power of thought. I will never be able to scientifically work it out, but it’s very successful for me, so I’ll keep doing it!
When we travel for work, it’s not easy. We’re away from family and our own bed, yet we still have to function at our best to deliver what we are there to do - so it can be tough at times. When I go away, I miss my children terribly, and parental guilt feels like a thorn I carry with me until I get home and realise they were fine without me!
This work trip was a dream! In May 2022, over the course of 4 days, I began a special working relationship with the wonderful Amanda at L’Ecole National de la Magistrature and I simultaneously fell in love with Paris. This year I visited for a second time and will return to deliver more training later this year.
If I’m honest, I find the whole experience of working with members of the French judiciary humbling. I am there to help some extremely accomplished and respected professionals present and speak in English to a global audience in extremely high-pressure contexts. They are brilliant at what they do, and their English is already great - but they don’t want to be great - they know they have to be excellent communicators to ensure they get the message across. Like many leaders, my colleagues in Paris could get away with speaking at the level they have reached and accept that perhaps a few listeners may not fully understand what they are saying. (I listen to many native English leaders speak, and I don’t hear or understand many of the things they are saying either and I don’t think they even care or have the self-awareness to appreciate how bad their speaking is!) This is not the case for them; they are eager students who agree to only speak in English while they are with me and diligently work through my speaker training to iron out the bumps and perfect their speaking to ensure they present in such a way that represents their status and responsibility. Yes, I did say responsibility, leaders do have a responsibility to communicate impeccably, and it is not enough to allow our status to speak for us.
Leadership comes with many benefits and disadvantages. I’d say that for many, one of the major disadvantages is having to speak in public. Many leaders got to where they are because they are brilliant at what they do. Often speaking is not the thing they are brilliant at, and finding time to communicate effectively is often at the bottom of their list. I have to say this trend is changing, and many leaders are finding that if they and their businesses are to succeed, thrive and grow in today’s world, they need to be able to engage on a human level, with integrity, empathy, intelligence and skill. It’s not easy bringing it all together (that’s why there are people like me) - but when a leader captures us with their voice, we are grateful, often inspired listeners, and we want to follow them. You only have to think of some of the great speakers of our time to understand what I mean; if you’re interested, take the time to go back and listen to Barak Obama speaking when he was president. Hear his calming pace, his rich, textured tone and the lyrical, empathetic way he delivers even the most difficult of messages; he may not be your cup of tea, but he is most definitely a leader who speaks like a true leader.
My time in Paris this May flew by, but I’m happy to say that I will be returning in October to complete my speaker training with this year’s cohort, as well as catch up with my new friends from last year. I’m already excited and looking forward to the presentations they have created for me in this next phase of the process.
We can all develop as communicators and speakers. My friends in Paris are demonstrating that no matter where you get to in life, there is always room for improvement, and there is always a need to develop how we connect with others. I’m grateful and blessed to work with wonderful people who both inspire and challenge me to be the best version of myself; as we work together to amplify the potential of their voice, my clients amplify the potential in me.
