President Obama Just Explained the 5 Changes That Transformed Him From a Terrible Communicator Into an Excellent One

Whatever you think of his policies, it’s impossible to deny that Barack Obama is one of the most gifted communicators of his generation. But he wasn’t always a riveting speaker.  How did the former president go from being a sometimes terrible communicator to a consistently excellent one?  In a recent conversation at Hamilton College, Obama put his transformation down to five very doable changes that anyone aspiring to improve their communication skills could make. If he can improve so much with just a few small shifts, maybe they can help you up your speaking game too. 

1. He practiced.  When Hamilton College president Steve Tepper asked Obama to share his communication secrets, the ex-president kicked off his remarks by telling: “At least when I started as a politician and public speaker, I was often terrible.” What changed? Obama’s first bit of speaking advice is as boring as it is essential. He practiced.   “I think that the first thing to know about speaking, writing, or communicating generally is if you practice, like everything else, you can get better,” he tells Tepper. “I’ve had a lot of reps.”
2. He focuses on conviction over rhetoric.  Is there an art and science to building a persuasive argument? Absolutely. You can find article after article full of advice and tips. Many are worthwhile. But according to Obama, none of those rhetorical tricks are as important as knowing your subject matter and truly believing in what you’re saying.   “I actually believe that the single most important thing about being an effective communicator is having conviction, believing what you say,” Obama insists. “If you know what you believe as a starting point, then you will naturally communicate that conviction to other people, and you will seem authentic.”
3. He writes it out.   After eight years of constantly communicating as the president of the United States, you might think that Obama has developed his communication skills to the point that he can wing a speech pretty well. I’m sure he’d do a lot better than most of us, but Obama insists that he still prepares his remarks in advance and writes down what he wants to say.  “Actually write out what you’re going to say,” he advises. “I don’t care how good you are, you’re probably going to be better if you actually sit down and try to figure it out ahead of time.”
4. He swapped stats for stories.   A lot of people labor under the misapprehension that you change people’s minds with facts and logic. But that’s not what science shows. People are far more likely to be swayed by stories and empathy than charts and statistics. It’s a lesson that was central to Obama’s transformation from sweating, stumbling community organizer to widely admired orator.   “I wasn’t necessarily as good as I should have been when I first started. It was usually because I was filling my speeches up with facts and policies. That’s not how most of us get information. We get information from stories about our own experience, about other people’s experience,” Obama says.   If you want to be an effective communicator, “talk like a normal human and not like a book,” Obama says.
5. He became a better listener.  When people are looking to improve as communicators, they usually focus on themselves. What should they say or do differently? But Obama closes with unexpected advice that flips that natural impulse on its head. To become a better speaker, you don’t just need to learn to speak well. You also need to learn to listen well.  “If you’re a good communicator, you should also be a good listener,” he claims. “When I first started on the campaign trail with all those facts and policies, etc., it was pretty flat and dry. What actually made me into a better communicator was when I started actually listening to the stories of the people I was meeting.”   Why does better listening lead to better speaking? Because when you really listen, you understand people better. When you understand people better, you’re far better equipped to speak to them in a way that will resonate with them.  “When you listen and you get a sense of other people’s priorities, lives, values. That means that you can reach a broader audience,” Obama says.