Sun Tzu Principle: "Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack him where he has taken no precautions." When Sun Tzu gave us this advice there was a gold to be mined for business people who speak in public. This principle has three elements: (1) Positioning for Advantage, (2) Doing the Unexpected, and (3) Attack Where Least Expected. So, today, I want to talk about 'Positioning for Advantage'. First, Positioning starts in your mind. The way you see yourself will shape the way others see you. The way you see yourself determines how you walk into the room, or on to the podium. If you do not believe in your ability to engage, persuade, impact or compel an audience, to influence them with your words, which you have worked to shape and craft for passion and purpose. Remember this... If you cannot see it, you cannot be it! Secondly, your words position you. Every word you say positions you either as a person of authority or as a person in search of it. For this reason, a platform master will learn and use 'words' to influence and they will use them with diligent, deliberate wisdom. There's no real mystery to speaking the language of influence. Aristotle identified the essence of this language thousands of years ago, when he said, "All communication must lead to change." When you are in front of an audience, presenting, pitching giving a speech, you do so with the intent of having something happen... something changes, improvements are taking place, mental shifts are happening. This is positioning for advantage. Your audience want to know that you are credible... that you are trustworthy... that you are reliable. They also want your message to make sense, to be rational, supported with relevant supporting data. This does not happen accidently. It happens deliberately... on purpose when position for advantage. Here's the action point of the day: Positioning for advantage is one of the dominant traits of a platform master. Next time, before you step up to the podium, or meet your client in their boardroom, or even before you stand in front of your own team in the lunch room, (1) see yourself as an authority, imagine it, - really, imagine you standing there as an authority. (2) Then deliberately, carefully, skilfully, and purposefully chose words to achieve a meaningful outcome.
