The key to progress

It was my first job, and the time had come for my performance review. My boss suggested an informal chat over lunch.

We placed our orders, and I was all ears as he proceeded to fish an old envelope out of his back pocket, with some scribbles on it. “I noted a few things coming in on the train this morning,” he said.

This was not the scenario I’d imagined for this very important interaction.

“Firstly, let’s face it…” he said… And he told me how I was lacking in the very skill I thought was one of my biggest strengths. My writing.

“But don’t worry, you’re good at connecting with people. So that kind of makes up for it.”

Too late. I was devastated.

It was the perfect example of how not to give feedback.

Fast forward to today. My work as a public speaking coach and facilitator is founded on helping people progress by using the ‘learning by doing’ approach:

Practice - Receive feedback - Integrate the feedback - and Practice again.

Guiding people to give and receive feedback - and giving it myself - is the backbone of my work.

And framing our feedback in a constructive way is vital. Shared positively, highlighting existing strengths and pointing to areas for improvement…

It’s a true gift.

Photo: Noting down feedback, together with the audience, in the Presenting with Impact workshop I led for members of Belden Inc.’s EMEA Solutions Support team in December 2022.

The venue? Belden's impressive European Customer Innovation Center (CIC) near Stuttgart, Germany.