I almost fell off my chair when Ukraine President Zelensky came on the screen LIVE at the Grammy’s. Even as a fan of both his TV series and his presidency, my first thought was, “what is he doing here”?
I stopped my multi-tasking of reading and watching and just listened. I tell clients that you can talk about anything, use any story, fact, analogy, as long as you can tie it to the point you are making, in order to move your agenda forward. I was struck and in awe of Zelensky’s ability to do just that: tie the Ukraine fighting to the Grammys! Men in tuxedos versus men in fatigues, the sound of war versus the sound of music. Masterful.
Then of course there was the financial ask at the end, the call for action. Even in a time of war the rules of communication do not change. It is the speaker’s responsibility to connect the dots for the audience. #standwithukraine
