Guest: Ruth Milligan
Your expertise may earn you a seat at the table, but it doesn’t guarantee anyone will remember what you say.
Executive communication coach and TEDx pioneer Ruth Milligan joins Maureen Metcalf to explain why accomplished leaders struggle to influence a room, especially when their command of the subject tempts them to share too much. The audience rarely needs everything you know. It needs one consequential idea, enough evidence to believe it, and a story that makes it matter.
Ruth draws on decades of coaching executives and TEDx speakers to reveal how leaders can turn complex information into messages people understand, remember, and act upon. She explores how to identify the question an audience actually needs answered, balance evidence with emotional relevance, eliminate fluff, and prepare for career-shaping presentations.
You’ll also learn why strong openings and endings deserve exact rehearsal, and why even accomplished executive speakers benefit from an outside coach or editor.
Because leadership is not only about having the right idea. It’s about making that idea clear enough to travel without you.
Other episodes you'll enjoy:
- Leading with Story: Captivate, Convince, Inspire with Paul Smith
- Greater than Fact: The Power of Leading with Stories with Paul Smith
- Tales from the Top: How Leaders Use Stories with Dr. Tanvi Gautam
For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn.
RESOURCES:
Ruth’s website has more information at www.ArticulationInc.com.
The book Ruth mentioned, Reclaiming Conversation, is available in paperback at https://amzn.to/4zFGG0e, or as an audiobook at https://amzn.to/4iqjNYf.
Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.
Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.
Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.
-----------------------
OUR PODCAST TEAM:
Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf
Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko
Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan
Booking Producer: Jenna Reik
Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.
CONNECT WITH US:
YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2
Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com
Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating!
-----------------------
About Our Guest:
Ruth Milligan, APR, Executive Speech Coach, has been a communicator her entire life. After earning a degree in Speech Communication from Miami University, she has spent the last 20 years working in a variety of strategic communications roles. Her favorite was her first: a speechwriter and coach to various political figures. Since then, she has been a consultant to a variety of clients in her public relations and marketing practice over the past 11 years.
In 2009, she co-curated the first TEDxColumbus event, reinvigorating her love of speech coaching and presentation training. With ar.tic.u.la.tion, she melds her experience and passion into a speech training approach that helps rising executives uncover their potential for becoming excellent verbal communicators.
