The words resonate and resonant seem to be everywhere these days – kind of like authenticity which I wrote about awhile back. The books Resonate by Nancy Duarte and Resonant Leadership by Richard Boyatzis and Annie McKee were where I first encountered the words and their meaning. Although both have been out awhile, seems to have taken time for the terms to become widely used.
Merriam Webster defines resonate as to have particular meaning or importance for someone : to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way and resonant as strongly affecting someone especially with a particular quality; capable of inducing. Both come from the acoustics’ concept of sound being prolonged by reverberation. If you enjoy live music you know that feeling when the sound stays with you and can even be felt in your chest.
And that same quality is necessary for truly effective communication and leadership.
Duarte’s book teaches how to create presentations that really connect with the audience and not only inform but move the audience to take transformative action. Analysis of some of history’s greatest speeches and presentations underlies the recommendations and how-to’s.
Boyatzis and McKee’s book focuses on how leaders can be resonant and by that they mean able to consistently and successfully manage their own emotions and the emotions of others. The book addresses handling and overcoming the stress that leaders experience through three simple but powerful practices – mindfulness, hope, and compassion. It is through these that leadership becomes resonant. To learn more about this idea, sign up for the next offering of Boyatzis’ Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence MOOC on Coursera. I am currently enrolled and it is excellent.
Resonate and resonant suggest prolonged connection that reverberates. And in this fast paced world, isn’t that the kind of real connection most people want and need?
What resonates with you? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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My goal is to write 30 blog posts in 30 days the month of September.
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