Polished leadership communication –B. Njeru, Ph.D.

THERE ARE FEW things you and I have, over recently nominated Nyandarua MCA, Milka Muthoni, beyond taught and/or learnt English pronunciation.

Milka’s videos had been trending on social media, albeit with a lot of sarcasm and even hate, because she struggled to fluently read her written speech in English. Most of us came to know her from these videos that suddenly flooded social media and the comments that followed. 

I met and listened to Milka keenly this past weekend during a Church service to help raise funds to build a house for a priest in Kinangop, a constituency in Nyandarua. I didn’t recognize her at first, but someone whispered that she “was the one on the videos” and so I got an interest to listen.

Milkah was handed a microphone to speak before her Governor and the area MCA. Many things naturally work for Milka, I must say, from a communications perspective.

1. She speaks in beautifully musical Kikuyu

Our first languages, on the tongue of a skillful speaker, can draw incredible mental pictures for our audiences. Milka threw in a proverb, described Nyandarua in flowery adjectives, asked a few rhetorical questions, talked about her governor in mildly glowing terms, and after creating an image of how Kinangop should look like, ended by asking us a closed question on patiently supporting the governor. 

Her speech was evenly paced, and she spoke from the heart. I am not a resident of Kinangop, but I believed, on behalf of the residents, that the problems she had raised would be resolved before her term in office was over. Whether by lobbying her colleagues or persuasively reminding the governor- they would be done.

• Her train of thought is crystal clear

Milka has a seemingly prudent loyalty to the governor and her constituents- and understandably so. But her train of thought as she introduced herself, described her role, expressed what she wanted to see changed, then reinforced why the constituents made the right choice of governor- relative to the issues Nyandarua faces, is commendable.

Forget talking points. I get the feeling that she asked herself, “if these people remember anything, what do I want it to be? How do I take them there with me?”

A key principle those in leadership must master, is that audiences have communication needs. They want to hear something, and a leader must figure what that is, and systematically scratch where it itches. A leader’s tool to relieve an itch is careful thought on audience needs and learning how to present these thoughts in a way that shows genuine awareness, care and attention.

• Her body language, especially her voice, is admirably stable

Professor of Psychology Albert Mehrabian has numerous studies which support an audience’s preference for facial expression and tone of voice over words, especially in communication involving feelings and attitudes.  Mehrabian gives this formula for such contexts:

Total Emotion/Attitude Communicated = 7 percent Verbal + 38 percent Vocal + 55 percent Facial or body language

The political context in Kenya is almost 100% feelings and attitudes and is needy.

Milka’s voice feeds this demand. Her voice is reassuring, powerful, stable, and her tone is appealing.  Her audibility carries along her audiences with her. Milka’s voice is her weapon, and one hears it long after she speaks. Her voice draws attention to her words.

• Her confidence

When Milka speaks, I get the feeling the least of her worries is whether you and I are judging her  Ls, Rs and He/Chis . She exudes presence and owns the stage- She has something to deliver and will deliver. I must ask her soon where she gets that kind of confidence from, but I suppose she reminded me a quote from Dale Carnegie’s Art of Public Speaking: …ridding yourself of self-consciousness and fear: face an audience as frequently as you can, and you will soon stop shying. You can never attain freedom from stage-fright by reading a treatise. In other words, throwing yourself into the ring often, and getting training and/or feedback from a competent objective observer (I might add), is what will grow your confidence and competence.

So?

Even though the debate, more like sarcastic written disapproval, on Milka’s English language challenges has died down, I am keen to emphasize that her communicative competence in Kikuyu for her Kikuyu understanding audiences is stellar. A political leader’s first communicative allegiance is to their constituents.  As a link between constituents and the wider world, it is only expedient for a leader to advance a language that serves that role. Having said that, we must not confuse eloquence for communication, and much less for leadership ability. Milka’s star is only beginning to show.