The British Daily Telegraph newspaper reports that, surprise, surprise, German executives are not known for delivering inspirational speeches.

It seems Teutonic boss’s rely on statistics and charts at the expense of compelling rhetoric:

German managers are generally good at their jobs in a technical sense, but preparation for public appearances seldom goes beyond a series of PowerPoint charts. These are often prepared by somebody else, and there are far too many. When the number is truly overwhelming, the presentation is nothing but a slide show and not a speech at all.

There is simply not a presentation culture in Germany, and the saying goes that “German manager’s work better than they talk”. Der Spiegel complains of an excessive concentration on facts and figures at the expense of charisma and conviction. It seems that the mentality and ideology of dealing with hard facts in a depersonalised manner is at odds with a healthy emphasis on giving impressive presentations in public. Voice and the use of both talk and body language tend to be neglected.

I can’t help but think of the John Cleese Fawlty Towers sketch where he goose-steps around the dining room instructing his staff “Don’t mention zee war!”. For while it may be tasteless to refer to the Second World War in relation to contemporary German managers, it’s undeniable that many British and American executives (and politicians) openly admire Winston Churchill and ape his rhetorical style and freely quote him.

This puts modern German executives at a severe disadvantage. After all, the Holocaust aside, their wartime leader was a renowned public speaker. He used his public speeches to persuade his audiences and, one could argue, never forgot to include a call to action (it just happened to be one the world would have been better without). But I doubt German managers can freely quote or mimic the rhetorical style of ‘Corporal Hitler’. So who do they use as a model for their speeches? Apparently no-one. Stripped of all emotion (since their role models are negative ones) they face down their audience with facts and figures.

The Telegraph article concludes with a plea for effective presentation coaching for German executives:

They should rely less on manuscripts and charts and more on presenting well. A successful presentation will grab the attention of the audience and ensure that they believe in what they are told and in the person telling it.

There are many executives in the English-speaking world who would do well to heed that advice.