By Michael Rossié
(Rhetoric Expert and Speaker at the JENEWEIN Academy)
Leadership depends heavily on how well one communicates – good ideas alone are not enough if they don’t reach anyone. Many leaders fail not because of insecurity, but because they come across as “professional” yet interchangeable, and therefore move no one. Good rhetoric means speaking with presence, clarity and authenticity, and truly reaching people. Especially in leadership, negotiations and crises, the way you present yourself determines success or failure. Rhetoric is therefore not a soft skill, but a core leadership competency that must be developed through practice and feedback.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Leadership Communication
I have been coaching leaders for over 30 years. CEOs of DAX companies, team leaders in mid-sized businesses, politicians, TV presenters. And I can tell you: the bad speakers are not the insecure or the inexperienced. The bad speakers are the wrongly trained. The supposedly self-confident. The perfectly polished. They bore us endlessly.
Leaders who have learned to sound “professional” often sound like everyone else. And whoever sounds like everyone else doesn’t stand out. Whoever doesn’t stand out moves nothing. Speeches that move nothing are a waste of time with a microphone.
What Good Rhetoric Really Is – and What It Is Not
Rhetoric is not what many people think it is. It is not a collection of tricks to manipulate people. Not a list of rules to memorize. Not a seminar where you learn to clench your fists at chest height so the message “sticks.”
Good rhetoric for leaders means: you have something to say – and the people in the room are truly listening. That sounds simple, but it isn’t. Because for that you need more than content. You need presence. Voice. Body language. Structure. And the ability to formulate your message so that it lands with – not just lands. A good speaker is a service provider. They give the audience something. The ego stays outside.
Why Rhetoric Is Not a Nice “Soft Skill” for Leaders
People management: Your team does not follow your job description. Your team follows you as a person. The way you speak. Whether you radiate confidence or uncertainty. Whether your message is clear or vague. Whether you inspire or merely inform. The difference between a leader who carries a team along and one who simply gives instructions is almost always a matter of rhetoric.
Negotiations and presentations: Ideas that are poorly presented fail. Projects that are not argued convincingly don’t get budget. Candidates who cannot express themselves clearly are not promoted. This is not a fair-play problem. It is a bitter reality.
Crisis moments: When it matters – a difficult conversation, a dismissal, crisis communication, a public statement – your performance determines the reaction that follows. In such moments, neither facts nor your title protect you. Communication competence is the only thing that helps. And no one is born with it.
Digital formats: Whoever is boring online disappears twice as fast. Meetings, webcasts, town halls – all of this is part of communicative leadership work. And most leaders are terribly bad at it. Not because they are bad leaders. But because no one has ever shown them how it works. They “grew into it” – autodidactically.
The Most Common Mistake: Too Much Slide, Too Little Human
I wrote a business thriller called “Death by PowerPoint.” It is a satire. But it hits a sore spot: whoever believes slides are the content – and not the scaffolding – has fundamentally misunderstood leadership communication. Slides are tools. You, as the speaker, are the message. If you turn your back to the audience and read your own slides aloud, that is not a presentation. That is an imposition. The good news: this can be changed very quickly. With the right input.
What Rhetorical Competence Concretely Changes in Everyday Leadership
No romantic thesis, but my observation from over three decades of experience with leaders: those who speak and present professionally lead more successfully. They move more people. And they find far more people who want to work with them. People follow leaders they believe in. And you believe someone when their presence is right – when content, voice, body language and attitude form a unity. When someone on stage or in the meeting room speaks the way they normally speak. Authentically, clearly and directly.
Rhetoric Can Be Learned – But Not the Way You Think
Here comes the most important sentence: you cannot do anything wrong on stage. This is not a motivational phrase. It is the foundation for your learning success. Those who fear failure, fail. Those who try things loosely, grow. Rhetorical training does not work through lists of rules and prohibitions. It works through practice, feedback and the courage to show yourself. It is not the technique that makes the speaker. The speaker makes the speaker. I say this in my books too – 14 of them by now. But reading alone is not enough. Speaking is learned by speaking. And that is exactly why we – JENEWEIN and I – created the Masterclass Rhetoric.
Presenting with Confidence, Communicating Convincingly – Here’s How You Learn It
Two days that will sustainably change your leadership impact, giving you the space to try things out, practice, train, reflect and learn from mistakes. No stacks of theory. No endless slides. Two intensive in-person days working in practical exercises on what truly counts: your personal presence.
We work on your presence, voice, body language and your skills in storytelling and structure. You will learn to stay calm even in difficult moments and to truly reach your audience – whether your employee team, investors or supervisory board. Not just to inform, but to reach them on a human level.
Currently two dates are available: April 20–21, 2026 and September 24–25, 2026, each at Design Offices Highlight Tower Munich. All information and online registration can be found here.
One Final Thought
We tell children stories so they fall asleep. We tell adults stories so they wake up. The next time you stand before your team, a client, or the board – ask yourself a simple question: are they waking up right now? Or falling asleep? Your presence decides. Always. Want to learn more about the Masterclass Rhetoric for Leaders? Further information, current dates and registration details can be found here.