For a few years, I anchored the weather segment on the local news. It was interesting learning about things like cold fronts, high pressure, and the jetstream.
While gathering the forecast information was a challenge, learning how to present it was a bigger one.
As you may know, in the studio, the weather maps don’t appear behind the anchor. Instead he or she is gesturing to a wall that is either painted lime green or blue.
In the control room the weather maps are electronically inserted over those colors. How do you know where to point? You have three monitors that let you see the finished product. One is to your right, one is to your left, and the final one is on the camera. You can sneak a glance at them every so often.
Even with these monitors you have to learn how to gesture so you’re able to “sell” the illusion that you are gesturing at a map.
A great tip I received was to always have your eyes follow the hand that’s gesturing toward the map. So if you’re pointing down, look that direction.
Why is this important? It’s pretty rare to have someone gesture at something and not look at it. It doesn’t look natural. Watch your local forecaster and check out his or her technique.
Now let’s take this into your company. In your organization, can you point toward your goals? Do staff understand where they need to be focused in pursuit of those goals. And do your daily activities have people looking at the wrong part of the map?
Setting goals is easy. Consistently keeping your eyes on them could lead to a much improved financial forecast.
