71% of Employers Value Emotional Intelligence over IQ

Whether you're interviewing for a job, asking for a raise, or angling for a promotion, your success may have less to do with your skills and intelligence. You'll have greater success by building relationships, communicating clearly, and presenting yourself with confidence and conviction. It seems that street smarts and people skills will get you where you want to go. It's also true for entrepreneurs. In his newest book, The Education of Millionaires, Michael Ellsberg talks about entrepreneurs who dropped out of college and bootstrapped their way to success. He tells a story of interviewing an MBA for a part time data entry job for his start-up company. The job candidate talked theory, tables, and projections. He didn't get it. Michael ended up hiring a woman who was a high school drop out with a good work ethic. She performed well. A man I knew who worked for the Navy was promoted over others with more experience because he had good people skills. This is true of speakers. Think of motivational speakers. Why are some of them so powerful on the platform? Because they speak from emotion. Their message goes right to the heart. They understand how to communicate. Consider the excellent presenters you know. What makes them excellent? They may be giving an update, describing a product, or convincing the audience of an idea. I'll bet that they all have one thing in common-high emotional intelligence. They connect person-to-person, eye-to-eye. These public speakers inject humor when appropriate and are always aware of the audience and environment. They mirror their audience and keep pace with their energy-toning it down when the group is overwhelmed and pumping up the volume when their energy wanes. Public speakers and presenters with high EQ (emotional intelligence quotient) instinctively know it's about the audience- not about them. This is why a "polished" presenter or subject matter expert may know all the right content and mechanics of speaking, but never connects with the audience. As it's been said many times, "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."