Example Speech on Emotional Intelligence

How many of you know who Dale Carnegie is? Well, for those of you who don’t, he wrote the famous
book How to Win Friends and Influence People, and even though he died almost six decades ago,
there are hundreds of Dale Carnegie’s leadership training courses offered today. These courses teach
professionals how to sharpen their skills and improve performance.

Currently, as a new college business student, you are meeting new people. Everyone you meet you judge,
and of course, everyone you meet is judging you! Also, as future business leaders you realize that the
competition is fierce in the business world—and you will continue to be judged on what you do, how you
look, what you say, and how you say it.

As unfair as that may seem, it’s a fact of life. That’s why your college wants you to be aware of EQ,
emotional quotient, sometimes called EI, emotional intelligence. These facts may surprise you:

• IQ accounts for 4-25% of success, but 75-96% is determined by EQ.

• EQ abilities are about four times more important than IQ in determining professional success and
prestige (even for scientists).

• Two out of every three of the abilities deemed essential—essential—for effective performance were
emotional competencies.

So what can you do beginning today and work on every day for the rest of your life to help people have a
good first impression of you and to help you succeed in your career? You can work on improving your EQ,
your emotional quotient, or EI, emotional intelligence.

EQ is divided into four parts: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship
management.

Speech Writing with Judy Steiner-Williams

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Here’s a sample opening about the same topic you could write to company
employees who have had some training on the importance of emotional stability
and people skills.

Think about these four questions: Do you enjoy your job? Do you like going to work? Do you get along
with your coworkers? Do you feel appreciated for the work you do?

If you answered no to any of these questions (and probably everyone answered with at least one no), why
not? Your company realizes that a work environment that promotes high morale is a win/win situation for
everyone. You win because when you enjoy your job and going to work, you’re happier and have higher
morale. The company wins because happy employees have higher productivity and reduced turnover.

That’s why your company has had all employees take an EQ evaluation, and your personal results have
been discussed with each of you. Today, we want to look at the general effects of a high EQ and how each
of you can find ways to strengthen your emotional quotient.

Increasing your EQ:

• Increases your effectiveness at work

• Strengthens your potential for promotion

• Makes you more confident

• Helps you work more cooperatively

• Lets you be more adaptable

• Makes you a more non-defensive listener

As part of today’s workforce, you are being judged not just by your “smarts” or by the amount of training
and expertise you have, but also by how well you handle yourself and others.

EQ determines who will be:

• Hired and who will not

• Let go and who will be retained

• Passed over and who gets promoted

You must take improving your EQ seriously. Let’s delve more deeply into the four areas that comprise EQ:
self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.

Speech Writing with Judy Steiner-Williams

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