Confident Personal Communications
Module 6
Imagine this situation. You’re interacting with a person and you don’t understand something they’ve said. How should you handle this?
Here is the key message to take away for this Module:
Promptly interject and ask for clarification when you don’t understand a person.
This is how it could work in practice.
Now, Michael what we’ve been focussing on in NPD is the 30-40 year old segment.
Excuse me Ashley, what does NPD stand for?
Oh Sure – New Product Development.
Ok, thanks.
What I did there is make a definite interjection with an arm gesture paired with my question. It’s important to make the interjection soon after you don’t understand something. This is perceived as a mark of confidence.
Key Message
Promptly interject and ask for clarification when you don’t understand a person.
To do right now, or to complete within the next 30 minutes:
Go over to someone you need to talk with and practice holding an arm in space (similar to what was demonstrated in the video clip) while you speak to the person.
This holding of an arm in space will help you, in effect, to ‘hold time’ when you are interjecting in a meeting.
In the next meeting you are in, on purpose, interject with the held arm in space while you make your interjection. You could pair this with the Opening line of: ‘Let me jump in there’.
What else could you do to put into practice ideas from this Module? Take 13 seconds to see if an idea pops up. Maybe watch the Module again if you have time.
