How to interject in a meeting

Recently I delivered a Listen and speak under pressure presentation for BIO, a networking group I belong to.

After the presentation one of the participants contacted me and told me, that he had used one of the techniques I described in the presentation.

The participant used my Open, Middle, Close speaking structure to interject in a senior level meeting. His interjection made an impact and won the approval of the senior executives in the meeting.

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When using a story can have negative consequences

STOP PRESS

Hi Everyone,

From 1 July 2023, my posts will be published fortnightly (instead of weekly). Thank you to my regular readers, my sometimes readers and my new readers for making the time to read the posts. I appreciate it.

Michael K

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Let me start by saying, that the use of a story, is one of the best ways to make an idea stick the mind of the listener and/or prompt a listener to take action. However, reflecting on my interactions with clients, colleagues and prospective clients, it seems many people overesteem the use of stories and of storytelling. It seems people believe that telling story has no downside.

At times, the use of a story can have negative consequences.

It can result in a person making a bad decision.

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Do you have what it takes to be an enterprise leader?

Last week I had a meeting with a Group HR director, of a multinational organisation.

I ask the director what was top of mind in his work.

He said that what he talks about most during the present time, was ‘helping his people – who were competent ‘leaders of a function’ (ie. a function within the organisation) – move to being able to be a competent ‘leader of an enterprise’.

The director said, a leader of an enterprise – in effect a C level function –

needed to bring people together and communicate ideas seamlessly,

to different audiences.

One word he used, which he said ‘leaders of functions’ needed to develop – and which comes up a lot and can be hard to define – was gravitas.  I’ve written about gravitas in prior posts.

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This golfing tip will make you a better communicator

“A ‘swing thought’ is a golfer’s term for a single correction to your form that you keep in mind as you stand over the ball. The idea is to try to make several adjustments at once, is a setup for failure. A swing thought focuses on a very specific, single behaviour that stands for the overall shift you are seeking to make.”

This quote is from the book, Fear your strengths. by Robert Kaplan and Robert Kaiser. The golf swing has applications to the workplace. For example, a client of mind would often ramble in his presentations to senior executives. His swing thought before he started to speak (in golfer’s parlance, that is, when standing over the ball) was

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Success and the art of deep thinking

“Thinking is work. In the early stages of a man’s career it is very hard work. When a difficult decision or problem arises, how easy it is, after looking at it superficially, to give up thinking about it. It is easy to put it from one’s mind. It is easy to decide that it is insoluble, or that something will turn up to help us. Sloppy and inconclusive thinking becomes a habit. The more one does it the more one is unfitted to think a problem through to a proper conclusion. The above passage is from the book – by Canadian-born British entrepreneur, Roy Herbert Thomson, 1st Baron Thomson of Fleet – After I Was Sixty. More advice from Thomson follows. “If I have any advice to pass on, as a successful man, it is this: If one wants to be successful, one must think; one must think until it hurts. One must worry a problem in one’s mind until it seems there cannot be another aspect of it that hasn’t been considered. Believe me, that is hard work and, from my close observation, I can say that there are few people indeed who are prepared to perform this arduous and tiring work.” On first reading Thomson’s words I wasn’t too keen to accept them (thinking until it hurts doesn’t sound that good). However, on further reflection, particularly on complex matters I know I need to do more disciplined thinking.

Own the Conversation

Implementation suggestion Right now, log 15 minutes or 30 minutes et al of dedicated time in your calendar, to do disciplined thinking on an important project.

Do you feel pressured to speak when no one else is talking?

Do you have ‘well-being of speech’?

Let me explain through sharing a vignette …

*“Well-being of speech is like a lute without strings. Even without strings, the musical instrument proclaims itself. This is an image of our speech being settled. It doesn’t mean that we’re controlling, uptight, trying hard not to say the wrong thing.

It means that our speech is straightforward and disciplined. We don’t start blurting out words just because no one else is talking and we’re nervous.

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Use AI to create a hook for your presentation

One good way to hook an audience to listen to you presentation at the start of your presentation is to say “Consider this, what if…” and then share ideas with good opportunities in mind from the listener’s point of view.

ChatGPT can help you with generating these “Consider this, what if “ hooks.

I asked ChatGPT:

‘In 100 words or less construct a hook to a business presentation for a leadership communication training company starting with “Consider this, what if. . . “.

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