How can you be more assertive in the boardroom? This programme will help you to develop listening, questioning and presenting skills to put your point of view across. Make sure that you communicate with authority when it really matters!
43. Benefits of Questions
1. Make people feel important
2. Control attention
3. Persuade and get co-operation
4. Avoid misunderstandings
5. Builds confidence in you when you ask the right
questions
53. Opening a dialogue
• “What seems to be the trouble?”
• “What concerns you the most about
_________?”
• “What is holding you back from _________?”
• “What seems to be your main obstacle to
_________?”
54. Probing deeper
• “What do you mean by _________?”
• “Tell me more about _________.”
• “What else?”
• “What other ways did you try so far?”
• “What will you have to do to get the job done?”
• “Is there something I should have asked that you
need me to know?”
55. Focus on the solution
• “How do you want _________ to turn out?”
• “What do you want?”
• “What is your desired outcome?”
• “What benefits would you like to get out of X?”
• “What do you propose?”
• “What is your plan?”
• “If you do this, how will it affect _________?”
• “What else do you need to consider?”
56.
57. Confirming statements
• Let me confirm ….
• To make sure I understand ….
• So you would like to ….
• Make a statement, then ask ‘is that right?’
65. FLeD Goals
• F - How do you want
your audience to feel?
• L - What do you want
them to learn?
• D - What do you want
them to do?
66. Structure
S –Set the scene - explain the context
A - How can you help? What’s your
approach to helping your beneficiaries?
B - State the benefits or expected result
A – What can your audience do about it?
Conclude with a takeaway
67. Building blocks of persuasion
Reasons why
they’ll listen
Barriers to
listening
Differs depending on role
Hosting an event - warmth
People decide how competent you are in a fraction of a second.
It is very difficult to overturn a bad first impression -
There is a body language of power.
Body language communicates power and status — who is leading and who is following. It also communicates psychological distance — feeling close or feeling remote.
Body
Body language can shift the dynamics of relationships, interactions, and outcomes.
To be perceived as authoritative, act high. To be perceived as approachable, act low. Do not try to act high and low at the same time. Match your body language to the message or intention.
https://www.businessknowhow.com/growth/gesturing.htm
Don’t rehearse – Tony Blair – audience starts to feel manipulated
Scale your gestures for an audience – large crowd vs small crowd
Make sure they feel right for you – Michelle Obama vs Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey vs JK Rowling
Definitely watch tape to eliminate annoying gestures
Smile
TV – no windmilling
Get away from the podium
Projection
Message is nothing without conext
Royal Society Diversity training
The world's oldest independent scientific academy, dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
50% of students at world’s leading universities – said £1.
If questions are so good…. Why do we fail to ask them?
Invite refletion
Reveal creative solutions
”Should I prioritize medical problem solving or attentive listening?’’:The dilemmas and challenges that medical students experience when learning to conduct consultations (Aper et al, 2013)
Desire to retain control: “when I lack some medical knowledge in the consultation . . . and the patient is going to ask me (a question). . . I’m trying to avoid (the question) by talking faster myself . . .’’
Demonstrate professional competence: Students’ attention was primarily focused on actions, i.e. the medical and communicative actions they needed to perform. Hence, the more ‘receptive’ communication skills, such as attentive listening, were repressed . So respondents found that building one part of a doctor’s identity – being ‘knowledgeable’ – was at odds with another part of their identity – being present and supportive for the patient.
Is this you?
Three reasons – recognise your bias
Situational - insecure (retain control), demonstrate competence or problem solving
Questions with the answer already there – ‘will you be disappointed if….” “don‘t you think it’s important to”
Questions with the answer already there – ‘will you be disappointed if….” “don‘t you think it’s important to”
Get the other person talking
Is it OK to move on?
Have I got that wright?
May we continue?
You should all by now have a presentation in mind?
Think about your presentation
Feel – appealing to Fear or Greed?
S – speak to their need. You know your audiences – what are their pressing issues?
A – make it concrete – pull on evidence and case studies
Afraid it will happen to them
Hear something that is similar to their situation
Defensive – we are not like that. Our governance is good.
Hook
A lot of presentations spend a lot of time talking about the ‘What we do’ or ‘How we do it’, and not enough of the ‘Why’
Too much detail
Too abstract
Think of a recent situation where you learnt a lesson – 2 minutes
Work or personal
Rolfe et al (2001) Reflective Model
Build trust by revealing bad news
Go back to FLED – three reasons why they wont listen
Opening their mind to your approach
Starting to think about possibilities
Rule of 3, starting to forget
Attention span – memorable and informative
Medium for your message – Relatable & Memorable
Mags – grandpa
Judith – ketchup
Stories literally can sync the brains of your audience with yours. I saw a neuropsychologist Uri Hassan, Princeton researcher, talk about the science of strytelling. So when I tell you a fact or a figure, it has th epower to persuade you. You’ll agree with the bar chart or you’ll disagree. You’ll find that statistic intersting. Facts, figures and stats connect with two parts of our brain. But when we tell a story, it’s much more powerful. It connects with the seven major compornents of our brain –cerebrum - 4 lobes – fontal, parietal, occipital, temporal. effect that stories have of our synapses in our brain.
Need credible evidence – finding the story in that
Melanie’s story is a metaphor for the industry
Goes back to Aristotle
