What if there was one way that you can crush any presentation, interview or key meeting that you had some fear or anxiety around?
Effective Presentation Skills Training: Answer the Objections
It’s a question I’m often asked. Lots of times there is fear and anxiety when you are showing up in certain situations. The one gutsy strategy that I advise is to do – answer the objections your audience would have. What do you envision they would push back on? If you have some fear in that room, it could be a fear of looking foolish or a fear of rejection. These are negative fears. Any of those fears in some way might be questioning whatever it is that you’re presenting. And if you feel that there’s going to be any doubt in whatever it is that you’re sharing, or recommending or proposing, then answer the objections.
I like to talk about Shakespearean confidence at The Gutsy Leadership Academy. Shakespearean confidence is putting a little drama in your stage where you’re envisioning yourself as the performer and envisioning your audience. If your audience is going to really enjoy and buy into whatever you’re presenting, they’re also going to have some doubt. A lot of times, we don’t always think about the doubt. They might be thinking, “Why should I give them any credibility? Why should I consider any of their advice or their guidance?”
Before I forget, I want to be sure you know about my audio leadership course (it’s free) that’s designed to help you own your authority in your career and it works. It’s based on two decades of leading in Corporate America, (I’m a former Wall St. Executive) and those professionals I coach here at In Our Shoes. Now onto answering those questions…
Give them a reason to buy into you, but also give them a reason to answer the questions and whatever doubt that they may have in their mind. Let’s say you have been with an organization for a year, and there are people in that room that have been there for 10 or 15 years. A possible source of anxiety would be that you haven’t been in this business long enough. You came from a different industry. You’re not qualified to give this presentation. Answer that objection! It might be a very valid objection that they have in their mind and might not be true, but it might be something that is of relevance to you. If that’s something that might be going on in the back of your head, give them a reason to put their faith in you in answering that objection. Just because you’ve been in this company for a year or less, you’ve learned a lot and hit the ground running. Your team is doing some fantastic things! Give them examples of how you showed up, how you are learning and getting up to speed on some of the key components and key aspects of your role.
Effective Presentation Skills Training: Quell the fear with Storytelling
This comes with storytelling as well. You might just want to weave something in. It’s not like a formal slide where you say; here are the objections that I fully expect you to push back on. But have in the back of your mind some of the reasons why, if at all, they may not even be true. A lot of times you make these things up! That’s what fear is, right? It’s a fantasized experience appearing real. But if there is anything going on where you’re feeling some fear or anxiety, really lean into that and ask yourself what that really has been sourced from. For example, say you are presenting a new proposal for an expansion to your team. Tell a story about another (maybe fictitious) team that is working overtime to complete a project; list the tasks of one or two team members. Paint a picture of these two working well into the evening on these tasks, even the weekends. Describe the effect on their family, their physical and mental health. THEN continue the story with the new results of an added team member. Show how the additional member has eased up the workload, and now all workers are humming along, in a reasonable amount of time, more effectively and efficiently.
Effective Presentation Skills Training: Use the Rule of Three
Write down at least three objections that they may have to whatever it is you’re proposing, and have them in the back of your mind. And make sure you weave them in. The Rule of Three is a principle that states that ideas presented in threes are inherently more interesting, more enjoyable, and more memorable for your audience. The Rule of Three utilizes simple, three-element patterns to communicate complex ideas effectively. The pattern works because it is short. Memorable. Powerful. You know these examples – blood, sweat and tears; the good, the bad and the ugly; even stop, look and listen! Ultimately, using the Rule of Three to describe the objections establishes you as a credible subject matter expert and leader. You get a little bit ahead of it. Put yourself at ease, continue with whatever it is you’re grounded in knowing, whatever you want to present or whatever you want to share on that interview or in that meeting.
But also, if you have to even call it out, call out whatever objection that you think they may be thinking, and let them know that you’re fully aware that this might be a consideration they have. Put them at ease and give them a reason why they shouldn’t have that objection. Rather than stay in a place where you know that fear will build – which it will, if you give it any attention. Answer those objections for yourself and then go in there armed with some really good points to address them.
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