Advanced Presentation Skills - 7 Tips To Fielding Difficult Questions

Tuesday 24 May, 2011

by Dr Louise Mahler

The ability to field and answer difficult questions when you are in the ‘hot seat' is crucial in business today. Knowing how to navigate your way through will not only make you look better, but help you feel better and potentially make you more valuable in your job and groom you for promotions and extra income.

The ability to field and answer difficult questions when you are in the ‘hot seat' is crucial in business today. Knowing how to navigate your way through will not only make you look better, but help you feel better and potentially make you more valuable in your job and groom you for promotions and extra income.
When you learn to master the art of fielding difficult questions, questions from 'left field', barbs, attacks, and angry outbursts from emotional people, you will not only reduce a huge stress load, but have the opportunity to profoundly turn around a difficult situation or angry person. You will also gain the ability to win over peers, board members, customers and clients, and create new fans.
There are 7 key tips that will guide you through the most challenging of situations when you are required to field and answer difficult situations. They are:

1. Have a neutral rest position
   
   It is critically important when faced with a difficult, emotional situation that your body is not giving away some internal and aggravating message. Examples may be standing on one leg, head to one side, mouth tight or arms folded. In these situations, you need to find a 'rest' or 'neutral' position that you can recreate over and over again with ease. Often this involves standing on two feet at shoulder width with posture up straight (not stiff) and one hand on the wrist of the other stretched long before you.
   
   While this position is necessary from a perceptual perspective, it is not all about how you look. The major benefit of this position is that you actually know where to go and you know where to put your hands. It helps you feel confident and is also important to put in the best possible position to access your true voice unhindered.
   
2. Learn the science of nod and smile
   
   For those situations when you don't know what to do, your mother probably told you at some point just nod and smile. Believe it or not, this is sage advice and actually backed by science. Nodding your head prevents you from jamming into one of your stress positions (such as head cocked back, or head drooped over - both of which communicate very undesirable messages). Additionally, nodding communicates 'I have flexibility of mind'. It does not say 'I agree with you', only that you are a flexible, open minded person.
   
   You can practice smiling in the mirror to get a level of a smile that feels appropriate - the whole mouth, teeth showing smile might not be the best one as you deliver news to the board that profits are down 30%...
   
   Smiling builds rapport, and it also has the secondary function of opening your throat for clear unhindered sound. For many people in a tense situation, part of the throat,d known as the false vocal folds, shut and create a barrier to clear speech. What comes out is the 'voice of depression' - not a good sound when you're wanting to move things forward in a positive way, and not congruent with a desire to come across confidently.
   
   Who knew it! Your mother was right! Nod and smile.
   
3. Create the perfect eye contact
   
   A habit for many of us is that immediately before we answer questions we quickly glimpse off and away from the person to whom we are speaking. It is well documented that looking off and breaking eye contact during an interaction makes us come across as untrustworthy and lacking in confidence, 'she has shifty eyes'.
   
   The rick is to keep your eyes directly on the person when you have finished listening and begin to answer (note: this is harder than it sounds), and you will maintain your air of credibility and trustworthiness.

   
   Tip: Blink rate
   
   Did you know that 15 blinks a minute is the speed at which we send the message of giving our greatest attention. That means one blink approximately every four seconds, so get practicing. It won't kill you.
   
4. Maintain airflow
   
   Sharing of air is an ancient and primal exchange between people that creates a sense of respect and trust. Did you know that in Hawaii a common etymological claim is that the word for foreigner is derived from hole, literally meaning "no breath"? Traditionally Hawaiians and Polynesians greet each other by touching nose-to-nose and inhaling and sharing each other's breath - this is called honi (the Hawaiian word for kiss). Foreigners, not knowing the local customs, do not practice honi and so have been described as 'breathless. The implication is that not only are foreigners aloof and ignorant of local ways, but also that they literally have no spirit or life within.
   
   During the empathising stage you may notice a huge difference that is gained from sharing air. Feel the air escaping in your voice and you may be surprised how this helps you care and connect.
(Note: it is not healthy to have air escaping as we speak at all times, just when you are emotionally connecting)
   
5. Develop a strategy for empathy
   
   A key process I learnt years ago from a psychologist told me that the first step in the process is empathy. So, what is the difference between sympathy and empathy? Well, to start with empathy will never involve the use of the word 'I'. So it is simply aggravating the situation to say "I am sorry" or "I understand".."
When I ask people what techniques they use to mitigate such situations they tell me they apologize and they take responsibility and they tell them they 'understand.' Unfortunately, what most people don't realize, especially in the heat of the moment, is that emotional people, like frightened animals, are responding with their primal brain. They don't want to hear what YOU understand, they don't want YOU to take responsibility and they don't necessarily want to hear YOU are sorry.
   
   This type of response is so close, yet so far. And in handling emotional situations, near enough is not good enough.
   
   Instead, try useful words as an alternative are to begin your discussion with "That's..." or "It's...
So, to get the significant shift we are talking about, you need to cover these 3 areas to elicit the diffusion and relief that leads to successful Extreme Management.
   
   Tip: Replace any 'I' statement with 'That's' or 'It's'
   
   For example, instead of "I understand how you feel', say 'That's awful to be in that situation'.
   
6. Engage in two layer reflection
   
   When reflecting with someone in an emotional situation, it is important to reflect not only content, but also the emotion. Reflecting the emotion of what was said is recognizing the vast proportion of communication that is in the non-verbal.
   
   Why do we take these steps? Oddly enough, it is partly to buy time. Your mind works faster than your mouth and time to think can only be a benefit.
   
   Other reasons are to actually understand what the person has said. This may sound simple, but you may be surprised how we interpret things in our own paradigm and are often way off the mark. Only by repeating back your understanding do you clarify what is being said.
A third reason is that people in emotional situations want to 'be heard' and by reframing their thoughts and feelings, you can help them feel comfortable that they are making progress.
   
   Tip: Reflect both content and emotion
   
   For example, "so what you are saying is that you feel upset about being left out of the decision-making process".
   
7. Know how to answer
   
   Answering the question is up to you and your desired response. Just remember, that using the process does not mean 'going soft' on the answer.
   
   Some techniques you may consider are:
   
   • Consider the positive intention of the objection

     
   • Use words that are similar but may infer something different

     
   • Focus on a consequence that leads to challenging the objection

     
   • Find an exception that challenges the generalisation defined by the objection

     
   • Use an analogy or metaphor that challenges the generalisation defined by the objection

Summary

Mastering the art of fielding and answering difficult questions is vital to anyone who presents to a group or delivers information to a team. Question time is typically the last part of a presentation, which means that the tone and your ability to handle this section is what people take away with them when they leave.
By employing the 7 tips described in this article you will be at a significant advantage in your presentation. Read through them again and again, and remember to practice and you will see your confidence and your ability transform.

Author Credits

Dr Louise Mahler is the founder of Vocal Intelligence. Louise's work bridges the worlds of art and business, and through her PhD she has identified the rules of authentic communication. Louise invites you to download her ebook 'The Myths of Presentation Skills' from her website, http://www.louisemahler.com.au. 

 

 

Source:ceoonline.com