The Engaging Presenter Part III How to handle questions and interjections Michael Douglas Brown Download free books at Michael Douglas Brown The Engaging Presenter Part III How to handle questions and interjections Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections 1st edition © 2013 Michael Douglas Brown & bookboon.com ISBN 978-87-403-0487-9 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Contents Contents Foreword The method 1.1 The core of the method 1.2 Adopt the attitude 10 1.3 Involve your body in the reply 12 1.4 Involve your tone 15 1.5 Add warmth, interest and energy 15 Making the method powerful 2.1 Accept feelings, argue facts 2.2 When the interjection doesn’t need verbal attention 2.3 Mirror negative emotions with intensity 2.4 Open up the hidden agenda 2.5 How to handle audience anger when you deserve it 2.6 How to answer closed, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions 360° thinking 360° thinking 19 19 24 24 26 27 28 360° thinking Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers Click on the ad to read more Download free eBooks at bookboon.com © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Dis The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Contents 2.7 How to handle a persistent interjector 29 2.8 Facilitation and how to encourage discussion 30 2.9 What to when there’s an expert in the audience 39 2.10 When you don’t know the answer 42 2.11 When the farewelled one bites back 42 2.12 Dealing with a drunk interjector 43 2.13 Handling a heckler 43 Bibliography 46 Endnotes 47 Increase your impact with MSM Executive Education For almost 60 years Maastricht School of Management has been enhancing the management capacity of professionals and organizations around the world through state-of-the-art management education Our broad range of Open Enrollment Executive Programs offers you a unique interactive, stimulating and multicultural learning experience Be prepared for tomorrow’s management challenges and apply today For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 or via admissions@msm.nl For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 the globally networked management school or via admissions@msm.nl Executive Education-170x115-B2.indd 18-08-11 15:13 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Foreword Foreword You may be surprised by the core method of this guide That’s because the best way to handle questions and interjections defies what many of us in the West were taught as children But in the West, thousands of people, in hundreds of training workshops, overwhelmingly agree that it works They say things like, “I feel in better control of what’s happening I don’t seem to have a problem finding an answer I feel more engaged.” Most never return to the old ways When you use the method, you’ll be significantly less nervous of the unexpected It will help you build rapport with your audiences, even when your message is unwelcome It will help you handle virtually any kind of unexpected event, including questions, interjections, cross-fire amongst the audience, aggressive comments about your message, hostility and personal attacks on you It works for handling attacks on you even when you deserve it Your audiences will see you as more believable Many see this method as a fast way to executive presence And why not? Science is now accepting that by acting in a specific way you can bring about real, significant, internal change Act it until you become it “If you want a quality, act as if you already have it.” Walt Whitman Audiences are deeply drawn to three qualities: your personal strength, your conviction, and your connection with them This model allows you to build all three The way you handle the unexpected is inherently fascinating to any audience Do you like or dislike questions and interjections? Are you comfortable or uncomfortable? How are you treating the questioner? Above all: Does your response ignore or incorporate the concerns conveyed by the tone of the question? And, how well you connect your answer to the watching and listening audience? Of course your audience doesn’t consciously analyse They don’t need to, because they know your level of comfort with them and their concerns as surely as if they were an x-ray machine They know, at the subconscious level where they absorb those crucial impressions about your credibility Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Foreword Comedian Jerry Seinfeld was talking to a live audience when someone called out “Jerry, I love you.” “And I love you,” he called back “But I want to go on seeing other people.” The applause was only partly for his wit The rest was for his confidence and ease with the unexpected This guide may not turn you into an international star, but it should bring you to that joyful discovery that there is nothing to fear from your audience, no matter how they feel about your topic Have fun GOT-THE-ENERGY-TO-LEAD.COM We believe that energy suppliers should be renewable, too We are therefore looking for enthusiastic new colleagues with plenty of ideas who want to join RWE in changing the world Visit us online to find out what we are offering and how we are working together to ensure the energy of the future Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections The method The method 1.1 The core of the method Here it is in one sentence SHARE YOUR REPLY as if every person in your audience asked that question (or interjected) and wants to hear the answer For a moment, picture doing just that You’re telling a meeting how the new schedule will work, when Annette interrupts you She says, “How will that affect our working conditions?” You nod, and reply, giving only the first word or two to Annette and then, at random, to the rest of the people in front of you, returning to Annette for a nod at the end That’s the mechanical essence of it Wait Doesn’t it defy normal rules of courtesy? Weren’t most of us taught as youngsters to look at any adult asking us a question? So we were (mostly in the West), but for group communication that rule breaks down The group psychology is that when someone asks a question (or interjects), the whole audience owns it It’s as if the entire group wants your response directed to them even when many already know the answer To deny them that is to undermine your own authority and control And there’s another downside if you ‘lock on’ to one person: you’re effectively saying, Your question is so unimportant to the group, I’m just giving the answer to you It’s rude to talk only to the person who asked the question (or interjected) Don’t ‘lock on’ When the going gets tough, you’ll feel a strong urge to just that Use every bit of will power to share the reply, continuing to look after the whole audience Still not convinced? Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections WU\WKLV« The method A thought experiment Imagine you’re in the front row of an audience of 200 You ask a question, but the answer is a long one and the presenter looks at you straight down the barrel for the entire time with everyone watching both of you How you feel? Uncomfortable, of course You’ll want to exit under the carpet And how does the rest of the audience feel? Impatient Ignored Would you two like us to leave the room? Can we be part of this, or is it a private party for two? How small does the audience need to be in order to ignore the sharing technique? That’s right – one The technique applies to all audiences It’s not well known because the vast majority of audiences are small, and the downside of locking on is less obvious Presenters who lock on lose credibility without ever realising it Let’s begin Here’s a starter version of the core technique STEP Listen to the questioner (or interjector) STEP Direct only the first word or phrase of your answer to the questioner STEP Direct the rest of your answer, at random, to the entire audience STEP Return to the questioner for the last word or phrase It’s simple in essence and powerful in practice You can practise it right away, as long as you try it first with easy, non-emotional questions Ask someone you trust to give you feedback afterwards WU\WKLV« Better still, persuade at least four friends or colleagues to help you out as a practice audience Tell them what you’re doing Explain that you want someone to interrupt with a question (a ‘how’ or ‘why’ question is best) about half a minute after you start speaking The first time, deliberately not share the reply – lock on to the questioner for the whole response Now ask the questioner to repeat the same question This time, share the reply as in the method above Ask your audience which way looked best Which way gave you the greatest personal authority? Which way did you feel in better control? Now we’re going to build on that ‘starter’ version Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections 1.2 The method Adopt the attitude Listen on behalf of the audience Now’s the time to stop being preoccupied with your own survival Some presenters fear questions and interjections even more than they fear one-way speaking Allowing something unexpected to happen feels like opening Pandora’s box and releasing all manner of horrors So this kind of self-talk switches on: “Excuse me.” Uh oh “Yes?” “I have a question.” Oh no A question It’ll put me off my stride It’ll put me off what I prepared What if I don’t know the answer? I’ll look like a fool That self-talk is a destroyer because it shunts your focus right back on your worries Your fears multiply, your audience knows instantly that you’ve transferred your focus from them to yourself, and your credibility takes a hammering before you’ve uttered two words of your response Instead, develop selftalk like this: Ah, good Chances are others will have the same question and this helps me understand how others in the audience feel How can I use this to help everyone understand? Make that your self-talk even when the questions and interjections are probing or emotionally charged Choose to genuinely welcome questions and interjections as contributions to group understanding That’s quite a decision But once you’re committed to it, you’ll find yourself easily coping with that instant when you don’t know what your answer is going to be And when you don’t have an answer? (Look ahead to When you don’t know the answer p42) 10 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful But some framing words need special attention If you use words like consult, involve, collaborate, empower, tell the audience what you mean by each word, and spell out how you intend to keep the inherent promise For example, consult Normally that word induces rabid cynicism, but not if you use it like this: I want to consult you about this By that I mean I’ll be asking for your opinions now, I’ll listen to your concerns, and then act on them if possible And I’ll bring you feedback on how you influenced the decisions Do that, and watch the cynicism jump into a state of suspended animation It will vanish altogether when you follow through on the promise However, consultation does not normally mean agreement to what they say If you want it to mean that, then say so directly as part of ‘frame and explain’ Formal, comprehensive, meaningful consultation For a moment, let’s step outside the immediacy of a live audience Legal requirements for consultation will vary from nation to nation, but they’re likely to include these common sense components of fairness: 32 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful • Give sufficient prior notice of a proposed decision • Disclose all relevant information • Provide reasonable opportunity for those affected to state their views • Consider those views genuinely, with an open mind Now back to the everyday business meeting Declaring your position in advance If they don’t know your agenda already, tell them openly up front, then ‘frame and explain’ their role They must know where they stand and how much their opinion is really worth As things stand, I like the look of this design But I don’t want to go ahead until I’ve heard from you about any fishhooks I might have missed Your thoughts? Then facilitate their discussion listening with real interest, valuing all contributions equally Setting rules of discussion engagement You won’t always need to, especially if you and your audience know each other and have worked well together in the past The rules will be understood Nor is there any one formula for how to set rules But at the outset, you might use sentences like these Whatever your opinion I’m keen to for us all to hear it If you can explain why, even better It’s important we all understand each other’s point of view, even if we don’t agree with each other Let’s suspend judgement for this discussion so we can hear each other out Should we lay down rules to keep emotion out of it? Usually no Don’t squelch emotions Heated exchanges, emotionally loaded comments, are reality – passionless arguments may have little value By accepting them you’re saying, We are all bigger than the emotions being expressed on this issue But, of course, there’s a limit If emotions get out of hand your discussion won’t go far Look further ahead to Controlling extreme emotion and personal abuse 33 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections 2.8.3 Making the method powerful Asking open and closed questions Open questions inherently encourage discussion Closed questions inherently discourage discussion – but may be useful as pivot points, to summarise or change direction Mostly ask open questions They prompt people to develop answers – at least in their own heads They often begin with how and why Typically, when you ask them, you should look around expectantly, eyebrows raised, and prepared to tolerate silence while the audience thinks How should we proceed from this point? Why you think head office is asking for this? Your thoughts? Your questions? Your feelings? I’m keen to hear your opinions I’ll need to get your opinions on this Okay, which proposal and why? Where you stand on this? Most closed questions are useless They’re conversation stoppers unless people are already fired up with enthusiasm, rivalry or anger Do you have any opinions? Got any thoughts about this? Who has questions? Is the deadline feasible or not? Come on, you must have an opinion Look, you want a discussion or not? But some closed questions are useful, especially when you want to create a marker or turning point in the discussion So you’re thinking of expanding the client list? (pause for reaction) Okay, so how are we going to it? So it’s not going to work… have I understood you? (pause for reaction) In that case, what we instead? 34 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful We’re in agreement then? Go for Saturday opening? (pause for reaction) Then we’ll need to figure out how to staff it Your thoughts? We seem to have two schools of thought here Some of us are saying that it’s a big risk, some are saying yes it’s a risk but we should go ahead anyway (Look around expecting more comment.) Juanita, your thoughts? 2.8.4 Accepting contributions Here’s a point missed by many presenters When you ask for questions, you can assertively disagree with questioners who offer opposing arguments When you ask for a discussion, you can’t The purpose of a discussion is for the audience (and often you) to explore the issues from the audience point of view You might sometimes throw in relevant facts to help them, but – while the discussion is on – your job as facilitator temporarily outweighs your own opinions Which means this: When you ask for discussion, you cannot take sides You encourage and control debate, valuing every contribution equally, regardless of your own opinions DO YOU WANT TO KNOW: What your staff really want? The top issues troubling them? How to retain your top staff FIND OUT NOW FOR FREE How to make staff assessments work for you & them, painlessly? Get your free trial Because happy staff get more done 35 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful The non-judgemental thank you It’s easy enough to say the words ‘thank you’ But tone and body language can turn ‘thank you’ into almost anything, including please go away and die So, you have to mean it – but also get into the habit of inclining your head slightly towards the contributor That’s more than a nod, more like a bow of the head Regardless of their point of view, everyone gets the same gratitude from you, because they are contributing to an overall understanding Have you noticed how often the word ‘slightly’ is turning up to describe useful body language? You can be extremely persuasive without huge body language – as long as your entire body speaks the same language as your words and tone Encouraging the quiet ones There are always some who don’t like to speak up in a meeting If you allow air time to only the willing talkers, you’re not looking after your audience or your discussion And the solution is simple: wait until the current talker has finished, acknowledge that person, then turn to the quiet one and say, “Maria?” with your eyebrows slightly raised It’s a low pressure way to help Maria over the shyness barrier The first negative comment It’s a tipping point The entire audience is interested in how you’ll handle it, and if you handle it well there’s an almost tangible shift in the atmosphere Good, I can express my reservations without worrying about repercussions Many a disaster has come from experts feeling unable to express reservations with a project An extreme example: just before last flight of the space shuttle Columbia, engineers felt unable to express their reservations Seven astronauts died in the explosion You value every comment equally, because each contributes to a real, overall understanding And remember, valuing a comment is not the same as agreeing with it Handling grumpy, negative individual They’ve seen it all They think it’s all just talk, talk, talk and nothing ever changes Unless it’s extreme negativity, don’t treat them in any special way, just value their comments like anyone else’s But, keep in mind that if they respond to anything it will be questions from you, to the whole audience, that ask for practical solutions So what are we going to do, today, to prepare? What real difference is it going to make? Theory is all very well, but how will we actually apply this? What we need to put in place, on the ground, to make this happen? 36 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful Conducting If you’re facilitating, you’re almost literally conducting, often with your whole body It’s not enough to just say someone’s name to indicate who speaks next; nod towards that person as you use his or her name If it’s a high energy discussion – usually the most fun and the most productive – you might gesture towards them (don’t point, bend your fingers), you might incline your head, you even tilt your whole body forward by a few millimetres That last is a tiny movement, barely noticeable, but it’s the mark of high executive presence An example: Two people are speaking at the same time You indicate one of them (move hand, expression, head, body) and use his name, “Tim,” immediately glancing at the other to indicate your intention to come back to her When Tim is finished, gesture to the other “Deidre.” I keep emphasizing the subtlety of body movements But the bigger the audience, the bigger those movements can and should be See The Engaging Presenter, Part II Staying silent, encouraging and controlling cross-fire Cross-fire can be an excellent way of exploring a topic So the moment they start responding to each other, arguing with each other, let it happen Encourage it, but don’t switch off The audience must see that you’re attending closely to everything being said and ready to step in, to throw in useful facts, guide, interpret, or summarise Or to keep control Cross-fire can easily get out of hand, especially when egos get involved Look back at Setting ground rules and next to Controlling extreme emotion and personal abuse Discussions usually don’t run well without a facilitator They often go off on a tangent, and they can become so distorted by a vocal few that the true audience picture doesn’t emerge When you step in, use neutral language like this Ganesh, I’m not clear on why you think we’ll get a backlash from the shareholders I think Katy’s point is that we can’t avoid a re-start A questioning glance to confirm with Katy, look around, invite more comment with your eyes We’re off on a side-track here Let’s come back to the main issue – how are we going to minimize the damage? 37 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful Controlling extreme emotion and personal abuse Out-of-control anger and personal abuse of others in the room are destructive and certainly don’t help the discussion Don’t say anything in advance, just deal with it firmly when it happens You are there to look after the audience You might say: Wait We want your opinion, but please moderate your language We know you feel strongly about this, but the discussion will work better if you can touch the brakes a little No more of that please Personal abuse won’t help any of us get through this 2.8.5 Bringing discussion to an end Usually sum up before closing So it’s mostly a no? (pause, look around for confirmation) Okay, thanks everyone I’ll take that to the full council meeting 38 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful Let’s sum up As I see it, we have two schools of thought Most of us want the extension funded by cutting the HR budget, but Eru and Kate, you’d rather see it come out of Research and Development (pause, look around for confirmation) Okay, thank you all Next item… Time to call a halt Obviously we’re not unanimous, but the majority view seems to be that we go ahead with the project, subject to review every month (pause, look around for confirmation) Thank you all for your contributions We’ll close there 2.9 What to when there’s an expert in the audience Take pleasure in acknowledging expertise Don’t fear the experts, take advantage of them Your credibility will rise when people see that you’re relaxed about experts contributing Even more so when they see that you’re relaxed about experts exposing a weakness in your knowledge You can be genuinely grateful for such information coming forth because you’re there to serve the audience Does that seem impossibly altruistic? But – as long as you’re not embarrassed – it’s impressive to any audience And it’s the only realistic way to handle it Sometimes it’s worth acknowledging the presence of an expert before you begin “Before I begin, I want to give a special welcome to Martha Lutyens Most of you will know that Martha has a great deal of expertise in the disastrous effects of an accelerated day-night cycle on chickens Martha, if I can’t answer a question, could I lay it in front of you?” (Yes, that was intentional I couldn’t resist it.) I know, I haven’t answered a significant worry If I openly acknowledge the expert, I will seem ignorant and very soon everyone will want to hear from them and not me And I don’t have an answer, because it is possible However, any expert crass enough to actually take over will earn themselves disrespect from the audience 39 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful Correcting the self-talk Here’s an example of the self-conscious, self-defeating, self-talk that costs dearly if we let it take hold “Excuse me I disagree that Lady Margot was rude to Jean Harlowe…” Oh no, an expert She’ll know more than me “…It wasn’t rudeness, it was withering contempt When Jean Harlowe said, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Margot’, she pronounced it with a ‘t’ and Lady Margot’s reply was ‘No my dear, it’s Margot The ‘t’ is silent as in Harlowe.’” The audience laughs “Uh…” What a disaster She’s probably knows the hour and the day that Harlowe and Margot sneezed They’ll all think this woman should be up here instead of me They’ll think I’m a pretender They’ll think I’m a charlatan “Uh… good point… Well, returning to the subject at hand…” Such disasters are not made by what is thrown at us, but by the way we choose to respond Yes, it is a choice – and we could avoid the disasters by choosing to focus on what the audience needs Let’s correct that self-defeating self-talk “Excuse me I disagree that Lady Margot was rude to Jean Harlowe.” “Of course Go ahead.” Maybe she can add a useful perspective “It wasn’t rudeness, it was withering contempt When Jean Harlowe said, ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you Lady Margot’, she pronounced it with a ‘t’ and Lady Margot’s reply was ‘No my dear, it’s Margot The ‘t’ is silent as in Harlowe.’” The audience laughs and you laugh with them Great A gift for the audience “Thank you, I stand corrected All right… Let’s go on to Margot’s last years…” 40 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful Look back at that self-talk The most important word was perspective The audience did not come to hear facts about Lady Margot They came to hear your perspective on Lady Margot The difference means that it doesn’t matter a jot if the expert is a walking Wikipedia You’re not there to deliver facts You’re there to deliver your perspective on the facts When the expert says you’re wrong, you realise you are wrong, and it’s something basic you should have known Without doubt, it’s the big one, most feared by young people with senior executives in the audience And yet the answer is wondrously simple Choose to show your surprise, be completely relaxed, and say (with genuine gratitude), “I didn’t know that and I should have I’ll look it up right after this session Thank you.“ If your lapse was big enough to affect the rest of your content, openly change the direction of your presentation without embarrassment – you’re there to look after the audience Unrealistic? Easy to say and hard to do? Challenge the way we run EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF FULL ENGAGEMENT… RUN FASTER RUN LONGER RUN EASIER… READ MORE & PRE-ORDER TODAY WWW.GAITEYE.COM 1349906_A6_4+0.indd 22-08-2014 12:56:57 41 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful What choice you have? You’ve made a significant error You can’t hide that fact Are you going to show the audience that your mistake is a disaster? Or are you going to show them that you are bigger than one mistake? Get that right and you’ll impress them 2.10 When you don’t know the answer Once again, it’s not rocket science You just have to this without embarrassment: When you don’t know, say lightly or cheerfully “I don’t know“ It really is as simple as that, though it might need a follow-up You could check with the audience “I don’t know, can anyone answer that one?” But if no-one knows, undertake to find out If it’s a fact that you really should have known, be easy and open about it “I don’t know… and I should Anyone know? Okay, I’ll find out.” 2.11 When the farewelled one bites back You’re farewelling a staff member and he or she seizes on the opportunity to criticize the company It’s commonplace when staff are made redundant In the following example, accepting feelings is by far the most important component And remember that accepting feelings does not imply acceptance of the facts being offered 42 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful You “Blaine, on behalf of us all, I want to wish you the very best with whatever you tackle next.” Q “Well that’s a load of hypocrisy, isn’t it? If this company wished me well they wouldn’t have made me redundant, would they? I work here for 30 years and those heartless bastards in head office still think I’m a statistic I’m the fifth one this year How bloody short-sighted to waste all this experience and get some pimple-faced teenager that costs less There, I’ve said my piece.” You “Blaine…” (Turn to audience with occasional glances to Blaine.) “…I don’t think there’s anyone here who doesn’t know that you’re going through a rough time None of us would find it easy… You said you’ll probably try market gardening and all of us here really wish you the very best of success with that But we also hope you’ll have more time to get that sailboat out on the harbour Now, let’s go through to the café Afternoon tea is ready.” You’re acknowledging him now and then with a small forward inclination of the head Not agreeing with him, just listening and accepting the person and the feelings This is no time to be defensive, nor to argue facts and logic Responding only to feelings, not facts or logic The process reduces tension His intention was to express feeling and you acknowledged precisely that without getting sucked into debating the face value of the words 2.12 Dealing with a drunk interjector I don’t mean a pleasantly relaxed interjector I mean an interjector so lubricated, he makes the audience wince when he calls out In that state, he often won’t even respond to the very obvious disapproval of the audience Such people are on a different planet, so treat them as if they’re exactly that far away When they call out, don’t show that you noticed them at all Nothing happened I’ve seen it sober up a drunk faster than a poke in the eye Of course there’s a limit If he’s so inebriated that he keeps calling out anyway, all you can is turn with raised eyebrows to whoever can have the drunk ejected When he’s gone, smile with the audience and resume your speech 2.13 Handling a heckler I mean a heckler with no genuine or serious grievance The heckling is for fun, or politically motivated, or both 43 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful The easy answer is the same as for the drunk Ignore him or her It takes a courageous and persistent heckler to continue when you and an entire crowd cause him to vanish in the psychological sense But, there’s a better answer Better, because it’s fun Just make sure you have a very well-nourished sense of being bigger than the occasion, that you have a good sense of humour and that you want to give as good as you get On all three counts, I salute John Morley, a British politician who had just finished a rousing campaign address by requesting his listeners to vote for him “I’d rather vote for the devil,” a heckler chimed in “Quite so,” Morely called back “But if your friend declines to run, may I count on your support?” Spontaneous and inspired We can’t all be like Morely, of course But we don’t need to be If you talk to large crowds, you can have heckler-repartee up your sleeve, ready Here’s an all-purpose example A union official, John McKenzie, confronted with a gadfly heckler, told a ready-for-heckler story And note that after the first two words, he shared the reply with everyone, returning to the heckler for the last three words This e-book is made with SETASIGN SetaPDF PDF components for PHP developers www.setasign.com 44 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Making the method powerful “You know, (turn away from heckler to audience)… I must tell you about the farm I once lived on with my mother She was very concerned about my behaviour back then, because I didn’t have much respect for the animals I even used to torment an old broken down donkey ‘One day,’ she said to me, ‘that donkey is going to come back and haunt you (turn back to heckler) and here he is!” It wouldn’t any harm to watch out for one-line heckler-killers like these: I can see that you’re not a complete idiot Obviously some parts are missing Are you sure you should be here? I mean it’s a full moon out there I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person Truly, it’s amazing to think that you beat out 50 million other sperm Yes, April the first – a very significant date for my friend here And if you’re wondering about fundamental respect, don’t The comments are so clearly outrageous and light-hearted, you don’t compromise respect for the individual Just be sure that it really is heckling, not a genuine question or grievance 45 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections Bibliography Bibliography Damasio, Antonio, Descartes’ Error, Papermac, U.K., 1996 Winston, Robert, The Human Mind, Bantam Press, U.K., 2004 Goleman, Daniel, Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury, London, 1995 Gray, Malcolm, Public Speaking, Schwartz and Wilkinson, Melbourne, 1991 Covey, Stephen R., Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, The Business Library, Melbourne, 1993 Humes, James C., The Language of Leadership, The Business Library, Melbourne, 1991 Brown, Ralph McK., Success at work and at home, Media Associates, Christchurch, 2004 Mehrabian, Albert & Ferris, Susan, Inference of attitudes from nonverbal communication in two channels Journal of Consulting Psychology, 1967, Vol 31, No 3, 248–252 Toogood, Granville N., The Articulate Executive, McGraw-Hill, 1995 Mehrabian, Albert & Weiner, Moreton, Decoding of inconsistent communications Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967, Vol 6, No 1, 100–114 Moss, Geoffrey., Ways with words, Government Printer, Wellington, 1980 46 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com ...Michael Douglas Brown The Engaging Presenter Part III How to handle questions and interjections Download free eBooks at bookboon.com The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions... the whole audience, go first to the person furthest from the questioner – that’s the extreme right or left of your audience Then go to the other extreme It’s called re-gathering You’re re-gathering... bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more The engaging presenter Part III: How to handle questions and interjections The method The method 1.1 The core of the method Here it is in one sentence SHARE