Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success
Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way how well youdo in your career. In other words you will rise as high as yourcommunication skills will let you. Ability and competence in yourposition is expected - how well you get your point accross willmake the difference between your opinion being valued and yourinput getting forgotten one more time.
Look at any business leader, politician or community spokesperson.What do they all have in common? The ability to speak in a waythat really gets people to listen even when people may not agreewith them. What success tips can you learn from effectivecommunicators that is applicable to your occupation?
1. Prepare in advance for the meeting. Make sure you are up todate with the subject matter and that you have covered your areaof responsibility. Your confidence will grow when you cananticipate what will be discussed. Walking into a meetingunprepared is an invitation for tense moments and anxiety in casesomeone catches you out. Thorough preparation is essential.
2. Rehearse what you will say. In your mind run through possiblescenarios with the people attending the meeting. Picture yourselfrelaxed, confident and even enjoying yourself as you make yourvoice heard. See the others listening attentively to what youhave to say and valuing your opinion. Make the pictures lifelikewith rich color, sound and feelings. I recommend doing this theevening before the meeting, when you are relaxed, for at least20 minutes
3. Speak with enthusiasm - lead and people will follow, if youspeak with energy and enthusiasm everyone else will assume thatthey should be at least interested in what you have to say. Ifyou are not enthusiastic about your work, at least speak withenergy by sitting up and speaking with emphasis on key words.Watch politicians on T.V. to see how they stress their point.
4. Anticipate objections and be ready with your response. What arethe questions you really do not want to be asked? Work out thebest responses and rehearse how you will take charge of thesituation.Then when the meeting takes place you will already knowwhat to say and can instead focus on listening to everyone else.
5. Exude certainty. Nobody wants to hear that you are not surewhether you can do something. Be certain about what you can do,and be direct when you need more information or more resources toget something done. Whenever you hear someone agonising overwhether something can be done, notice the negative effect it hason those listening, and remind yourself that you will not allowthe same to happen to you.
Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert and published author.Subscribe FREE to his upbeat newsletter and get a FREE e-book,which reveals secret strategies for supercharging yourcommunication skills. To join send an email to:
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