Articles

Two Smart Alternatives

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Looks like last month’s piece on handling audience questions generated lots of interest, especially about the Two Smart Alternatives I said would be in this month’s ‘Communicate Confidently!’.  So … here you go.

As discussed last time, choosing which audience question strategy – anytime or only at the end – is not easy because neither one works best for all presenters, all messages and all audiences. But here are two smart alternatives for this dilemma, … two hybrid strategies that involve the best features of both approaches.

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Any Questions?

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It’s time to add some Best-in-Class strategies for handling audience questions to your growing Workplace Presenter’s Tool Kit. What they ask and how you respond can make or break your credibility, impact your confidence and influence your outcomes.

If you thoroughly planned and prepared your presentation, that detailed process should help you anticipate 90% of the questions 90% of the audience will ask 90% of the time. Not bad odds for sure.

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Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Presentations

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Actually, that should be ‘Phil’s Practical Principle – Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Presentations.’ I do love alliteration.

Let’s narrow the topic to workplace presentations – team or company updates,  customer updates, sales pitches, etc. And let’s assume that you are initiating the presentation, rather than responding to an instruction from management to deliver one. We can cover that topic next time. Here are best practices for successful planning:

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