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Briefly Respond to Questions. Sometimes you truly know what the questioner was asking and you just answer it and stop. If you aren’t clear about the question, don’t ramble on and on. Some of your colleagues in the audience can ask follow-up questions to discover exactly what the person is asking before someone responds. After answering, ask, "Do you want more details now?" Let people know that any and all questions are worth your time.
Ask Questions About the Meeting’s Direction. Partway through a day-long or multiple-day meeting, check out what people are thinking or feeling about the meeting so far. Ask questions like, "Based on what we’ve covered so far and how we’ve discussed the issues, what shall we continue, start, or stop doing when we resume after lunch?" "What’s been effective for you about our session, and what changes do you suggest we make after the break?" Even though everyone seems engaged and interested, it never hurts to check out what they are really thinking. Then you can make modifications right then and there. [an error occurred while processing this directive] Keep a Running List of Action Items. As action items arise, list them on a flip chart. First, this shows that you heard a request and noted it. Second, when someone sees that a request is noted, he or she tends to go on to other items. This keeps the discussion moving.
Summarize with Next Steps and Set Follow-Up Dates. Before concluding the talk, give advice on what you think the client needs to do. Suggest next steps based on all you heard during the meeting. Conclude by going over the listed action items, making sure everyone’s issues were discussed, people’s phone numbers and email addresses are exchanged, and a date scheduled for the next meeting or conference call.
Some Final to Do’s. Add humor that is appropriate. Get to know your clients as people, and establish a friendly atmosphere.
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| Figure 1.9 |
If you'd like to read the entire book, Point, Click&Wow! A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations by Claudyne Wilder and Jennifer Rotondo, Claudyne offers Point, Click & Wow! free when you purchase her CD: Slides That Win showing over 200 before and after PowerPoint slide examples (put in promotional code: pmaster).
Want to keep reading? Click here for chapter 2, or click here for chapter 3.
Claudyne Wilder is a recognized authority on the art of presentations. She has lectured at and consulted for many top corporations, including Gillette, Fidelity Investments, and Mercury Computer Systems. She's an acclaimed speaker, coach, published author of several books on presenting (Point, Click & Wow! A Quick Guide to Brilliant Laptop Presentations) and co-creator of the CD on visual design called Slides That Win: Your Roadmap to Success. Claudyne founded Wilder Presentations in 1984. She teaches her two day Winning Presentations Seminar to help people speak with confidence, capture the key messages needed to persuade the audience and turn their boring data slide presentations into a sales tool. She also does a three week tele-seminar to help people create slides that persuade. Reach her at claudyne@wilderpresentations.com, visit her Web site at wilderpresentations.com or call 617 524-7172.
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