Speaking Under Pressure

7/30/2019 Speaking Under Pressure

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Speaking Under

Pressure:How to maintain your

cool when the pressure

is on
http://www.executivespeaking.com.au/http://www.twitter.com/DarrenFleminghttp://www.youtube.com/user/flemo1974http://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenfleminghttp://www.facebook.com/ExecutiveSpeakingAustraliahttp://www.executivespeaking.com.au/


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About the Author

As founder and director of Execue Seain, Darren Femin has sent the ast 10 years

transformin business eaders into hihy eece seaers.

Usin his own disnct and unique seain system he has trained thousands of businesseaders riht across Austraia. These students hae one on to deier tens of thousands

of resentaons riht around the word eain no doubt that Darrens Execue Seain

system wors.

Darrens students incude some of Austraias most owerfu CEOs from some of Austraias

most innoae and inuena oranisaons, to manaers and sta that hae a wanted the

same thin to transform their nerousness and uncertainty into condence and contro

when they sea.

Darrens rocess taes his students from nerous and borin to

condent and interesn, from du and ifeess to caan

and insirin. In the rocess their nerousness anishes and

they tae contro of the stae.

Not ony a successfu and roen teacher, Darren is aso

a master of seain, hain won numerous

seain comeons oer the ast

decade incudin two me naona

chamion for Imromtu Seain.

Darren has deiered oer 500

resentaons, been featured in

resected and rominent media

incudin the Sydney Mornin Herad,

BRW and Manaement Today. He

nows what its ie for his students hes been there and hes been abe

to he transform their seain

abiity. He can do the same for you.


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Contents

How Strong Leaders Stay Cool Under Fire ............4

Leadership Through a Crisis ................................ 8

Control the Message ......................................... 13

To Gain Control, Stop Talking .............................18

The Power of Body Language .............................23


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How Strong Leaders

Stay Strong Under Fire


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5Speaking Under preSSUre

www.executvespeaking.com.au Mob +61 (0) 422 670 659 Darren Fleming 2013.

Any business execue can run acomany when mes are ush and

emoyees are hay. The true test

of a stron eader is how they act

in mes of adersity. Quesonabe

racces, inaroriate resonses

and faiure to act can sin a comanys

reutaon and stoc rice.

No maer who or what is behind the robem, the burden to defend the comany fas to the

eader. In this recarious me, the eader must stand stron as the comany becomes the

taret for accusaons, quesons and cricisms. Eery word wi be ut under a microscoe.

Howeer, the riht outcome can be achieed with a soid, consistent messae. Under

quesonin, a ood eader uses sime, enuine answers that hod u to aeaons and can

be adated for any audience. The eader nows it and beiees it and has the courae to sc

with it un the ery end. To ensure the riht messae rises aboe a the noise, a stron eader

foows these three stes.

respect the Questioner

Whether the quesons come from an emoyee or a reiew board; as a ood eader you shoudaways resects the interroator, remain aent and ie the seaer undiided aenon.

TREAT THEM AS EQUAlS - Do not dismiss the quesoner as if

they are beow you. Do not cower to them as if they are aboe

you. Treat them as you exect to be treated, as an equa with

courtesy and resect.

SpEAk THEIR lANgUAgE - Cra your seech aerns to ee

from soundin retenous. Modest anuae and a sower acecan be eece in comin across as humbe and can een disarm

an aitated quesoner. Aoid san and cooquiaisms.

gIvE THEM TIME - Dont rush the quesoner as they wi erceie

your acons as bein easie. If youre cauht in an imromtu

meen, schedue another me as soon as ossibe and romise

to answer a their quesons.

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Robert Murdochs tesmony in the News of the Word hone hacin scanda roides a

erfect exame of how you can ain adantae by resecn your interroators. Under hours

of quesonin from pariament, he remained cam and courteous. Murdoch stuc to a sime

messae. He neither chaened his quesoners, nor tried to confuse them. As a resut, one

of the most owerfu media mous in the word manaed to come across humbe to anyone

watchin on the Tv.

control Your emotions

Any me a eader must defend their acons, or that of someone in their comany, they are ut

under enormous ressure. A eyes are watchin. A ood eader becomes sef-aware; tain

the me to acnowede how emoons their ater seech and body anuae. They earn to

sef-reuate so they dont act imusiey.

Understand what ushes your buons and earn how to contro your reacons. Outward

disays of aner, fear and frustraon can be damain to your credibiity and diert aenon

away from the main messae. Stay in contro.

think before You speAk - Neer burt out an

answer when you are under stress. You neer want to

ris sayin somethin wron because you are reacn

to emoona triers. Tae a si of water or simy

ause to reect on the queson before you answer.

Dont fAll into A trAp - Interiewers reeat

quesons to create frustraon and try to force you to

ie contradictory resonses. Be ready for it. Sc to

the messae.

never self meDicAte - Aoid usin recreaona

drus or acoho rior to quesonin. You may thin

it wi he you reax, but the consequences can be

enormous if you say somethin you didnt mean. Stay

aert and in contro.

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stAnD Your GrounD

Under adersity, a eader wi hae to answer to mue audiences: emoyees, co-worers,

boards, auditors, inesators, reorters. Stay on messae reardess of how many mes youreeat yoursef.

use Different phrAses - Find mue ways to say

the same thin whie stayin on oint. How woud you

answer the queson if you were a 70 year od? How

coud you mae your oint as a queson, statement or

command? Thinin of your messae in these dierent

ways wi he you deeo new ways of sharin your

oint. Use dierent resonses in dierent interiews to

aoid aearin ie you memorised a sine statement.

prActice - Few eoe can sea o the cu

eoquenty. pracce your messae out oud and do

dry runs with a trusted co-worer to nd the hoes.

Eery ood resenter does this. They een do it withwitnesses in court cases!

look them in the eYe - Nothin is more owerfu

than eye contact. learn it, use it.

The words most owerfu eaders haemastered these essons to stay cam and

condent under re. They arent the ony

ones who use these toos. What about

cassic maniuators? They are exceent at

conincin others that their messae is aid

and true.

Cycin eend lance Armstron used these

techniques to foo hundreds-of-miions of

eoe for many many years. Aer years

of chean other athetes and yin to his

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accusers, Armstron nay admied to usin erformance enhancin drus. He came cean

ony aer he was stried of 7 Tour de France tes, receied a ifeme ban, and was forced

to ste down from his foundaon.

He didnt brea under interroaon. Armstron controed his confession ie he controed his

ies; reeain ony the truths he chose durin an orchestrated interiew with ta show host

Orah Winfrey.

U un the ery end, Armstron neer waered from his messae. No maer who quesoned

him, no maer how many mes they ased, no maer how they ushed his buons - he

aways said the same thin.

Crics described Armstron as maniuae, controin, hyer-aressie, and hain a hue

eo. Those are the same terms used to describe some of the words to business execues

men and women who are reered for their condence and strenth. They can hande any ine

of quesonin without a inch.

When you believe

strongly in your message,

when you believe it is right for

your company and when you

have the courage to stand your

ground - you can withstand anyquestioning. In return, others will

believe you and follow you as

a great leader.


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Leadership Through

a Crisis


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Eery business execue wi be testedat some me with a crisis. Whether its an

interna robem that must be addressed

with emoyees, or an externa one

that requires a ress conference; crisis

manaement is essena.

The most imortant eement in deain

with a crisis is to show stron eadershi. To

do so requires a rm ras of the robem,

a an to soe it, and the condence to

ead the team to success. You dont hae

to hae a the answers there and then, butyou do hae to be in contro and seen to

be in contro. Here are the best ways to do this:

Makeitclearyouunderstandtheproblem

Explainthatyouwillconnuetoinvesgateallangles

Statethatyouhavespecicgoalstoemergeasastrongerorganisaon

A ood eader doesnt need to exain the souon oint-by-oint or resent a meine. They

do need to show they are in command of the situaon. Strenth and condence o a on way

to reassurin emoyees and stochoders.

Deliver the riGht messAGe

Tae the exame of Austraian Swimmin president Barcay Neefod, who inherited a ubic

crisis when he was eected to tae oer the oranisaon in October 2012. Cutura robems

on the mens team had surfaced ony a few months rior. Neefod new he woud eentuayhae to answer to aeaons that the mens team arciated in buyin, dru use, and

schooboy rans at the Summer Oymics.

Just four months aer Neefod entered oce, an indeendent reiew commissioned by

Swimmin Austraia reeased a scathin reort. The new resident caed a ress conference,

but he faied to conince the cameras he was a stron eader caabe of uin the oranisaon

out of crisis. Heres where his resentaon fe short:


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Readastatementinsteadofspeakingopenlytoreporters

Failedtoholdeyecontactbyjerkingbetweenreportersandhisnotes

Stumbledaroundwhenhetriedtogoomemory

Triedtobuymetoreturntohisnotesbyenunciangeverysyllable

Brokeanypossibleconneconwiththeaudience

Neefod reied so heaiy on his statement that he faied to ins any condence that he

new what he was tain about. Instead, he ae the imression that he was not across a

the detais before him. He was afraid to sea oeny. He was afraid of sayin the wron thin.

This is unfortunate because as a resut, he ae no assurance to the media that he was in

contro of Swimmin Austraia.

In his osion as president, Neefod woud hae made seera decisions in this maer and

woud hae been inoed in the rocess a the way. Unfortunatey, it did not oo as thouh

he was. The CEO missed an imortant oortunity to show he was in contro durin this

eriod and had the crisis under contro. Why? The answer is sime, he faied to ie himsef

the authority to sea as a eader.

A cleAr vision

In comarison, Austraian swimmer Eamon Suian soe

at the same ress conference with carity and condence.

The senior swimmer was under re and his reutaon

was on the ine. Unie Neefod, Suian owned his

messae. He acnoweded his ac of judment as a

team eader, aooised and too resonsibiity for the

teams mistaes.

Suian resented a cear ision that the audience coud

trust and suort. His confession and remorse reected

his humiity in the face of adersity. His cam, een tone

ae the imression he was reared to dea with the

consequences. His beief in his osion imied he woud

accet his unishment and moe on to be a beer

erson. Suian ortrayed a eader who woud not et

this misste be defean.


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Chater 2

from crisis to opportunitY

As the eader of any oranisaon, no maer how are or how sma, it is essena to

communicate a unied messae with oise and condence. As wee seen so many mes,

strenth in eadershi can carry een the most wounded of comanies to ictory. The ey to

naiin any ress conference is rearaon:

know the messAGe

Cain a ress conference inites the word to jude your nowede of the subject, your

condence in your messae, and the way you react under ressure. keein your comosure

is essena. preare by understandin the history and the extent of the robem; now a the

anes, you do not want any surrise quesons that wi mae you oo unaware. Ony then

can you cra your messae and determine how you wi address ossibe souons.

prActice Your presentAtion repeAteDlY

Eery seasoned eader nows the imortance of hin

the riht tone durin a ress conference. The cameras

ic u eerythin, so it is essena that you use the

riht words and emhasis the riht oints. pracce out

oud, reeatedy. video record yoursef to nd areas

that may raise quesons or sound contradictory. As a

trusted friend or co-worer for feedbac on the content

and deiery.

use An outline

If you now what you an to say and what order you want to say it in, you dont need a

reared statement. In fact, you shoud neer hae a fuy wrien statement uness you are

quon someone ese. Instead, create an outine usin ony ey words to ee yoursef on

trac. Incude secic numbers and names if needed. This wi ee your eyes ooin forward

instead of ooin down whie you search for your ace in the scrit.

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mAintAin GooD eYe contAct

Measured eye contact is essena when

tryin to show you are in command. Itseasier when seain to rous because

you can oo in a enera direcon and

shi as needed. Durin Q&A, maintain

eye contact throuhout the reorters

queson and your answer. Ony oo

away when you exand your answer to

be more broad or to incude addiona

oints.

Answer Questions

You shoud neer be afraid to tae quesons, but you shoud be reared to answer them

roery and aow yoursef to refuse to comment if needed. The ey is stayin in contro,

een if your answers dont reea any new informaon. To further contro Q&A, ee your

statement aue and ut a me imit on quesons; this forces reorters to use the imited

me to in the bans of the who, what, where, when and why.

For eery ood eader, crisis can ead to oortunity. It is a chance to eiminate wea ayers,

idenfy rou strenths, and buid the comany bac stroner than eer. You can deier

these resuts when you can stand and sea as the eader your oranisaon with condence

and ision.

4

5

A press

conference can

be a well orchestratedevent if you prepare

properly. If you dont, it can

turn into a feeding frenzy for

reporters and a nightmare

for your company as

the focus turns to

damage control.


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Control the Message


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Business eaders now the imortance of a crean a osie ubic imae. The way theydress, act and sea reects not ony uon their character, but on the aues of their oranisaon.

A CEO who oes on a drunen ramae durin a conference damaes their own reutaon, as

we as the reutaon of the oranisaon. If the media ets a hod of the story, there can aso be

nancia imicaons.

Most hih ee execues earn eary on how to ee themsees in chec. But what about your

comanys saes reresentaes and mid-ee manaers? If they dont now the imortance

of maintainin a rofessiona imae, they coud say the wron thin to the wron eoe and

disrace the oranisaon.

loo at a the distracons at prime Minister Juia giards oce brouht on by her artner,

Tim Mathieson. At a January 2013 oernment eent, Mathieson was acn as a Mens Heath

Ambassador when he soe to the West Indian Cricet Team about the imortance of rostate

checs.

He ae an imassioned seech, then caed it o with a tasteess joe that smaced of racism

and sexism. The audience auhed. giard rimaced. And the media had a ed day.

Mathieson wi aways be under the

microscoe, but the rest of us can earn

from his mistaes. Obiousy, you want to

stay away from racist comments and aoid

usin joes before they are road tested. But

most misstes fa into a rey area. Here

is a sime road ma to nowin what is

accetabe, so you can ee your messae

on oint.

ThreeOpTiOns-OneAnswer

Eery me you resent informaon to a rou, you hae three choices. To share what you

coud say, what you shoud say or what you shoud not say. The riht choice can be the

dierence between main the sae, or main the news.


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whAt You coulD sAY

What you coud say is eerythin you now about the

toic you are seain on. Een if you hae ony a fewyears of exerience in your ed, it can s add u to

ot of informaon for a sine resentaon.

less exerienced seaers dont hod bac in

hoes of imressin the audience with their ast

nowede. They beiee it wi mae them oo

smarter and beer than their comeon. They

start with a comany history esson, aunch into a

the serices they oer and ony then et to the oint

of the resentaon. Unfortunatey, many seaers

try to cram a this informaon into 20 minutes.

A seaer that says too much comes across as borin, unoranised and they usuay run out

of me. As for the audience, they et ost in the detais, confused about the rea messae and

reay just want the resentaon to end. Heres one cue that you said too much - no one ass

any quesons.

Seasoned resenters now this is the best way to ose an audience. Aoid sharin eerythin

you now and your audience wi than you for it.

whAt You shoulD sAY

What you shoud say durin an eece resentaon is that you understand your audience

and you beiee you can he them. Say it simy and say it directy.

You can communicate your serices eecey by hihihn

ony the ey oints you want your audience to understand.

Emhasise the boom ine in a way that your audience wi

remember. Then, wra u your resentaon with a ca to

acon that is reasonabe and benecia to a. No one wi

remember your enre resentaon, but if you can se them

on a few ey hihihts they wi want to now more.

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Aways eae me for indiiduas quesons, but dont aienate the rest of the audience with

on answers. If a queson requires an in-deth resonse, answer it briey and suest further

discussion aer the resentaon ends. Eeryone wi be ratefu if you ee thins moin.

One more oint, your audience wi oo uon you more faouraby when you wra u a

meen eary; it shows you are resecu of their me. pus, you ie them the ower to

chose what is imortant for a foow u discussion.

whAt You shoulD not sAY

Wee a been here at one oint in our career; we say somethin we shoud not hae and it

bows u in our face. Then we send days or een wees tryin to contro the damae.

This ase in judement usuay haens when you

decide to diert from the scrited resentaon and ad

ib a few comments. It is oen towards the end of the

resentaon when you fee ie you are doin we, the

audience is recee and the ie oice in your head

tes you to o for it. The ie oice is dead wron.

Bad joes, confessions and secrets si out. Before you

een reaise what is haenin, youre reeain trics

on how to ay ess for your comanys serice. Youre

exainin how oce oics aed the way for your

arch rias romoon. Or worse yet, you nd yoursef

doin imersonaons of the boss.

The ony thin worse is that moment of carity, when you reaise what you hae done. In

a anic, many seaers aemt to reerse course and exain what they reay meant was

somethin enrey dierent. By then, eeryone in the room reaises the resentaon hasturned to damae contro. The best thin you can do is simy sto tain.

protect the compAnY

As a business execue, you now the ris of ad ibbin durin an imortant resentaon.

But your emoyees may not hae made that mistae - yet. Un they earn the otena

consequences, your emoyees are in daner of harmin the comany eery me they meet

with business cients.

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Tim Mathieson coud benet from earnin the dierence between what you coud say, what

you shoud say and what you shoud not say. His tasteess joe about Asian doctors may foow

him for years; reayed with each new embarrassment to the prime Ministers oce. Judin

by his behaiour so far, its a sure bet.

Some of Mathiesons indiscreons coud be aoided if he remembers that een thouh he is

not a oician, he s reresents a art of the prime Ministers ife; much in the same way

that your emoyees reresent your comany. A oor reecon on the indiidua aso reects

bady on the oranisaon.

To rotect your comanys imae, ensure that the eoe in your oranisaon are trained

to manae the messae. Awareness is the rst ste. If you susect some of your emoyees

dont understand the dierence between what they coud say, what they shoud say and what

they shoud not say - its me to et them into trainin.


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To Gain Control,

Stop Talking


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Eery business eader exeriences immense ressure when quesoned about somethinthat may not hae one as anned. They are ried in front of the comany board, draed

into human resources, quesoned by inesae anes or interiewed by news reorters.

Under intense scruny, it is imerae a ood eader stays in contro. That means thinin

before seain, deierin thouhu answers, and ony sayin as much as needed - no more.

Unfortunatey, many new business execues inadertenty reea more than they want. The

reasons are enty:

They speculate how much the interviewer knows

They try to avoid giving a direct answer

They try too hard to make a point

They get nervous

They want to please the interviewer

They doubt the clarity of their own responses

Somemes, it is seera of these at once. But the number one reason most eoe reea more

than they want under quesonin is much simer:

theY cAnt stop tAlkinG

Many eoe oen their mouths and cant seem to nd a aceto sto. Its the reason so many criminas wind u confessin

to oice. And why so many oicians wi eentuay ut their

foot in their mouth.

That is why a ood business eader earns to ie himsef or

hersefpermission to stop talking. It isnt a sin of deance. It is

a sin of contro. Master these three stes durin quesonin

and you wi neer say more than you intend.

1. Answerthequesonsimplyanddirectly,

then stop

2. Look the interviewer in the eye and dont say a word

unlthenextqueson

3. Ifaskedforclaricaon,scktoasinglepoint,thenstop

If the erson asin quesons needs addiona informaon, be assured they wi et you now.

Once you earn to contro your answers, your stress wi be minimised.


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the pressure of television

perhas one of the most stressfu interiews a business execue may be required to

arciate in is on the teeision. It seems so easy. And eeryone wi be watchin! But once

you face the cod camera ens, the briht ihts and a hihy trained interiewer - een a oised

eader can et oerwhemed.

Once you et sef-doubt cree in, its easy to ta yoursef into a corner. This is the moment you

wi need to simy ie yoursef ermission to sto tain.

Tae the 2012 interiew with Oymic swimmer Tommaso DOrsona foowin a disaoinn

Oymic games. Desite hih exectaons, the Austraian swim team earned ony one od

meda. Rumours swired about buyin, rans, and rescrion drus. The media demanded

answers.

Durin the channe Ten interiew, DOrsona reeaed much more about the ancs of the

swim team than he wanted. Not because he was eaer to reea the truth. But because he

coudnt sto tain!

Heres what he said when ased a sime yes or no queson if the team was unied:

Admiedcohesionhasdeteriorated

Believed the consequences were obvious Blamed lack of cohesion for the Olympic losses

Accused teammates of being driven by personal glory

When ressed for names, DOrsona iniay refused. He new he said too much. Instead of

iin himsef ermission to sto, he tried to ta his way out and eentuay ae out enouh

informaon that iewers coud ure it out themsees.

Dont think so much

Why did DOrsona ee answerin quesons that

hadnt een been ased? He coud hae been nerous.

Seain into a camera can be disorienn because you

dont see the interiewers face. You cant te if they

are confused, noddin in areement, or oenin their

mouths to sea.


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Doubt can trier a danerous conersaon in your head:

Have I made that point clear?

MaybeIdidntmakemyselfclear.Letmetellyoualilemore.

Wasthatenough?MaybeIshouldsayalilemore.

The cyce reeats un the interiewer cuts you o or your brain nay screams at you to sto

tain. It haens a the me, not just on teeision interiews.

Thats because the erson asin the quesons is in contro of the direcon of the interiew.

It can be nere-racin. But that doesnt mean you shoud ie u contro of your answers.

Remember, you are neer forced to say more than want. Unfortunatey, many eoe simy

fee comeed to ee tain.

let me explAin

A danerous consequence to tain too

much, is reeain too much. Once its

out there, its dicut to tae bac. Some

eoe try to circe around and exain

what they reay meant. The resuts can

be deastan.

By oer-exainin you may inadertenty

reea secrets, aee wron-doin or

confess. There is no end to the damae

you can do. You may een oint out

somethin that the interiewer missed

the rst me around.

Durin the channe Ten interiew, the

reorter ased Tommaso DOrsona if he saw any teammates use the banned see dru

Snox. DOrsona new what he wanted to say, but fumbed around because he wasnt

sure what he shouldsay. perhas his brain was starn to understand the imicaons of his

reious answers.

DOrsona essenay admied to seein teammates use Snox. At that oint, he had aready

du himsef a bi hoe. Not that it maered. Aer sendin the enre interiew iin detaied

answers, a no comment seems susicious.


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secrets reveAleD

To tae contro of any interiew, ie yoursef ermission to sto tain. It is a rimary esson

tauht in journaism schoos around the obe. good reorters now you dont earn anythin

by tain, you earn by istenin. And they et ood at it. Because they understand this one

thin beer than anyone ese - they now that most eoe dont ie sience and they wi ta

themsees into troube.

If you want to control the interview, control your answers:

Answer a single point clearly and directly

Stop talking and close your mouth, smile if appropriate

Donotspeakagainunlthenextquesonisasked

No maer what ind of quesonin you are under, the abiity to resent your messae and ie

yoursef ermission to sto tain is a earned si. It is essena to eery business execue

who wants to moe ahead. And it taes racce.

Once you master the skill

of learning to stop talking,

you will display a confdence

that puts you in control.

It gives you power and

solidifes your leadership.


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.xcuvakg.com.au

The Power of Body

Language

Chater 4


25/31



The exectaons for a cororate execue are immense. They must be dedicated, moated,and wor harder than anyone ese. They o countess hours under enormous stress, iin u

nihts and weeends. But to moe ahead, a business execue must aso ossess eadershi

quaies.

great eaders communicate their comanys ision in a way that insires and moates

emoyees. These business eaders buid owerfu teams, drie innoaon and hae a assion

for success. They aso nurture the one thin many execues ac:

self-AwAreness

Most execues can deier a ersuasie

resentaon thats easy. But, when under re,

een owerfu execues do not aways coney

a messae of strenth and condence. They can

be uncomfortabe answerin quesons with their

oice chanin itch, shuein their notes and

rushin throuh answers. Eeryone was away

feein uneasy.

How you hande yoursef in a stressfu situaon

says a ot about who you are; as a businessexecue, as a eader, as someone to be trusted

you need to be across this. It a comes down to

how you manae nerous enery.

boDY lAnGuAGe betrAYAl

Neres can mae us anxious and dety, confused and errac. Our body anuae betrays

us, exosin our fear of faiure throuh trembin hands and rain nees. A ood eader

reconises the trier oints, nows how their body wi react, and understands how it maybe erceied. A ood eader deeos sef-contro.

lets tae the exame of James and Ruert Murdoch as they tesed for a pariamentary

inquiry board into the News of the Word hone hacin saa. These are two of the words

most owerfu media mous under re for a scanda with crimina, ethica and career-endin

imicaons.


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The father-son team were a unied force. They shared the same messae and iey sent

wees rearin for their ubic riin on who new what and when about the newsaer

scanda. But what came across on the teeision, was striiny dierent.

News Cor Chairman and CEO Ruert Murdoch was soid, condent, stron. He ooed his

accusers straiht in the eye durin quesonin. He eaned in towards the ane and used ony

a few deiberate estures to mae his oint. Een thouh he coudnt remember many detais,

he neer waered.

His son, James, ortrayed a ery dierent tye of eader. His body anuae was jiery and he

aeared nerous. He deted, shied his shouders and bobbed his head tryin to mae eye

contact with the enre ane. His reeated use of the same hand estures was distracn.

James came across as errac, in his body anuae and his seech.

strenGth in speech

Durin quesonin by the pariamentary commiee, the youner Murdoch aeared to be

shin for the riht words that woud mae it a o away. He bean answerin quesons

immediatey aer they are ased, then strued to coect his thouhts.

James Murdoch soe usin forma anuae durin the hearin. He resonded from the

comanys oint of iew, and aused to emhasise words so oen that his seech aern

seems stuered.

In contrast, Ruert Murdoch used short sime hrases to answer aneists. He resonded

to quesons from his ersona oint of iew; usin the term I to exain his erceon, his

awareness, his nowede. He used the hrase Im oin to say somethin, to aear as if

he broe from the scrit to sea from the heart. He said ie, but had eeryones aenon.

A business eader must arcuate eecey.

Otherwise, they wi hae dicuty en eoe

to beiee in them, to trust in them, and to foowthem. A seaer can inadertenty create barriers

to trust by deian from norma seech with:

Voiceintonaon

Delivery speed

Vocabulary

Keyword emphasis

Pronunciaon


27/31



know Your surrounDinGs

Ruert Murdoch is a shrewd businessman with decades of exerience answerin to owerfu

eoe. He remained cam and condent under intense quesonin. Few eoe can retain

this ind of oise under ressure.

Comared to Ruert, anyone woud hae ooed a ie frazzed. Had James hae been aone

in front of the commiee, his nerous body anuae may not be so aarent. kee in mind,

the quesonin went on for hours in a are room with seera distracons, incudin the

media and an audience.

The commiee robaby didnt send their breas tain about the way James deted with

his asses or how Ruert waited a fu 5 seconds to answer a queson. They were there to et

answers about the hone hacin scanda.

But to the erson watchin the roceedins on the teeision, there was much more me

to scrunise eery moement. The camera catures a cose u of each man as he seas.

The iewer sees a side-by-side comarison of James and Ruert. And the dierences become

arin.

The enera ubic wont say they disied any seaer because he deted or was arroant

when he soe . The aerae erson just ets an oera imression of who the seaer is and

what he or she stands for. Either they trust him or they dont.

self-AwAreness

What you say, is as imortant as how you say it. No maer how rich and owerfu you et -

eoe wi ony isten to you as on as they beiee you. That is why erba and nonerba

communicaon must be consistent.

As an execue, you must be sef-aware of

your strenths and weanesses when seainbefore rous. You must acnowede how you

react under stress and tae deiberate stes to

counter your nerousness. Reardess of your

ersona stye, the oa is come across cam

and measured.


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For exame:

Does your seech et ouder and faster when you are stressed? If so,

racce sowin down your ace, racce eein your oume ee

when answerin quesons, and idenfy the trier oints that set you

o so you can remind yoursef when to sow down.

It is essena for eery execue to acnowede their nerous habits and earn how to

oercome them. A reat eader is aware of the imae they are ortrayin in eery situaon.

They now how to maintain contro by asin themsees these quesons:

AmIpoisedandcondent?

AmIprojecngstrength?

Am I in control of my body language? Do I understand my audience?

Doesmypresentaontthesituaon?

As with eerythin that is imortant, you must racce sef-awareness in cam situaons so

that you may ta into it durin stressfu ones.

Once you fnd your

inner confdence, you

can take control of your

future using powerful

communication, clear

articulation and a

consistent message.


29/31


WhatCEOsaresayingaboutDarrenFlemings

One-on-OneSpeakerTrainingPrograms

ItblowsmymindwhenIthinkofhowfarIhavecomeinsuchashortme.

I hae found that I hae reater condence when seain about Strata Choice at

industry eents and now oo for oortunies to sea somethin I thouht woud

neer be ossibe.

Dald,GouGaMaag

Darrenmademeprofessionalandmemorable

lie most senior manaers/execues, I was emoyed in my osion based on my

technica exerse and exerience. For some unnown reason, eeryone exects me

to be an exceona ubic seaer. But that is not on my resume! Darren Femin

roided the uidance and coachin so that my resentaon was rofessiona and

memorabe.

ncszut,CeO

Theresultsweachievedhavebeenexcellent

Darren heed me to deeo my resentaon so I coud deier my messae in a

owerfu and meaninfu way. I am more reaxed about resenn and seain to

unfamiiar rous. I hae been abe to adjust resentaons at short noce to inwhere other eoe hae not been abe to mae it.

robtBa,CeO


30/31


Veryusefultoolsandtechniquesforallpublicspeakingevents

The execue teams areciated your innoae ways to desin and deier

resentaons and are ooin forward to ayin the techniques they hae earned

rgasuo,CeOadstatlbaa

Icameawayfeelingpreparedtofaceanaudienceofprofessionals.

I had this reconceied idea that durin the Q&A session I woud be standin to the

side whie the rofessionas were quizzed on the hows and whys, so I was amazed that

the majority of the quesons were directed at me.

suDuo,MaaggDcto

WewillconnuetoworkwithDarrenandyoushoulddothesame.

Customers of Remunerate are senior eoe in the arest comanies in Austraia. It

was crica that our eent was executed erfecty, and that the aunch resentaon

itsef was comein, reeant, and denitey not borin. We enaed Darren Femin

of Execue Seain to he brin that ision to reaity, and he deiered.

peva,MaaggDcto

Idontstressanymoreaboutpungtogetherprofessionalpresentaons.

I am so roud of my powerpoint sis now! A quic esson from you and a those

s made me a whiz in no me and I dont stress anymore about un toether

rofessiona ooin resentaons because I now I hae the abiity to et it done!

Johgay,foudadDcto


31/31

In this boo we hae ooed at how to remain in contro when seain under ressure.

Wee discussed the imortance of resecn the quesoner and trean them as equas.

Youe ained techniques to contro your messae as we as how to stand your round. These

are imortant asects to contro when seain under ressure. last but not east, we hae

discussed how best to contro body anuae so you can add strenth to your messae. This is

crucia if you want to be seen as a stron eader under ressure. If you want to tae your sis

in this area to the next ee so you can so you can remain stron when under ressure, the

rst thin to do is to et in touch with me.

You can do this by e-mai [email protected] by cain Austraia +61 (0)422

670 659. Toether we can wor out a roram that suits you and your oranisaon and hes

achiee the oas that you hae. When you do this, you wi be seen as a stron eader that

eoe resect and foow, and that eoe wi want to dea with.
mailto:Darren%40executivespeaking.com.au?subject=Speaking%20Under%20Firemailto:Darren%40executivespeaking.com.au?subject=Speaking%20Under%20Fire

Speaking Under Pressure

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