Comments on: Speaking Skills: Don’t Offend Your Audience http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/speaking-skills-dont-offend-your-audience/ Media Skills Training Tue, 11 Jan 2011 17:45:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: lorraine http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/speaking-skills-dont-offend-your-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-30 lorraine Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:45:35 +0000 http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/?p=224#comment-30 Thanks for your feedback, Brenna. I think that's exactly the right idea. A better approach would have been to validate the other person's opinion and still offer other points of view. It's not possible to control everyone's reaction and I don't expect everyone to agree with everything I say. However it is possible to minimize the possibility that someone will feel excluded if they feel they have not been heard. It's a matter of respect. A professional speaker needs to continue learning and adjusting to his/her audience. Thanks again. Thanks for your feedback, Brenna. I think that’s exactly the right idea. A better approach would have been to validate the other person’s opinion and still offer other points of view. It’s not possible to control everyone’s reaction and I don’t expect everyone to agree with everything I say. However it is possible to minimize the possibility that someone will feel excluded if they feel they have not been heard. It’s a matter of respect. A professional speaker needs to continue learning and adjusting to his/her audience. Thanks again.

]]> By: Brenna Louzin http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/speaking-skills-dont-offend-your-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-29 Brenna Louzin Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:33:34 +0000 http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/?p=224#comment-29 Lorraine, I was in your April 22d audience and I thought you handled the situation well. I guess I might have said something like, "I honor your opinion, but perhaps we need to discuss the concept further with the group. How do you feel about that?" I appreciated your presentation and aplomb. Lorraine,
I was in your April 22d audience and I thought you handled the situation well. I guess I might have said something like, “I honor your opinion, but perhaps we need to discuss the concept further with the group. How do you feel about that?”
I appreciated your presentation and aplomb.

]]> By: lorraine http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/speaking-skills-dont-offend-your-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-27 lorraine Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:51:49 +0000 http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/?p=224#comment-27 Thanks for your candid response, Linda. This one resonates with a lot of people. Sometimes it feels like my need to be right is doing battle with my professional self. It take vigilance to keep that beast at bay! Thanks for your candid response, Linda. This one resonates with a lot of people. Sometimes it feels like my need to be right is doing battle with my professional self. It take vigilance to keep that beast at bay!

]]> By: Linda http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/speaking-skills-dont-offend-your-audience/comment-page-1/#comment-26 Linda Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:16:16 +0000 http://www.mediaskillstraining.com/?p=224#comment-26 Wow! That is a hard lesson, and I am not sure ever learned completely. Last week in a bank training, the number two person in the room said something I really disagreed with. At first I asked, "Do you mind if I disagree with you?" I could tell from her face that was the wrong thing to say. It did not work because of course she had to say "No, go ahead". I followed with what I should have led with. "I agree with a lot of what you say, and I have another perspective on part of it." That allowed her to save face and allowed me to make my point. Still...there was that tension in the way I started and I had to work to relieve that tension. Not only does it impact her and I, but anyone else with a point to make might think twice if I can't disagree without embarrassing them. At lunch talking with someone else, they were glad 'I put her in her place'. YIKES. That was not my intention. I am still working on this after 30 years as a professional presenter. Wow! That is a hard lesson, and I am not sure ever learned completely.

Last week in a bank training, the number two person in the room said something I really disagreed with. At first I asked, “Do you mind if I disagree with you?” I could tell from her face that was the wrong thing to say.

It did not work because of course she had to say “No, go ahead”. I followed with what I should have led with. “I agree with a lot of what you say, and I have another perspective on part of it.”

That allowed her to save face and allowed me to make my point.

Still…there was that tension in the way I started and I had to work to relieve that tension. Not only does it impact her and I, but anyone else with a point to make might think twice if I can’t disagree without embarrassing them.

At lunch talking with someone else, they were glad ‘I put her in her place’. YIKES. That was not my intention.

I am still working on this after 30 years as a professional presenter.

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