Surviving Office Politics by Patrick Forsyth

Author:Patrick Forsyth
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789814346948
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Internationl (Asia) Pte Ltd

Pat O’Malley

Putting someone in front of an important audience knowing that they would rather chew off their own fingers than sit and listen to someone who cannot make the simplest point clear, is rather like pushing the speaker into a lion’s den. Without an understanding of how to go about it in the right way, he will be in deep, deep trouble. No audience will warm to a speaker who is ill prepared and who flounders through a speech that is tedious, confusing and poorly delivered. And nor will the speaker—though poor, unthinkingly believes that he can—‘wing it’. Furthermore, no poor speaker is likely to magically acquire the requisite skills instantaneously in the few seconds between being introduced and rising to his feet to speak.

So if you are not, in fact, a natural—and few people are—you need to give it some thought before you get to your feet; once you are actually in the lion’s den it is a little late to discover that salvation is not guaranteed by saying, “Nice pussycat.”

If you know how to present, the importance of preparation, your audience, how to get off to a good start, how to structure and pace what you say, how to lay the emphasis where you intend it to be, you will finish on a high note. If you look the audience in the eye, are physically articulate—use gestures appropriately—look and sound confident, know how to field questions, find the right example, illustration, story or humorous aside and use visual aids in the right way, you will do it better. And if you can do it well, it becomes a powerful tool in your political armoury. There is an old saying that goes ‘If it is in black and white it must be true’. The same principle applies to presentations as to things in print. If a presentation is well crafted then that fact boosts the credibility of its content. And vice versa—What a rotten presentation, I bet the ideas were rubbish too.

A good presentation can enthuse or convince, where a poor one would not. A well made point or carefully phrased question can prompt discussion that will lead a group towards your way of thinking. A clear explanation—(perhaps augmented by a good slide) may get people’s understanding of a difficult point, or making a more sensible and prompt decision as a result.

Plans, budget, ideas, careers may all stand or fall based on the quality of presentation. People are influenced by style and approach—it can carry them along, lay down the law, or get attention or consideration where a less inspired approach will not. They are also influenced by detail; one good slide, perhaps a graph, and people are saying, “I hadn’t seen it that way before.” And by precision: do not say, “... if we get down to this immediately we can have everything sorted out fast.” If you leave people to make inferences from something vague, they will almost certainly get it wrong. In this case, sooner rather than later.

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