How to use pointless meetings to sell
your ideas and advance your career
Instead of zoning out or checking your phone, here’s how to
reclaim your time and make meetings more productive.
Few activities in the business world eat up as much time as
meetings. Professionals spend 37% of their time in meetings, and it’s worse for executives, who by
some estimates devote 85% of their days to meetings.
But if you look around during a typical meeting, you’ll see people
texting, or treating the event with indifference. Too often, these gatherings
are regarded as a painful obligation.
Imagine if you approached meetings with an entirely different
mind-set–as a place where you can sell your ideas and demonstrate your
leadership. With that mind-set, you will help your organization, and not
incidentally, your own career.
The following five steps will enable you to sell your ideas, and
make your meetings more productive and engaging.
1. FIGURE OUT
WHAT YOU WANT TO SELL
The starting point is having a sales mind-set. Most people enter
meeting rooms with a knowledge of the topics, and some background on them. But
rarely do participants come in with a desire to pitch their thinking. Yet if
you are invited to a meeting, it’s because others think you have something to
say. You need to come prepared to make that point or make your position clear.
For example, let’s say you’re in a meeting focused on a new
marketing plan. You’ve been invited because you’re versed in the product being
marketed. Decide what point of view you want to get across. Do you support the
plan, have reservations about it, or downright dislike it? Knowing what you’re
selling will give you a sense of purpose. It will energize you from the moment
you walk into that meeting.
2. LISTEN FOR
YOUR “IN”
Once the discussion starts, listen carefully to the exchanges and
find the right moment to present your ideas.
There are various times when you can take control. One is when
other voices in the room are moving toward the position you want to present. In
that case, speak up and say, “I agree with George’s view on this. In fact, I’d
like to build upon it.” That collaborative tone will win you listeners.
Another situation in which you can best introduce your views is
when the discussion is moving away from what you’d like to say. This is a ripe
opportunity to sway the thinking of the room. But be discreet—don’t begin with
“on the contrary,” or “I don’t agree.” Those phrases will distance you from the
previous speaker and position you as a negative presence. Instead, begin, “Leah
and Jamal have argued that . . . and while I see how they arrived at their
conclusion, there is another point of view we should consider.”
In both instances, the art of the pitch begins with listening, and
showing that you are sensitive to the views in the room and you are building
upon them or recognizing them.
3. CUT TO THE
CHASE WITH ONE SINGLE POINT
Pitching your ideas requires getting to your point as soon as
possible–or you’ll lose listeners and they won’t be there for you when you do
get to your message.
This message should be a one-sentence statement that distills your
thinking and defines the essence of your pitch. It can be a message about how
to move forward (“As I see it, we need to first get our business partners on
side”) or it can be a message about staffing (“Marketing needs to take the lead
on this”) or it can be a message about serving a client (“This is too good an
opportunity to lose by charging them more than they are willing to pay”).
The point is to have a point—one, simple, clear, compelling idea
that reaches the room.
4. ELABORATE
WITH CLEAR POINTS
You have your audience listening to your idea. Don’t ramble or
wander, or introduce an information dump. Instead, choose two to four points
that successfully develop your idea.
Your might briefly elaborate your points, but if you want your
audience to stay with you, count them out–use “first,” “second,” “third,” to
earmark the points.
5. END WITH A
CALL TO ACTION
You’ll want closure on your idea, so specify what you want the
others in the room to do, or what will you do for them. Every sale ends with an
“ask,” and every time you sell an idea, you need to ask your audience to act
upon what you’ve said. Otherwise, there is no sale, no closure, and no impact.
A call to action can be a gentle suggestion of next steps (“I
suggest we move to appoint a team to lead this initiative”) or it can be a more
decisive rallying cry (“Given that we all want this program to move forward,
let’s set out a timetable; appoint a team; and have a report on progress at our
next meeting”) At times your call to action can also be a self-delegated act
(“I’ll take the lead on this”).
These five steps will enable you to play a leadership role in
every gathering. Your ideas will benefit the organization, and you’ll help make
meetings more exciting for everyone.
BY JUDITH HUMPHREY
https://www.fastcompany.com/90259624/how-to-make-meetings-more-productive?utm_source=postup&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Fast%20Company%20Daily&position=10&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=11072018
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