Welcome to 🍏Lunch N Learn with Lindsay🍏 Issue 185. How was your weekend? Mine was pretty productive. Yesterday was designated “Operation-tidy-up-the-office-day” and I’m smiling this morning as I survey a workspace that could take pride of place on a Pinterest interior ideas mood-board! I was “on the road” with training delivery last week and upon return had piled my workshop materials on my desk. This had resulted in a precarious looking massive Jenga game threatening to topple over at any moment. So, I tackled the mess fuelled by a pot of tea and an ecclectic playlist. Whilst tidying, I found my store of old memory sticks in a locked drawer…I was a tad excited at the prospect of finding some interesting blogs and articles that I’d saved on the sticks and which I could resurrect and share with you. After getting somewhat sidetracked reading old homework documents from Lottie (penguins and castles were hot topics!), I discovered my original Word document version of my book “A-Z Pearls of Wisdom for Executive PAs” ripe for publication in 2015! I decided Chapter O for “Opnionated” would be an absolute gem to share with you today. It’s an oldie but a goodie if you want some guidelines on putting forward your Opinion with impact (and tact!). Enjoy & here’s to a great week ahead! When you feel very strongly about something it can be easy to let your emotions get the better of you. By doing so, you can lose or dilute the impact of sharing your opinion. There’s an art to putting forward and sharing your opinion in a way that “lands” with the best impact and with tact. Notice I’ve used the word “share” here. This is about sharing your opinion not enforcing your opinion on someone else. It’s about respecting the fact that not everyone will have the same opinion as you. The following guidelines will help you put forward your opinion with impact. 1. Breathe! When you feel strongly about something, this may show in your fast-paced breathing, body language and pace of talking. You need to get the balance right here between sharing your opinion with “passion” without appearing flustered, harassed or “bulldozing”. By focusing on maintaining even, steady breathing this will help enormously. 2. Ground yourself and be assertive! Plant your feet firmly on the ground and ensure your body language is assertive – so match the level of someone else (if they are standing, you stand, if they are sitting, you sit). Open the palms of your hands (no clenched fists to see here!). Maintain a steady and gentle eye-contact with the person you’re talking to. Your tone of voice needs to be assertive too with an even-paced, steady rhythm that emphasises the important words or phrases. 3. Favour Curiosity over Judgment! Human nature is such that we tend to “pre-judge” others based on our own experience and beliefs. Put aside any pre-judgments and instead be curious. Curiousity is the foundation to all learning and opens our mind to ensure we are more receptive and aware in a situation. 4. Acknowledge someone else’s opinion! Not everyone will have the same opinion as you. We are all unique human beings with individiaul experiences, beliefs, upbringing, knowledge and learning. Acknowledge that someone else may have a different opinion to you eg “I understand we may have a difference of opnion and I’m sure, like me, you appreciate we’re all different”. 5. Seal it with a KISS (Keep it short n simple)! Cut through any jargon by using simple language that can be instantly understood. 6. Add context! Explain your reasons for having the opinion that you do eg “This is my opinon because in my experience xxx has happened…” or “I am basing my opinon on…” 7. Tailor your language! Learn more about VAK Systems here. Tailor your language to suit the person/audience you are talking to. 8. Be open to hearing someone else’s opinion! You’ve shared your opinion and someone has taken the time to listen to you. Reciprocate by given them time to share their opinion. Ultimately, remember that life would be boring if we all thought the same, wouldn’t it?! |
