Mental footwork for awkward questions

A new course in Dubai aims to teach professionals the skills they need to communicate clearly when under pressure and under prepared.

Hazel Cowling says conveying an idea is vital it gives an individual an influence over what goes on. Courtesy Biz Group

Have you ever been tongue-tied, stumped by a question, or left searching for facts under pressure? It’s a tough situation to be in no matter the circumstances, but it is also one you can train for thanks to a new communications skills workshop being introduced to the region.

Think on Your Feet is designed to help corporates communicate in informal situations and under pressure, with the two-day workshop tackling how to handle tough communication moments and equipping people with the tools to make sure they can do it again and again.

Hazel Cowling, 55, a partner and consulting director at professional development company Biz-Group, explains how the course gets people talking.

Why did you introduce Think on Your Feet?

The training fills a need for people who quite literally have to think on their feet. Whether it is people in a corporation responding to something covered in the media, or when someone in an lift catches you with a question, or maybe in a pitch with a client, those are the occasions when you don’t have time to prepare.

What are the secrets to good communication?

Clarity, brevity and impact. Clarity because clearly in this region, with so many different cultures and languages, you really need to be absolutely crystal clear in your communications. Whether you are dealing with someone with the same language or not, clarity is still important. People do not have time to keep asking questions because you have not made yourself clear. Brevity is important because people are under time pressure. The more senior you get or the more people you are dealing with at a senior level, the less time they have and the less head space they have got for too much detail. Brevity is really important in a business context to get your point across quickly and powerfully. Impact is important because you want people to remember what you said. You want them to walk away from the conversation and know the other person not just gets it and appreciates what you have said, but that there is some power behind the words that you have spoken.

How do you teach people to bring these three things into their communication?

We teach participants how to cover every eventuality of communications, in the business world and beyond it too. Participants get a chance to practise the techniques live and we do that through a mix of fun activities or business focused realistic examples. It works really nicely because all participants listen to each others sessions, which means they get lots of rich feedback. By the end of the two days they can pretty much answer fairly complex questions on a whole range of subjects with no preparation.

How can participants work what they learn directly into their professional lives?

Before they attend, we ask them to think of a couple of really strong ideas they want to put across either to a client, or internally, and just come along with those ideas and any information they have around them. The course works when you have no time to prepare, a little time or even plenty. Participants get a chance to practise all three time dynamics, so their ideas are used for [examples of when there is more time to prepare]. We also ask them to come into the workshop with two questions they find hard to answer that keep being asked of them, and we work through those too. We need to be able to teach them something completely portable. They should be able to go home that night and practise it on their family.

What are the benefits of strong communications skills?

Productive relationships, conveying ideas and getting things done – for me those are the three that are really important. Productive relationships are important because that’s how we do business, how we build trust and get people to believe in us and do what we need them to do. Conveying an idea is vital because if we can’t do that then we are not going to have any influence over what goes on. If we are clear in the way we communicate with people who we need things from, then it makes life easier for everyone and means we get things done. Clear speaking is clear thinking. If you are thinking clearly and have ideas structured well, they will be really clear to the listener.

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