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Hi, #2 in nation, in now-virtually dead category (Student Congress), high school speech and debate nerd here. Like any good debate position, I'd like to summarize with three main points. A. People first, point second.
Look, you're an engineer, but in a large professional setting you're really a salesperson too, and at more senior levels you're a salesperson who happened to be an engineer. Lots of comments around empathy here and I can only reinforce this point. It's really crucial to think about what the people in the room want, what their motivations are and how they might react to information. You sound like you're dealing, as an expert, with other experts in smaller groups. You probably know what you're talking about so figuring out why people are motivated to object to you is a useful tool. tl;dr sometimes people are jerks, don't let them shake you! B. Practice, _and_ simulate.
Ok what's the difference here. Practicing is identifying low-risk venues to give presentations in and/or lead discussions. These can be on friendly teams, large group presentations or refereeing a tabletop roleplaying game etc (the last one is REALLY beneficial). Simulating is deriving from the outputs of practice things you'd do differently. After a while one can foresee what could reasonably occur, scenario plan for it and even develop escape hatches. I see my Q/A, body language, three main points in my minds eye and have plans for a couple of contingencies. You can't tell somehow _how_ to develop this but you _will_ develop it after some time working through this. C. You can control information inputs
I find, at least in business settings, that technical experts are often derailed by bringing too much to the table. Their message is often lost, particularly with senior leaders because its surrounded by a morass of apparently helpful information...you're talking to someone and solving their information prioritization problem from the start. It's important to have a clear set of objectives going in and _ethically and truthfully (literally and in the spirit)_ align the information with your point. It's your battlefield, you make it, control the terrain you're operating on. Additional point, don't be afraid to stop for a 2-3 seconds, compose a thought and then respond. It is a natural breaking tactic I use in meetings and it gets people to engage with you because you've suddenly paused the entire room, at will. Handy trick. |