EYN #003 - Dealing With Difficult People In A Presentation

Read time: 2 mins

So there you are, presenting a session to a group.  And you've got someone in the audience full of negativity.  They might dislike your company, they might dislike you, or they might be having a bad day

Regardless, all that negativity is laser focused on you right now.

Whether you're in small meeting room, on a large stage, or on a video conference it can be pretty tough to deal with. 

Some people get defensive and combative in that situation. Some people get overwhelmed and lose their flow.

Here's how I handle it: 

1. Stay Calm & Positive
2. Use The Parking Lot
3. Be Direct & Honest

Stay Positive

Stay calm, stay positive and don’t get defensive. 

Acknowledge their perspective and if you have a quick positive rebuttal pop it in.  Something like this works:

"That's an interesting perspective and thanks for sharing it.  I've got a different perspective I think ABC"

If that closes it down, nice.  But if they're continuing to push the issue we might need the parking lot.

Use The Parking lot

The parking lot is somewhere you can capture all the things that you don't want to talk about now, but will follow up with.  We don't want to disappear in a rathole of despair - sucking time, energy and positivity from the entire audience.  Let's keep calm and pop this topic on a list of follow up topics.  Let's get this conservation postponed for a better time.  Something like this works:

"Thanks for sharing this.  Do you mind if I make a note of this and loop round with your afterwards.  I want to make sure I fully understand what you're saying before I answer"

If you use the parking lot, you have to follow up.  It's not a black hole of things you want to forget.  Follow up well and they might be your ally next time.

Be Direct And Honest

You've been positive, you've tried the parking lot and still they're firing rockets.  Inside you might be really angry or upset.  But let's keep calm, be positive and dial up our directness.  Something like this works:

"Thanks for your comments.  Would you mind saving your comments to the end now.  There's some really interesting things I need to share before we finish and I`m a bit concerned about time."

There you go, that’s got me out of most difficult situations with negative audience members.

Check out this video for a fun look at the topic.

Cheers

BenP

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