“John lost control of that meeting. Will you please give him that feedback? These meetings are too important for him to let it get away from him.”
That was the project sponsor’s feedback on a Finance Transformation meeting.
John (not his real name) had been given the opportunity to run one of the project teams. He was a Senior Analyst, while the other project leads were all Finance Managers - one level above him.
He was qualified but lacked experience.
That lack of experience showed during the meeting.
Who’s in Charge?
The meeting included a few senior leaders from around the business.
John was sitting at the table, near the PowerPoint screen.
While he was talking through a topic, one senior leader asked a question.
John didn’t respond right away - the answer wasn’t on the tip of his tongue.
Before he could collect his thoughts, another senior leader jumped in and answered the question for him. Then someone else chimed in.
It all turned into a bit of banter between the two confident senior leaders. They took the conversation deep down the rabbit hole.
John just sat there and watched it all happen. The meeting had gone off the rails and he didn’t know how to regain control.
Owning the Space at the Top
John isn’t just shy or anything like that. In fact, he’s a really outgoing guy.
The problem is he didn’t have any experience running meetings, especially with senior stakeholders in the room.
His first big mistake was sitting down while running a high-powered meeting. That’s a bad move, especially if everyone else at the table outranks you.
See, standing in front of the room automatically gives you more power. It positions you as the leader because you’re physically higher than those who are seated.
People literally have to look up to you. You own all the space at the top of the room.
If a couple of attendees start bantering while you’re standing, it’s much easier to hold out your hands and calm it down. You can shut it down quickly and bring everyone’s attention back to the PowerPoint.
John had been given a development opportunity. They knew he didn’t have all the tools yet, but he’d get there eventually.
But getting experience when the stakes are so high is just brutal.
Surely there’s a better way.
Stage Time
I was an Analyst when all this went down - one step down the ladder from John.
I witnessed the meeting get out of hand. I also knew exactly what went wrong.
I might have been lower on the totem pole than John, but I was about 100 times more experienced in presenting than he was.
How? Because I earned it outside the boardroom.
I got most of my experience through Toastmasters.
If you haven’t heard of it, it’s a worldwide public speaking group. Melbourne alone has 70 clubs.
People join Toastmasters to improve their public speaking, but it’s also a great way to hone your leadership skills.
You even get the opportunity to chair meetings. For those two hours, you’re in charge of the room. You follow the structured agenda, introduce everybody, and make sure everything goes according to plan.
There are 20 to 40 people in the meeting, but you’re not sitting down with them. Toastmasters stresses the importance of speaking from the top of the room.
Does the thought of speaking to 40 people make you nervous? That’s how many people were there for my first speech.
Was I amazing? No.
But I wasn’t terrible either.
And I was much better the tenth time I did it.
My First Work Presentation
My first work presentation came after four years of Toastmasters and two years doing standup comedy.
I’d paid my dues and already had quite a bit of mileage. So when the opportunity came to present, I snatched it with both hands.
It was the kick-off for the internal development program I was helping my boss organise. 20 minutes in front of about 70 people, including the CFO and leadership team.
Naturally, I was nervous. But I wasn’t afraid.
After running meetings for Toastmasters and dealing with drunks at comedy gigs, I knew a thing or two about handling a crowd.
I knew how to keep law and order if things got rowdy.
There were moments of banter with the audience, but I was in control.
It didn’t matter that I was only an Analyst - I owned the space.
The CFO took notice too. No one below Finance Manager got one-on-one meetings with him.
Except me.
How to Get Better
Running effective meetings and presentations is key to having influence.
You’ll have to earn your stripes just like everyone else. But you shouldn’t do it in front of your stakeholders.
John lost control of the meeting because of a rookie mistake. And you’ll make your share of rookie mistakes too.
Just be sure you make them away from the spotlight.
Work won’t give you enough opportunities to become the confident presenter and leader you can be. You’ll have to find them on your own.
If you’re not sure where to find those opportunities, I highly recommend joining Toastmasters. It’s one of the best things I ever did. It’s why I could own that first meeting - because I walked in already knowing how to own the space.
- Alan “Own the Space” Cameron-Sweeney
P.S. Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you be more influential:
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