Anne: I think so many people get defensive right away, even before they get into the situation. And and i know that that can restrict the interaction and what's possible. So let's talk a little bit more about preparation. What do you advise people to do in advance of situations where objections might be raised? What are some best practices there? Anne: There's certainly the opportunity to anticipate where the pushback's going to come. If you're dealing with any kind of information that has a contentious element, or maybe even an unfamiliar element, thinking ahead of time is good advice.
Preparing to speak in front of a skeptical audience is more than thinking about objections beforehand – there are specific techniques you can use to respond to these challenging situations without sounding defensive, evasive, or dismissive. Here, we offer a few key tips for how to handle skepticism with aplomb.
In this podcast, host Matt Abrahams and Stanford GSB lecturer Burt Alper share how to prepare for these challenges from your audience and discuss the importance of tactics like acknowledging audience input, reframing responses, and how to remain cool, collected, and credible.
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