Improvise in Any Situation: With Your Team, In Front of Your Boss, In Public...
11 April 2011
Read by 1691 persons
Responding to a question off-the-cuff, finding the right words at the right time—it can be learned. Tips to never be caught off guard.
"The company needs fresh blood. That's why, following the departure of your department head, I want to hire someone from outside to replace him." Hearing this speech, Marc went pale. This experienced sales representative from a Parisian IT company thought he was the natural successor to his former superior. Stunned, he was unable to react and explain that he had the motivation and skills necessary for the position. "I missed an opportunity, I let my chance slip away," he regrets. "If I had been able to find the words, the CEO would undoubtedly have considered my application."
Finding yourself short of arguments, losing your composure, this can also happen in a meeting, or with a recruiter, when a tricky question arises. However, most of the time, a little trick is enough to save face. Knowing how to find the right words and tone proves to be a valuable asset. To get out of uncomfortable situations, but also to gain charisma. Because your interlocutors will appreciate your relevance and your ability to bounce back.
Of course, one doesn't become a master in the art of improvisation and rhetoric overnight. And some seem to have a natural aptitude. Nevertheless, everyone can improve by exercising their wit. These techniques should help you stop stammering and searching for words.
Increase your concentration abilities
The fear of the blank page. This is what Bruno, head of the finance department of a distance selling company, experienced when, in the middle of a retirement party for a colleague, the assembly demanded a speech: "I only managed to say commonplaces, thanking the employee for his years with the company and simply wishing him well. Whereas, if I had prepared it, I could have personalized my speech, mentioned one or two anecdotes and come across as less cold."
If you know you might be asked a question during an interview, allow yourself a little time for reflection. "Project yourself, visualize the meeting or your intervention, asking yourself who will be present, what topics will be discussed, the stakes of the meeting..." recommends Pia Martin, a trainer at Cegos. Also anticipate events that might destabilize you: "What if I'm questioned on this topic, what would I say?"
When the time comes, stay focused. "We are too often thinking about something else or starting to prepare our answer, while our interlocutor hasn't even finished speaking," observes Séverine Denis, actress and trainer, specialist in improvisation techniques. On the contrary, it is by taking the time to observe and listen carefully to the person in front of you that you will succeed in mobilizing your ideas and finding the most appropriate response. Also pay attention to the words and tone they use, as well as their gestures: this will help you not to be mistaken about their intention and to respond to them in the appropriate register.
Tame fear and shame
Despite good preparation and laser focus, you are not immune to a mental block... A destabilizing experience we have all lived through. The essential thing is then not to be overwhelmed by your emotions, whether it's stupor, anxiety or anger. Otherwise, it's the beginning of a vicious cycle: ideas become confused, you lose your composure even more and speech is blocked. "Stress inhibits thought," sums up Bernard Sananès, psychologist and trainer.
Anne-Cécile experienced this while looking for a product manager position: "During an interview, a recruiter asked me several indiscreet questions: why didn't I have children yet at 38? Was I planning to join my husband who works in the provinces? This completely threw me off, I blushed and remained silent!" In reality, the professional simply wanted to see if she had enough nerve to retort that it was none of his business and test her responsiveness. Because the position she was applying for demanded a lot, especially when it came to negotiating with suppliers and distributors.
Daring to respond quickly and directly implies having self-confidence and above all being able to let go. To be comfortable, open to discussion, you must overcome your superego. Stop constantly monitoring yourself, analyzing and criticizing your own gestures and intentions. You must also free yourself from certain negative thoughts, such as "I won't know what to say," "they'll think I'm ridiculous," which contribute to inhibiting you and ultimately lead you to remain silent.
If you hesitate or feel destabilized, draw inspiration from some public speaking techniques: breathe, feet flat on the ground, back straight. And tell yourself, like Michel Audiard, a master of language and repartee: "Not recognizing one's own talent is to favor the success of the mediocre!" This is the condition for the spontaneous emergence of witty remarks.
Remember the replies that hit the mark
Repartee is too often considered a weapon in case of a verbal joust. "However, showing wit doesn't mean "shutting the other person up," explains Bernard Sananès. Entering into a power struggle simply risks blocking the exchange." On the contrary, the objective is to establish complicity. To do this, avoid irony. Prefer humor, provided, of course, that you have someone in front of you who is receptive to it.
How to develop your quick wit? By practicing. "It's like riding a bike," specifies the psychologist. "Before you get there, you need personal learning and a few falls." To do this, stimulate your imagination. Take advantage of all opportunities, in low-stakes situations, to engage in a "verbal ping-pong" and thus test yourself.
This also involves a series of exercises, and a good dose of curiosity and openness. This communication director of an IT company, for example, makes it a point to always be on the lookout. "Whether at the cinema, on television, during political debates or in a commercial, I constantly pay attention to striking phrases, strong images... With the idea that I could reuse them in a professional context, to hit the mark during a meeting or surprise an interlocutor."
Organize your speech according to a plan
When you have to respond urgently, you don't a priori have time to organize your thoughts. But that's no reason to deliver your ideas in a jumbled mess. You risk confusing your interlocutors, making your message incomprehensible and being judged severely: a parallel is often drawn between an individual's speaking style and their way of working.
Not knowing what question you will be faced with, it is impossible for you to work on the substance of your speech. But you can rely on a ready-to-use structure. "In short, we improvise on the content but not on the form," observes Michèle Taïeb, author of "Improviser" (Editions d'organisation). "This allows you to focus more on the ideas and therefore be more impactful."
Have you ever heard of the "SOSRA" plan? It consists of Situating the subject in its context ("You're talking about the results of the point of sale located in Niort?"), making Observations ("I have indeed noticed that sales are down"), expressing your Feeling ("This worries me," or on the contrary "There is no cause for concern, it's common at this time of year"), making a forecast or a broader Reflection on the subject ("This may be explained by the opening of a competing store in the area") and finishing by stating how one should Act ("I wanted to launch a customer satisfaction study to identify improvements to be made"). This framework should allow you to make a good impression in most situations.
Gain time to bounce back better
Haste is the enemy of improvisation. By wanting to bounce back at all costs on any word, for fear of letting silence settle in, you will interrupt your interlocutor at the wrong time and answer beside the point. To avoid blanks while giving yourself a little time to think, there are a few tricks. One of them, basic but effective, is to rephrase your interlocutor's remark.
According to Pia Martin, from Cegos, "this allows you to appropriate the other person's idea, to verify that you have understood it correctly and to let the appropriate answer come." Another trick to answer quickly while thinking about your arguments: rely on a saying appropriate to the situation. To a customer who challenges their prices, a salesperson can for example answer: "The price is forgotten, the quality remains," before detailing the strong points of their offer.
If you are really at a loss for ideas, when you have just been asked a question in front of an audience, show some nerve. Don't let anything of your trouble show, take the question as your own and question the audience! You will then be able to more easily deflect the question. Or simply stall for time, as Bertrand, project manager in event planning, did with his boss. "He wanted to know where the organization of a festival planned for this summer was at. I affirmed with aplomb that I intended to discuss it at the following meeting, under the pretext that I was still waiting for some information. But, in reality, I hadn't made any progress on the file." Be careful, if you care about your credibility, this tactic can only be used once…
Ensure team cohesion
You don't always improvise alone. Sometimes, it's a whole team that is faced with a thorny problem requiring an urgent answer. This ability to find a solution together is what frigate captain Stéphanie Guénôt, a nuclear specialist in the French navy, calls "providential improvisation."
The most famous example of fruitful providential improvisation comes from the history of the American space conquest. In April 1970, the Apollo 13 mission threatened to turn into a tragedy. "The spacecraft was en route to the Moon when one of the oxygen tanks exploded," says the officer. "From Houston, NASA engineers had to find a way to help the astronauts build an air filter with the limited resources available in the spacecraft."
Obviously, company life rarely presents such opportunities to deploy the genius of a team in a limited time. But unexpected demands from a major client can still create exciting adrenaline rushes. "The ability to improvise collectively depends on the knowledge each employee has of their work, but also on the skills of all the others," explains Stéphanie Guénôt. "Because it is by recombining resources, reorganizing the capabilities and talents of each person that a team manages to disrupt habits and procedures to ultimately create something new."
Achieving this involves training employees comprehensively: they cannot be content with the knowledge essential to their classic duties. The other key to success, according to the officer, is good cohesion within the group: "It is the team spirit that will allow it to react to adversity as a single entity." The manager's role is then paramount. By creating bonds and communicating his dynamism, it is he who will help providence instill genius in the group.
Published April 5, 2011
Posted online April 11, 2011
Capital.fr
"The company needs fresh blood. That's why, following the departure of your department head, I want to hire someone from outside to replace him." Hearing this speech, Marc went pale. This experienced sales representative from a Parisian IT company thought he was the natural successor to his former superior. Stunned, he was unable to react and explain that he had the motivation and skills necessary for the position. "I missed an opportunity, I let my chance slip away," he regrets. "If I had been able to find the words, the CEO would undoubtedly have considered my application."
Finding yourself short of arguments, losing your composure, this can also happen in a meeting, or with a recruiter, when a tricky question arises. However, most of the time, a little trick is enough to save face. Knowing how to find the right words and tone proves to be a valuable asset. To get out of uncomfortable situations, but also to gain charisma. Because your interlocutors will appreciate your relevance and your ability to bounce back.
Of course, one doesn't become a master in the art of improvisation and rhetoric overnight. And some seem to have a natural aptitude. Nevertheless, everyone can improve by exercising their wit. These techniques should help you stop stammering and searching for words.
Increase your concentration abilities
The fear of the blank page. This is what Bruno, head of the finance department of a distance selling company, experienced when, in the middle of a retirement party for a colleague, the assembly demanded a speech: "I only managed to say commonplaces, thanking the employee for his years with the company and simply wishing him well. Whereas, if I had prepared it, I could have personalized my speech, mentioned one or two anecdotes and come across as less cold."
If you know you might be asked a question during an interview, allow yourself a little time for reflection. "Project yourself, visualize the meeting or your intervention, asking yourself who will be present, what topics will be discussed, the stakes of the meeting..." recommends Pia Martin, a trainer at Cegos. Also anticipate events that might destabilize you: "What if I'm questioned on this topic, what would I say?"
When the time comes, stay focused. "We are too often thinking about something else or starting to prepare our answer, while our interlocutor hasn't even finished speaking," observes Séverine Denis, actress and trainer, specialist in improvisation techniques. On the contrary, it is by taking the time to observe and listen carefully to the person in front of you that you will succeed in mobilizing your ideas and finding the most appropriate response. Also pay attention to the words and tone they use, as well as their gestures: this will help you not to be mistaken about their intention and to respond to them in the appropriate register.
Tame fear and shame
Despite good preparation and laser focus, you are not immune to a mental block... A destabilizing experience we have all lived through. The essential thing is then not to be overwhelmed by your emotions, whether it's stupor, anxiety or anger. Otherwise, it's the beginning of a vicious cycle: ideas become confused, you lose your composure even more and speech is blocked. "Stress inhibits thought," sums up Bernard Sananès, psychologist and trainer.
Anne-Cécile experienced this while looking for a product manager position: "During an interview, a recruiter asked me several indiscreet questions: why didn't I have children yet at 38? Was I planning to join my husband who works in the provinces? This completely threw me off, I blushed and remained silent!" In reality, the professional simply wanted to see if she had enough nerve to retort that it was none of his business and test her responsiveness. Because the position she was applying for demanded a lot, especially when it came to negotiating with suppliers and distributors.
Daring to respond quickly and directly implies having self-confidence and above all being able to let go. To be comfortable, open to discussion, you must overcome your superego. Stop constantly monitoring yourself, analyzing and criticizing your own gestures and intentions. You must also free yourself from certain negative thoughts, such as "I won't know what to say," "they'll think I'm ridiculous," which contribute to inhibiting you and ultimately lead you to remain silent.
If you hesitate or feel destabilized, draw inspiration from some public speaking techniques: breathe, feet flat on the ground, back straight. And tell yourself, like Michel Audiard, a master of language and repartee: "Not recognizing one's own talent is to favor the success of the mediocre!" This is the condition for the spontaneous emergence of witty remarks.
Remember the replies that hit the mark
Repartee is too often considered a weapon in case of a verbal joust. "However, showing wit doesn't mean "shutting the other person up," explains Bernard Sananès. Entering into a power struggle simply risks blocking the exchange." On the contrary, the objective is to establish complicity. To do this, avoid irony. Prefer humor, provided, of course, that you have someone in front of you who is receptive to it.
How to develop your quick wit? By practicing. "It's like riding a bike," specifies the psychologist. "Before you get there, you need personal learning and a few falls." To do this, stimulate your imagination. Take advantage of all opportunities, in low-stakes situations, to engage in a "verbal ping-pong" and thus test yourself.
This also involves a series of exercises, and a good dose of curiosity and openness. This communication director of an IT company, for example, makes it a point to always be on the lookout. "Whether at the cinema, on television, during political debates or in a commercial, I constantly pay attention to striking phrases, strong images... With the idea that I could reuse them in a professional context, to hit the mark during a meeting or surprise an interlocutor."
Organize your speech according to a plan
When you have to respond urgently, you don't a priori have time to organize your thoughts. But that's no reason to deliver your ideas in a jumbled mess. You risk confusing your interlocutors, making your message incomprehensible and being judged severely: a parallel is often drawn between an individual's speaking style and their way of working.
Not knowing what question you will be faced with, it is impossible for you to work on the substance of your speech. But you can rely on a ready-to-use structure. "In short, we improvise on the content but not on the form," observes Michèle Taïeb, author of "Improviser" (Editions d'organisation). "This allows you to focus more on the ideas and therefore be more impactful."
Have you ever heard of the "SOSRA" plan? It consists of Situating the subject in its context ("You're talking about the results of the point of sale located in Niort?"), making Observations ("I have indeed noticed that sales are down"), expressing your Feeling ("This worries me," or on the contrary "There is no cause for concern, it's common at this time of year"), making a forecast or a broader Reflection on the subject ("This may be explained by the opening of a competing store in the area") and finishing by stating how one should Act ("I wanted to launch a customer satisfaction study to identify improvements to be made"). This framework should allow you to make a good impression in most situations.
Gain time to bounce back better
Haste is the enemy of improvisation. By wanting to bounce back at all costs on any word, for fear of letting silence settle in, you will interrupt your interlocutor at the wrong time and answer beside the point. To avoid blanks while giving yourself a little time to think, there are a few tricks. One of them, basic but effective, is to rephrase your interlocutor's remark.
According to Pia Martin, from Cegos, "this allows you to appropriate the other person's idea, to verify that you have understood it correctly and to let the appropriate answer come." Another trick to answer quickly while thinking about your arguments: rely on a saying appropriate to the situation. To a customer who challenges their prices, a salesperson can for example answer: "The price is forgotten, the quality remains," before detailing the strong points of their offer.
If you are really at a loss for ideas, when you have just been asked a question in front of an audience, show some nerve. Don't let anything of your trouble show, take the question as your own and question the audience! You will then be able to more easily deflect the question. Or simply stall for time, as Bertrand, project manager in event planning, did with his boss. "He wanted to know where the organization of a festival planned for this summer was at. I affirmed with aplomb that I intended to discuss it at the following meeting, under the pretext that I was still waiting for some information. But, in reality, I hadn't made any progress on the file." Be careful, if you care about your credibility, this tactic can only be used once…
Ensure team cohesion
You don't always improvise alone. Sometimes, it's a whole team that is faced with a thorny problem requiring an urgent answer. This ability to find a solution together is what frigate captain Stéphanie Guénôt, a nuclear specialist in the French navy, calls "providential improvisation."
The most famous example of fruitful providential improvisation comes from the history of the American space conquest. In April 1970, the Apollo 13 mission threatened to turn into a tragedy. "The spacecraft was en route to the Moon when one of the oxygen tanks exploded," says the officer. "From Houston, NASA engineers had to find a way to help the astronauts build an air filter with the limited resources available in the spacecraft."
Obviously, company life rarely presents such opportunities to deploy the genius of a team in a limited time. But unexpected demands from a major client can still create exciting adrenaline rushes. "The ability to improvise collectively depends on the knowledge each employee has of their work, but also on the skills of all the others," explains Stéphanie Guénôt. "Because it is by recombining resources, reorganizing the capabilities and talents of each person that a team manages to disrupt habits and procedures to ultimately create something new."
Achieving this involves training employees comprehensively: they cannot be content with the knowledge essential to their classic duties. The other key to success, according to the officer, is good cohesion within the group: "It is the team spirit that will allow it to react to adversity as a single entity." The manager's role is then paramount. By creating bonds and communicating his dynamism, it is he who will help providence instill genius in the group.
Published April 5, 2011
Posted online April 11, 2011
Capital.fr
