You’re presenting to a tough audience. You work in a stand-and-deliver environment where the corporate culture rewards confrontations at meetings. Or maybe you’re talking to an unhappy customer.
How can you deal with a difficult situation—a situation in which you’re confronted with hostility, whining, or even out-and-out sabotage? Darlene Price, who writes for Rain Today, answers this question in her article “8 Ways to Handle Hostile Questions and Difficult People.”
Ms. Price makes some great suggestions. I’m presenting my top three here and strongly suggest that you read the entire piece. It’s worth the five minutes it takes.
Depersonalize it
Easier said than done. After all, they’re attacking you, not your evil twin Veronica. But taking a few seconds to reframe will reward you by helping you to stay calmer and think on your feet better. How do you do that? Remind yourself that this is not about you and that the audience member’s behavior reveals a lot about how they are.
Find an area where you agree
This is more difficult than it sounds, probably because you’ve already decided you don’t like Ms. Hostile very well. Still, take a deep breath, find something you can agree upon and call it out. As in, “Ms. Hostile, I agree that our customer service department is not well regarded … “
Don’t indulge bad behavior
At least not for very long. If you’ve run through the techniques Ms. Price recommends, back off. (Kind of like dealing with a three-year old who’s having a tantrum, I think.) “Disengage and move on.” You can do that by offering to take the discussion offline after the meeting.
My Take
Mr. and Ms. Hostile are likely to be bullies who are notorious for pulling this kind of stunt. They probably get away with it because no one knows how to engage with them or perhaps because they’re top producers. Oddly, their behavior may be a call for help. They’re looking for someone to give them boundaries, to stop them. Swaddling babies can help them calm down, and Ms. Price has provided the moral equivalent.
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