Thinking On Your Feet

What is thinking on your feet?

• Being able to synthesize thoughts on the fly - getting the thoughts together and communicating them
• Adopting and adapting strategies on the go - how to communicate effectively with different types of people
• Thinking and speaking in a short amount of time without getting flustered about the short time window

Plan to improvise (it's really not an oxymoron!)

Know the basics of speech - these are your tools

• Volume and diction: speaking softly does not command attention
• Breathing: Trailing off at the end of a sentence makes you look weak
• Pitch: This is hard to control without practice, but usually a high-pitched voice makes you sound like you're lying
• Pace: If you relax your pace, your pitch with automatically go down
• Gap fillers: um, like, er, etc. Very distracting! Listen to yourself, catch yourself, and slow down. These words mean that your brain isn't ready for your mouth to start talking yet.

Know your subject matter

• Read broadly and read deeply not just in your area, but anything that would be related in a business context
• For planned meetings, know your stuff cold
• Prepare for the "worst possible question"
• Predict where people will drill down
• Expect to speak where the material is the weakest - it's where people will have the most questions
• Be prepared to extend and elaborate
• Think about the next phase, the next revision
• Make your list longer than you think you will need (if people ask you for the top 3 problems, know the top 5 or 6)

Know your audience

• Know where their knowledge is deep and where it is shallow
• Know what previous positions they've held - their background will shape their questions
• Know their hot button issues - customer service, interface design, etc.
• When working with senior decision makers
• Seek advice from others who know them
• Know their preferred communication style (visuals, numbers, etc.)
• Have somebody who knows them role-play so you can practice

Ok, I'm prepared. Now what?

Structure your thoughts

• Elevator pitch: boil your idea down to be as concise and as precise as possible
• Three as a magic number - say the three most important things about your idea
• Longer pitch
• Sandwich: introduction, meat of the story, conclusion
• Tell the what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them
• Value proposition, supporting arguments, call to action (here's what I need, why, and when I need them by)

Update your knowledge

• Update your subject-matter knowledge
• Where you were shallow
• Where the material was the weakest
• Update notes about participants
• Where did they drill down? (Try to find patterns over time)
• How did they like their information presented?
• Generalize feedback into your personal checklist
• Where was your thinking fuzziest?
• Did you always get stuck on a strategy question or a team leadership question?

The best thing anybody can do is practice. Talk "back" to the TV or radio. Have gentle debates with a family member. Record yourself and listen. Join a Toastmasters.