Do you struggle to speak up in leadership meetings?
Speaking up in front of partners is terrifying. It’s hard enough just to keep up, let alone say something insightful. The lack of confidence and fear of looking stupid make everything 10 times harder.
Speaking up in leadership meetings is a complex skill consisting of many sub-skills. The key challenge is learning to sequence and orchestrate these sub-skills in dynamic and unpredictable conversations.
Another challenge is that consultants often don't know what good looks like, which makes learning even harder.
Let's learn this skill using a great example from a movie I like.
Imagine that you must explain a very complex topic to an impatient person.
This happened in one of my favorite movies, Edge of Tomorrow, in the scene where Major Cage tried to convince General Brigham to help him.
I couldn’t help but notice the resemblance with consulting work and appreciate the communication challenges Major Cage faced.
It has everything: a high-stakes conversation, a complex message, an impatient leader, constant interruptions, and ad hoc questions.
Here is the video of this scene. Please watch it first, and then we will break it down for learning purposes.
Scene: Edge of Tomorrow, We’ve never gotten this far
Clarity and Structure
Let’s start with clarity and structure. They are the foundation of effective communication.
Everyone knows Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle book. If you don't, it's a must-read for any consultant.
The Pyramid Principle seems simple, but applying it in practice takes time.
In our example, the message about 'aliens manipulating time' is complex and hard to believe.
If we remove interruptions, we can appreciate Major Cage's clarity and structure in his message. It's quite elegant, with no redundant words.
Each conversation block starts with a powerful statement, followed by undeniable arguments.
Please have a look at this picture showing the Major’s Cage message:
If you feel that Major Cage's speech was scripted, that's true because he repeated it many times, sharpening every word with each new iteration.
Preparation is what it takes to speak with clarity and structure. We don't speak like that in everyday life. Understand, it’s not a talent. It's an acquirable skill.
Prepare a script and rehearse it for every important conversation. Record yourself on video several times to achieve fluency.
If you are an MBB consultant and want to achieve high performance, book a free 1-1 consultation to discuss how exactly I can help you. There is no commitment and you can ask any burning questions you might have.
Conversational Tactics
Another secret for effective communication is mastering conversational tactics.
Here’s the thing.
Conversations with senior leaders are often fast-paced and unpredictable.
Leaders often have short attention spans and aggressive demeanors. They can interrupt, ask questions, or go off on a tangent.
In our example, General Brigham represents every consultant's worst nightmare - a very abrupt and rude senior leader. Consultants dread moments like that, and they freeze and panic.
Often, junior consultants get interrupted after the first 10-20 seconds. Why? They simply don't have the gravitas and authority to hold the audience’s attention.
For example, this has happened to me many times. Random interruptions frustrated and demoralized me, and with each one, I wanted to speak less and less.
My main mistake was expecting to speak without interruptions. I rehearsed long monologues. That was an unrealistic and naive expectation.
Expect to be interrupted.
Practice for these scenarios. Be ready to answer questions and return the conversation to the main message. In short, you need to master conversational tactics.
In our example, Major Cage masterfully navigates this difficult conversation.
Of course, he had the advantage of having this exact conversation many times before. But, consultants can also practice conversational tactics many times.
For example, as a consultant, I recognized that I lacked the skills to steer the conversation flow. I didn't have the right vocabulary and verbiage.
To address this, I identified useful conversational tactics, learned them, and practiced, practiced, and practiced.
Here are my favorite conversational tactics:
Set the context (why it's important and what we want to achieve)
Set the agenda (“There are three questions we need to discuss, 1, 2, 3”)
Hooks to hold attention (“Let me tell you a story. How do I know this?”)
Transition between topics (“If there are no other questions, let’s move to the next topic”)
Grab attention before speaking (“Can I ask you a question? Can I suggest something?”)
Manage interruptions (“Thank you for your input. Let’s take this offline. But for now, I suggest we return to the main topic”)
Ask open-ended questions ("What do you mean by that? Why is this important?")
Ask clarifying questions (“This makes sense, just want to clarify one point…, so we are all on the same page”)
Playback your understanding (avoid misunderstanding, assure your leaders you listened)
Summarize what was agreed upon and what are the actions (manage scope, assign responsibilities)
It's a skill like any other. You will need a system and constant practice to learn it. First, practice individual tactics, and then learn to sequence them in powerful combos.
Very often, you will not have anything insightful to say. But by using conversational tactics, you still can come across as a competent and smart consultant who masterfully facilitates discussions.
And my favorite ending of this scene:
"What do we do now? I don’t know. We’ve never gotten this far."
Soon enough, you will have these moments when leaders understand and agree with you. But getting there requires constant practice and experimentation.
Going through the consulting journey alone is extremely difficult. I would’ve never achieved high performance without great mentors helping me.
That is why I developed a coaching program for MBB consultants to help them transform and achieve high performance in 12 months.
If you are an MBB consultant sick of being stressed, anxious, and lost, I would like to speak with you.
Book a Free 1-1 Consultation to discuss whether I can help you through my coaching program. There is no commitment, and you can ask any burning questions.
Read this post to learn more about the Hero’s Journey coaching program.
This needs to shared far and wide! Great explanation via an impactful example. Kudos, Rustem!