Coach's Mailbag by Steve Adubato, Ph.D.

Greg McLaughlin from Maplewood, NJ, responded to a recent column on dealing with workplace insults. Says McLaughlin, "Many people bait you into stooping down to their level. I often pause instead of lashing back, and inform them that even though they are entitled to their opinion, I just don't see it that way. I have also started to remove myself from certain situations and negative people."

Good move, Greg. Many of these communication scenarios are no win. Some people just have a need to argue and fight. They are not looking to reach a compromise or to negotiate. The key in these situations is to figure out exactly what you want to accomplish and have that goal dictate your communication approach. If fighting is not your goal, then Greg’s approach makes great sense. In addition, don’t waste time trying to figure out what causes certain “negative” people to be so argumentative, unless your professional and workplace productivity depends upon your ability to work effectively with them.

Mike Bianchi of Madison, NJ, offered a great tip on designing business presentations; "When developing a presentation, I start with the conclusion slide first. The crucial observation is that most of my audience is not going to remember more than one or two things about my talk, so I ask myself, 'What is the one message I want them to keep in the end?' That is what should be on my conclusion slide…I also title my talks with a variation of the conclusion so that the audience knows where I am going with the presentation."

Excellent. Start with the conclusion and work backwards. Too many presenters take the opposite approach by piling information on to their audience, and then when they are totally exhausted, they attempt to conclude. Communication doesn’t work that way. The more people can understand the major “takeaway” in your presentation the more they will invest in listening.

Marvin Cooper (a pseudonym), a consultant to the biopharmaceutical industry, says his industry offers a great model for effective crisis communication. Says Cooper, "The US Food and Drug Administration requires that all biopharma organizations have a current standard operating procedure that describes how the company will manage a product recall…such as who are the responsible people to manage the recall, what exactly should get done and how and when the action plan is carried out. It is all about contingency planning." Cooper says it is somewhat like football plays that are prepared and studied to carry out in different field situations.

This sounds like more than most organizations have in place. Unfortunately, a lot of people never think that something bad is going to happen to them. Well, wishful thinking is a poor substitute for a crisis communication plan. I advocate doing a mock press conference where corporate executives are grilled with the toughest questions. These sessions should be videotaped, viewed and critiqued. Anything less is asking for trouble.

Gordon Deal, Director of Communications for the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission, wrote in with some useful advice regarding press releases. Says Deal, "One of the guidelines we try to follow is to capture the entire story in the first sentence of a press release. My staff and I try to imagine how the news would be read on TV if we knew the producer only allowed 8-10 seconds for the story." Deal also uses something he calls the “water cooler test” to be selective with their press releases; "Is the news in our press release something that might be discussed at the water cooler?"

Gordon, I would love to offer detailed feedback on your letter, but I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Dr. Steve Adubato coaches and speaks on the subjects of communication and leadership and is the author of the book "Speak from the Heart." Write to him at The Star-Ledger, 1 Star-Ledger Plaza, Newark, NJ 07102, or click here to contact him through this web site.