Speech art in project management

Project managers are the most important part of communication channels. In the communication process, the most important task of project managers is to convey information. There are many ways to convey information. Generally, project managers prefer face-to-face communication, which is advantageous.
In a timely and correct manner. A presentation is an essential communication activity in the project manager's work. The speech here is not a general presentation. It includes reporting, meeting host, and stakeholders.
People's information and so on. Scott berkun (Microsoft Engineering Group
PM) said: "A speaker may not be a project manager, but the project manager must be a good speaker ".

When we engage in project communication, we often have a short meeting, a brainstorm that collects requirements, or a regular status report for the initiators and executives, all reflect the importance of the speech art. Show
It is a small part of project communication, but it is not a simple process. It is not only a clear record of expression and feedback, but also a whole speech process, it is a project activity. It has preliminary Accuracy
In the backup, startup, progress, control, and closing processes, any link may lead to incomplete information transmission or collection, or affect the development of the project manager. More importantly, a speech will not only affect
The opinions of stakeholders on the project manager and the project itself are also the learning process for the project manager to improve their self-control.

New project managers or newcomers in the industry are more or less afraid of the speech. At Scott
Berkun's best-selling book Confessions of a public
In speaker, the author lists what people are afraid of. The first one is a public speech. This is because the human brain is standing alone, in an open space (such as a podium), and watching people.
It will naturally generate a sense of fear, and the nervous system will make it easy for you to speak incoherent and have unclear ideas at this time. Undoubtedly, this is very dangerous for projects that require correct information guidance. Unclear information and requirements
Incomplete collection, inaccurate risk assessment, and unclear project status... you can think of all the consequences that lead to project setbacks. Although it may not necessarily lead to project failure, in the face of the importance of communication
Risks are greatly increased. Based on my own experiences, if the information transmission is inaccurate, the project State will gradually decline.

Every project manager needs to understand the art of the speech and apply it to practical work. How can the project manager be able to handle the speech? These keywords may be helpful to you: well-prepared, find the correct route, on-site response, and speech behavior.

Preparations

First, at least you need to know what the topic of your speech is, who your audience is, how much controllable your time is, how much information you have to convey, and what you want. Preparations for a successful speech
Most importantly, failure to know yourself and know yourself often leads to frustration in the speech. Most of the time, the Project Manager faces the fear of making a public speech because of insufficient preparation. One hour before the speech, you
You need to tell yourself that I have prepared everything.
·
You need to fully understand your topic, what you should talk about, what you should ignore, and the importance of this topic (because it affects the Time of the speech)

·
Who do you need to address: the stakeholders are senior executives, customers, and implementation teams. What is the sensitivity of the audience: From the Perspective of the other party, consider what he wants from your speech. Your familiarity with the audience:
If you are familiar with them, your speech space will be very large. If you only know each other and maintain a cautious speech atmosphere, if you do not know most of them at all, complying with procedures and systems is a smart choice
Select.

·
What is your controllable time? You need to avoid chatter, and avoid being unnatural and serious. If you give a stiff speech, your audience will feel that you are delaying your time.

·

How much information do you want to convey? You need to know the amount of information you want to teach. If the project status report and stakeholders are high-level and customer, compress the complex information as much as possible, focusing on the number
Word, result, rather than process. You have time for feedback in the speech. You need to prepare the information you want and collect and sort it out in Q & A after the speech.

·

Auxiliary materials. Do you need a PPT? Or just some tables? Or do you only need a pen to state it on the whiteboard? This is related to the formal degree of your speech. Senior users like to view the control chart and progress
Table, customers like to watch the demo and ui, and face the team
Review. A pen may be enough. In addition, it should be noted that the auxiliary materials may easily affect the success or failure of the speech, because in behavior, people tend to like watching, rather than listening.

·
If you can, you can even simulate a speech process on your own.

Find the correct route

A good place of speech can inspire the audience and your own creativity, and a poor place of speech may make everyone feel embarrassed. In addition, you also need to do some work on the layout of the place before the speech:
·
If you are a status report meeting for customers, a clean, bright, and spacious meeting room or a good choice; if you are working on phase with your R & D team
Review: A compact and relatively concentrated position can ensure the cohesion of the team. At the same time, do not forget the whiteboard and the pen. If the audience of the speech is a senior, try to make the location formal and leave a gap. At this time
You do not need to move around in your speech. Instead, you need to ensure that anyone can clearly hear your statement and give feedback.

·
Please pay attention to the number of your audience or approximate number of people to estimate the "noise" during the speech ".

·
Please arrive at the speech place in advance and test the speech equipment (projector, headset or audio ). Another advantage of arriving in advance is that you can sit in the audience position and see where you are going to stand, so that you feel appropriate.

·
Before the speech, try to communicate with the audience to get closer.

On-site response

You may get criticism, responsibilities, and ridicule from the audience. You may feel that others cannot understand what you say. You may find that your speech is just a hypnosis process of others. What you need to do at these times is the control in the speech process:
·
You need to clarify your position and make your statement as simple and clear as possible. In a single sentence, it is not easy to achieve. However, you can compress your views and information as much as possible through preparation. Remember, no one wants to hear this question.

·
The art of language. Try to say "no" or "I'm not
Sure, maybe, and so on. On the contrary, you should try more attributions and adjectives, or define strong words, such as reaching a certain degree, yes, or no at a certain time. You can use the analogy
Mitigate the seriousness of a serious problem (but when you need to send an accurate message to a senior or customer, do not be vague or random );
When you are faced with a sharp question, such as the question of why the project schedule is postponed, You Need To accurately state the cause and describe the corresponding measures (in fact, the top management usually does not care about the cause, and care about solving
However, this is not the reason you do not describe the reason)

·
The value of transfer. In the speech process, interruption is a normal phenomenon, but it will often make your thoughts open, or you are overwhelmed by problems. You need to control this situation, and you can choose to transfer it, for example, "this problem will be discussed later ".

·
Interaction. Whether your audience is a senior or a customer, but you are a speaker, you are the main character. You need to give the audience the time to receive information and the time to ask questions during the speech.

·
End as soon as possible. A speech is a project and should be completed as soon as possible. Too long may lead to uncontrollable and information confusion.

Speech behavior

You need to understand that your speech cannot bring about a tense atmosphere, or you should not guide your speech to a tense atmosphere, which will mess up your speech. The presentations in project management do not have to be lively and interesting, but do not mean
Rigid, you may need some body language, but it is not just a simple dance; a smile and a goodwill explanation are more advantageous than a blunt tone. It sounds simple and is not easy to do, because there are more project managers with technical background,
Serious and sharp are synonymous with these people. You don't have to be smooth, but at least you can't say something at a glance.

·
For high-level presentations, you should train more clear expressions and accuracy, and you also need to know how to make appropriate presentations at the right time, such as when the project progresses backward or overhead, the attitude with a sense of guilt is not what you should have. A reasonable way is to provide confident suggestions and opinions.

·

If your audience is a customer, you should pay attention to the customer's delicate expressions while keeping your voice clear. Customers tend to pay close attention to the project rather than your useless nonsense. If he enjoys listening
If you want to listen too much, provide your opinion and a careful answer (rather than a promise), and then quickly resolve the problem.

·
For inter-team presentations, you should focus on guidance and give full play to the wisdom of the team. You don't have to say too much. It's better to ask more constructive questions.

I have roughly written some points of self-recognition with my own experiences and thoughts, but these are not enough for your convenience in any speech. Due to the special nature of the project manager's work, the project manager's speech is also accurate.
Accurate, specific, and concise features. In fact, you can apply each of the above points to the daily communication of the project manager, not necessarily formal presentations, but obviously, these are even more important in presentations. Yes
A speech is only a trivial task in the project, but it does gradually affect your project and your personal development. Starting from every detail, it is the value of the project manager.