4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Any Meeting
4 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Any Meeting
Preparing for any meeting these 4 questions will help you be more effective.
by Andrew Cooke, Growth & Profit Solutions
We spend a lot of time meeting and talking with people. Think how much of your time is spent on the phone, face-to-face, on webinars, video-conferencing, conference calls, email etcetera. It is a lot of time, and often it takes longer than we want and achieves less than we would like.
Yet for all the time we spend communicating with other people we spend remarkably little time preparing for these conversations and dialogues. Here we look at a simple way to do this – by asking yourself 4 simple questions. It is quick to do, only takes 30 seconds, and the benefits can be substantial.
The Four Questions
- What are the messages I want to convey?
- What do I want them to think?
- What do I want them to feel?
- What do I want them to do?
Let’s look at them each in turn.
- What are the messages I want to convey?
Know what your key messages are so that you can share them clearly and concisely. In doing this be aware of how you need to adapt your delivery style so that your audience (whether it be one person or a thousand) can hear and comprehend your messages. 
2. What do I want them to think?
You are looking to engage their minds and thoughts, you want them to give their full attention and consideration to what you are saying so that you can guide their thoughts
3. What do I want them to feel?
Logic makes people think, but emotions make them act. Your message may be logical, but if they do not personally engage with it then it will be weakened and ineffective. If people feel the message, it is stronger, more memorable and more likely to achieve the result you are looking for.
4. What do I want them to do?
As a result of sharing a clear, consistent message that engages the audience both rationally and emotionally what is the behaviour that you want to occur? It is behaviour that drives results and outcomes, not outcomes and results that drive behaviour. So how do you want the audience to behave as a result of hearing and understanding your message(s)? What is the call to action?
By reviewing these four questions before your next meeting or interaction you can customise your conversation to the situation and the audience, whilst engaging them to take the necessary actions/behaviours as a result. Build this into your daily activities and see the difference it makes.
