The Elephant in the Room

You have to talk about the ‘elephant in the room’ – the big thing that everyone knows but doesn’t want to talk about. But if you do that, the colossal animal becomes so much smaller.

For example: If I, as a speaker, know that there is anxiety in the room: verbalise the anxiety. If there is a conflict in the group – tell me you know about it. If someone thinks I’m too old for my position: mention it, preferably with a twinkle in my eye, as when President Biden recently said that he “although it doesn’t show, been around for a while”.

This was one of many simple techniques we talked about during two half-day workshops on presentation skills at Lund Municipality. Thank you for the trust – and good luck in your important mission in the service of citizens.

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