Improve Speaking Confidence – Speak And Present In English Like A Consultant
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Improve Speaking Confidence – Speak And Present In English Like A Consultant
Speaking confidence – speak and present in English like a consultant requires a mix of practice and knowing what techniques consultants use to be confident.
We were working with a group of junior consultants and asked them what was the best piece of advice they have been given to be confident in their jobs. The main answer was “people are not ready for your answer and if you go straight to the answer they will say no!” .
And it is one of main pieces of advice consultants get when they start in the big consulting firms (e.g KPMG, Deloitte, PWC, etc). It’s called the ‘Minto Pyramid Principle’ or the SCQA Technique.
It also works very well for other professionals as a simple speech structure to be more confident speaking in English.
How Does It Work?
“People are not ready for your answer and if you go straight to the answer they will say no!”
You can’t go straight to the answer. The consultant’s secret is to not jump directly to the solution. The client/listener is not ready until you have established a shared view of the problem.
Instead of jumping directly to the answer, top consulting organisations train their people to use the simple “SCQA technique” with the following structure:
Situation -> Complication -> Question -> Answer
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Situation: A summary of the current situation. “Your profits were 7%”
Complication: Use a fact that raises a question. “The nearest competitor made 22% profit”
Question: State the question that is implicitly raised in the mind of the listener. “What are they doing differently?”
Answer: Now you state your conclusion. “They added the XY feature to their top 3 selling products”.
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SCQA Example 1:
“Your profits were 7%.
The nearest competitor made 22% profit.
What are they doing differently?
They added the XY feature to their top 3 selling products”.
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Now think of your own SCQA example and feel free to email it to me at info@englishtco.com or a chris@englishtco.com for my feedback!
I hope this helps you in your job and professional career, Christopher!
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Recommendation: I recommend my top tip http://www.englishtco.com/en/quick-technique-to-feel-calm-making-small-talk-in-english/
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Help a colleague
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¡Hasta pronto!
Christopher
For Business English classes and courses (face to face in Madrid and online), contact us via the website or by email info@englishtco.com or a chris@englishtco.com.
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