The Bullseye Principle

Chapter 8Handle Difficult ConversationsProviding Feedback, Managing Emotions, and Speaking in the Moment

The words you speak become the house you live in.

—HAFEZ

In business, people are often tasked with providing feedback to subordinates, delivering difficult news to stakeholders, or presenting information to audiences that can be hostile, distracted or apprehensive. In this chapter, we will discuss techniques to help you effectively communicate difficult news or feedback, handle stress, and be able to speak clearly and confidently in the moment. Handling emotional interactions while clearly and confidently answering questions or clarifying information is an essential trait for a leader to master in order to retain their credibility and influence others. For actors, being present in any given moment and adjusting their communication as circumstances dictate is a necessary part of the job. One such example of an actor having to perform under uniquely stressful and challenging conditions took place in 1953, when Winston Churchill went to the Old Vic Theatre in London to see Richard Burton perform the title role in Hamlet.

“Do be good tonight, dear boy,” said the play's director to Burton backstage, “because the old man is in front.” Richard Burton had been a huge admirer of Winston Churchill and suddenly grew very anxious upon learning that his childhood idol would be present in the audience that night. In an effort to settle his nerves and focus himself, Burton turned to an ...