You know what organizational conflict really is?
Indecision.
And that’s exactly why every presenter wants (or should want) to stoke a little healthy conflict every time they hop on stage. When an organization or audience is more or less aligned on an issue, a message that shares their view is old news and a message that challenges their view is going to be an uphill slog.
But when half the audience thinks one thing and the other half thinks the other, the presenter has a golden opportunity to moderate and influence in a productive way. Keeping conflict healthy in a presentation, for the most part, means making sure both sides are adequately and accurately represented in an argument. It also means not siding with one or the other. Somehow, someway, you have to find that middle ground or third choice, the direction that allows the audience to move forward, together, knowing they were partially right.
If this sounds like manipulation or pandering, well, maybe you’re right. A lot of people like to think all sales, all persuasion, should be based on objective facts. Try that, and get back to us.
A presenter’s job, first and foremost, is to effect change. Whether in politics, education, ending world hunger, or just convincing a company’s managers to buy one software solution over other, the presenter is looking to advance a cause. We’d be crazy not to take stock of the audience’s makeup of ideas and beliefs, and attempt to present our solution in a context that doesn’t drive off half of those listening. And anyway, the positive side of pandering is empathy. If you’re truly understanding of individuals, and sincere in your desire to help them, it’s not pandering at all.
Whatever you’re presenting on, there’s a conflict in the room. You can choose to avoid it, either preaching to the choir or preaching to atheists. Or you can take the time to understand the different views in the room and develop a presentation that encourages unity and moving forward.
Question: How do you find out what your audience believes about the subjects you present on?
