From the course: Communication Foundations (2018)

Tool kit: When you're caught off guard

From the course: Communication Foundations (2018)

Tool kit: When you're caught off guard

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- Here's some everyday opportunities to practice handling caught off guard situations. Practice buying time. Here's some common scenarios you could use for practice. Tell someone you need to call them back when they stop by your desk and interrupt your work. Or when someone comes to your office making a request say, I need to think on this, then follow up after thinking about it for a bit. When the waiter comes in the restaurant to take your order, buy some time and ask them to come back. All of these everyday opportunities are ones to help you practice buying time. Practice calming yourself down. Your commute is a good time to do this. When you feel anxious and impatient, take a moment and focus on your breath. Focus on one visual cue and take five deep full breaths. Bring your heartbeat down and stop your brain from bouncing around on a hundred different topics. The better you get at doing this, the better you will be at calming yourself when you get caught off guard. Work the what I know, what I don't know and how I will find out formula. This formula suggests you ask yourself three simple questions when you're caught off guard. One, what do I know? Two, what information am I missing? And three, what could I do to find out more. Practice the formula before you get caught off guard. So for example, when you're in a meeting listening to questions that are asked of other people, imagine yourself trying to answer. Begin with what you do know about the subject, move to what you don't know about the question, and then explain how you would find the answers. As another example, imagine your boss rushing into your office, questioning your latest expenditure. Quickly think of what can you recall about this expense? What you're not sure about, maybe the type of payment, the exact vendor or details on the order and say what you can do to track down more details. So when you're caught off guard, buy yourself some time, calm yourself down and respond with what you know, what you don't know and what you will do to find out.

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