Page 50 - Coespu Magazine 2017-2

HOW TO SURVIVE TO BRIEFINGS

Let us face it… some briefings may appear as a torture instrument, not even considered by the
Geneva Convention rules.
Raise your hand if at least one day in your life, you found yourself in a boring meeting because it
was incomprehensible and not tailored to the audience you were in.
Communication is an essential part of a leadership action. Everyone knows how to talk and write,
but very few really know how to communicate effectively. It is also very complicated to present a
briefing during a stressful situation, with almost no time available or, even worst, in front of an
audience who does not speak our own language.
Do you really think that there are some tricks for preparing an interesting and informative briefing?
Well, I really think so…let us first review
and apply the rule of the four Ps, i.e.
planning, preparation, practice and
presentation. Another important factor to
consider is the “consistency”, i.e. the slide
must be “in harmony” as far as colors and
framing are concerned, in order to create a
smooth environment.
One important factor is that the briefer
and the listener must speak the same
language and understand each other, or to
cite an expression I often use in my lectures “Let’s be on the same sheet of music”. Think of the
briefer as a director of a symphony orchestra. Everyone plays a different instrument, but when the
director raises the right hand, a pure and homogeneous sound comes out immediately. According to
Dale Carnegie, it is important “to tell your audience what you are about to say, say it and say

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