CAREER SPECIAL...STAND YOUR GROUND WITH THE INTERRUPTER

It’s the ‘big meeting’ day. You are all set with your pie charts, sales forecasts and plans of how much money you can bring in for your company. All the honchos of various verticals are looking at you. The presentation begins well, and you have managed to hold everyone’s interest. And just as you are beginning to celebrate, you hear the voice you have been dreading for so long.

It’s the one person you wished wasn’t here... the interrupter.

Most of us have at some point in time in our career encountered The Interrupter — a person who believes that interrupting anything flowing smoothly is his birthright.

A person who will go to any extreme to pick holes in your presentation and render your communication exercise meaningless.

And dealing with a person who thinks he is always right, is not easy.

So how do you handle someone who always wants to have the last word?

“It is irritating to be interrupted. You can’t do much about it during the meeting. But this does not mean you can’t do anything about it.

Firstly, do not lose your temper, especially when your boss is present for the meeting. This will only soil your impression and will give others reason to believe the interrupter. Instead, every time you get interrupted, turn it around and build some humour around it. Think on your feet. Just make sure you don’t turn vindictive,” says Alok Bhasin, a management consultant.

According to Bhasin, you need to follow up after the meeting gets over. “Once you are out of the meeting, have a one-on-one with the interrupter and explain how you thought they were rude. Either the interrupter will stop doing so or will continue to irritate you for his or her own benefit.

If things get out of control, try finding a mediator who can help you. Whatever you do, try not to be a tattle tale,” he adds. In case you know who is will attend the meeting, it makes sense to put in extra effort in preparation.

Always have a better plan of action, where it leaves no space for the interrupter to speak up.

Try to make your presentations interactive so that others also get a chance to speak. This would make sure that interrupters don’t bag all the limelight.

Suresh Krishnan has an interesting point of view. “I was once in a sales presentation, where I was constantly being interrupted by this person who wanted to prove me wrong on almost everything. Every time I was interrupted, I would sit down on my seat and turned the limelight towards the interrupter, making him conscious about the situation.

Soon, the other the colleagues realised he was giving unnecessary and frivolous opinions. Finally we reached a situation where my boss asked him to listen to what I had to say without interrupting.”

What Suresh says needs a fair bit of skill and needs you to think fast.

Often, reacting and countering the verbal tirade of the interrupter with your own may not be the ideal solution.

Alok also has a word of caution. “The worst thing about interruptions is that it makes you lose track of what you are saying. And that’s where the interrupter scores.

You will be better served if every time you get interrupted, you focus harder on your presentation. Eventually, the interrupter will finally run out of things to say.” But there is a reasonable limit to which you can counter fire with sophistication.

If things are spinning out of control, remind the interrupter that the meeting is still on, and you have an agenda to complete in a limited time frame. But do this politely.

If you ever encounter these animals in your presentations, stand your ground and make sure you take control, not the other way round.

(ET 3J0112)