A 3-part series for credit union leaders who need to communicate under pressure
Jackie Brown, ACC; Founder, JB Communications Group
Part 1: Preparing for impromptu
“I’m sorry, did you say ‘tomorrow’?!”
I was only at the event to be a plus-one, I never imagined it would lead to an impromptu presentation.
And yet here I was a mere 14 hours before I was to walk into an executive meeting trying to figure out what exactly to DO in that meeting.
Not to mention 12 of those hours were already spoken for: sleep (yeah that’s pretty important), eat (that too), an existing meeting (clients come first!).
I also needed to pack our bags and check out of the hotel. You see I was tagging along with my husband on a business trip. Which is also why one of the first things that popped in my head was “Did I bring anything besides shorts?!”
Luckily, I had brought a just-in-case outfit, my magnificent magenta blouse, dress pants and shoes. And boy was this ever a just-in-case.
What I thought was simply kind curiosity and friendly social banter as I mingled with the leaders that evening had apparently sparked some ideas. They wanted to hear more about my take on communications and what better time to do that than at the next day’s leadership session?
But how I show up at Top Golf is a lot different than how I show up to present to a room full of executives. At least how I usually show up anyway.
I usually have lots of research about the company, their industry. I usually have a slide deck. I usually have stories to share, thoughtful questions to ask, perhaps even an agenda.
For this impromptu presentation, I had nothing. I didn’t even have time. At least I had my magenta blouse thank goodness!
Well, I also had a couple of hours split up between breakfast, meetings and packing. And in those moments I created a new pre-game warm up. If I didn’t have my usual prep to run through, what did I have?
I had my communications philosophy — years of first-hand experience coupled with industry knowledge has given me a sharp approach for creating effective collaborations. I had the interactions from the night before — the operations leader who kept coming back to collaboration, the COO who lit up when I mentioned trust, the quiet engineer who asked the most pointed question of the evening. I hadn’t been networking. I’d been listening. And that listening turned out to be my most valuable preparation.
So I used the time I had to organize those assets in my head.
On the way back to the hotel, just moments after receiving the invitation, I was already thinking about my take on internal and interpersonal communications, two topics I’d heard during the conversations.
The next morning as I rode down then back up the elevator to get breakfast, I was mentally organizing options for how to start the presentation, something that felt casual enough to match their ‘oh, just share your thoughts’ yet was specific enough to actually help them.
So while I didn’t have a formal presentation to run through, I had a sharp read of these people and topics I could organize specifically to address this company’s situation. That would be my pre-game routine.
That makeshift pre-game routine worked better than I expected. Here’s the science behind why.
Research on how our brains process visualization changed how I think about preparation. Studies show athletes who picture themselves going through the actual motions they’ll be using during the actual game, perform better than if they hadn’t done that visualization. Our brains process visualization the same as physical movements!
In business, our exact physical movements may not be as crucial as in sports, but the same theory applies: the more we picture ourselves in high-pressure situations, the better we’re able to show up calm and confident. For in that visualization, we’re picturing what we want the situation to look like, to feel like — how we want it to move work forward.
This might sound like rehearsing and while the basics are the same, the differences are important to call out. Rehearsing prepares you for what you planned to say, word by word, line by line. Visualization prepares you for who you want to be in the room.
The high-pressure situations credit union leaders often face are just like that impromptu invitation: last-minute, unexpected, while we’re doing something completely different. There’s no time to plan what to say, but there’s always at least a moment or two to pre-game.
Credit union leaders often have to manage meetings with a member about an urgent situation, or get called into the board meeting at the last minute to answer specific questions about a new initiative. Even off-the-cuff peer conversations at industry conferences create the pressure to perform. Then there’s the dreaded crisis situations — an interruption of services that brings the local news cameras around.
How we show up to these situations can make or break our projects and, more importantly, our careers.
Before your next high-pressure moment — whether it’s a board presentation, a difficult member conversation, or an impromptu peer discussion at a conference — try these three questions:
One: What would make this feel like a success — for them and for me?
Two: What about this situation, at this moment, makes me the best choice?
Three: What do I actually think about this? Not what should a leader think, what do I genuinely believe?
Simple questions, but in a high-pressure moment, simple is exactly what you need.
Tack these up in your office so you can give them a quick glance as you hang up the phone and walk toward the room.
I walked into that room with no slides, no agenda, no script. What I had was a clear sense of what they needed to hear and a genuine belief in what I had to offer.
The welcome was warm. They leaned forward as I settled in. Someone said, “we had no idea you knew so much about this.”
Neither did I until I stopped preparing a presentation and started preparing for the room.
Credit union leaders face high-pressure moments constantly. The board wants answers. The member is upset. The industry peers are watching. The instinct is to prepare more content, more data, more slides.
But the leaders who show up most effectively in those moments aren’t the ones with the most preparation. They’re the ones who get clear on what they actually think and on who they are when they walk through the door.
That clarity is your most powerful pre-game routine. And unlike your slide deck, you can’t forget it in the hotel room.
Knowing who you are before you walk in is just the first step. In the next piece we’ll explore what happens once you’re actually in the room and how reading what the room needs in real time changes everything about how you show up.