Dear Farillio member,

On 14th December 2020, you asked our inspiring expert Esther Stanhope on the Go Far Fast Show:

“My manager is about to go on maternity leave and asked me to present our new project at a board meeting in 2 weeks and I am getting really stressed about it already. What's your advice for presenting to people who are a lot older and better informed on the business than you are? I'm terrified they'll ask me a question that I can't answer.”

And Esther said:

Be mighty always, Farillio

Transcript:

“So the first thing is presenting to people older than you are, more and wiser than you and cleverer than you... Brilliant. Use their knowledge somehow... ask them a question. Start with, "It's a real pleasure to be running this meeting"; give them a compliment. And ask them a question... "How are you finding this?", "What do you think of this?" Get them to talk. Don't you try and compete with them; you're not going to compete, you're not going to out-knowledge a seasoned professional. So that's a really good tip, and the other thing is: it doesn't matter who you are, where you're from, how old you are, how inexperienced you are... if you are upbeat, generous, you're owning your own space – remember you own your square, you own that square your way – everything else will fall into place. Don't be afraid. Be interested in them... show more interest in them and acknowledge their presence. Acknowledge their brilliance. But, you don't want to be too, "I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy", you know. You want to be really confident, really generous, really positive and powerful. And if you show interest in them and ask them questions, they will really love you.”

Ask your question:

If you have any questions that you'd like us to ask in a future Go Far Fast Show, send us a DM on Twitter or on LinkedIn. We'd love to hear from you!

Want more from Esther?

You can also find Esther’s answers to other questions being asked by you and your community in our Dear Farillio Expert section on our blog site, and Esther’s great guidance on presenting here.

Please note: The contents of this blog are not tailored business advice or legal advice. This is guidance and information, which we do our best to keep current, relevant and helpful. If you need business or legal advice, please use our Speak To An Adviser service or you can get in touch via our LiveChat.