How to blend logic and emotion to get key buy-in for your project

Sometimes a simple presentation can turn into an ambush.

Hold your return fire, though. A clearheaded response will save you—and limit collateral damage—as this corporate fable illustrates:

An auspicious beginning

Beth’s manager ushered her into a conference room crowded with senior managers. It was quiet, and she broke the silence with an enthusiastic, “Good morning!”

After a chorus of responses, the firm’s CEO offered: “Beth is on the agenda to propose a new service offering. You have the executive summary in your packets, and we have Beth for 30 minutes. We’ll vote later about whether to begin live customer testing. Beth, the floor is yours.”

During the next 15 minutes, Beth outlined the idea, offered supporting evidence and clearly articulated how the proposal would extend the firm’s strategy and solve customers’ problems. Heads nodded, and as Beth scanned the room, the mood seemed positive—except for the professional services manager, who had expressed doubts in their one-on-one session the week before.

She thought she had since won him over by adding a resource for his group in the proposal; today, however, his body language was closed, he was looking down, and his lips were pursed. She knew to expect challenging questions from him.