An unusual technique to deliver a positive AGM experience

This week has been an enormous vindication for the work I do on gestures to make a tremendously positive experience for a tricky AGM. I was honoured to be invited by the Chair who found themselves facing extensive media scrutiny, unjustified disgruntled stakeholders and quite frankly, a lot at stake to get through it all optimistically.

Sending a message in an AGM can be tough. It can be hard enough starting from fresh, but when others are trying to pull you down, it’s harder. You have to be simple and clear with your message and know exactly what you are doing. There is little room for mistake.

Given the complexity of the situation, we worked on the frameworks for responses to handle the expected answers – be they simple or emotional questions. This is a matter of following the bouncing ball and colouring in the squares of classic psychologically devised responses. Of course, corporate affairs was able to help here and my job was to put it into a framework that flowed and had the right, almost hypnotic impact.

Then just as the Ancient Greeks and Romans knew, delivery comes to the fore and, while ignored by many, gestures are a key part of that equation.

Firstly, there is a gesture of trust. You don’t want to be looking defensive in any way while asking others to engage in questions. Then there is a listening gesture, where the hands hold a neutrality. Fidgeting or a defensive position will only undermine your work.

Once you begin to speak, the real work starts and, in answering, it works to have the movements of reaching out, anchoring a challenge in one area and then a solution in another. A clear depiction of the future and the vision is also required, and all this has several benefits.

Firstly, there is the freeing of the body to be able to breathe and move. We actually requested a lapel mic and it made a tremendous difference. Instead of standing behind a lectern with a barrier and frozen physical position, the full body was visible and engaged.

Secondly, gestures make the message really clear. The congruence of placement in space of different points is enormously effective. It builds confidence. You know exactly where you are going and surprisingly, with a tiny bit of practice, this becomes embodied and is an enormous confidence booster.

Thirdly, gestures are a tremendous memory technique. Knowing where one is moving with a story in space allows the body to speak and funnily enough, the body will guide the mind.

Over and over, I find gestures to be a critical component of a successful difficult engagement. Quite frankly, billions of dollars are at stake and it is such a waste of energy to get it wrong.

So often, as is the case here, I can’t share my clients’ names as the work is confidential, but I can share some kind words:

“I want to sincerely thank you for your knowledge, expertise, and the way you delivered the content I so value. Tonight’s AGM was a tremendous success – truly one for the ages, and your guidance provided the impetus for what felt like a magical performance.”