ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Access your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide.
What to Say When You’re Challenged in an Executive Meeting
You prepare for weeks, present your recommendation, and then an executive asks the one question you did not anticipate. Within seconds, you are speaking faster, adding disclaimers, and retreating from the very recommendation you came to defend.
An unexpected question is not proof that you were unprepared. Senior leaders ask questions to test risk, evaluate thinking, and participate in decisions. The real test is whether you can remain useful when the conversation moves beyond your script.
By the end of this short episode you’ll know:
💰The PAAB framework: Pause, Acknowledge, Answer, Bridge. This four-part response helps you slow down, address the concern directly.
🎯How to distinguish what you know from what still needs verification
🛑 To stop seeking omniscience. What you need is composure and judgment.
Predict one difficult question you could receive in an upcoming meeting. Write a response using Pause, Acknowledge, Answer, Bridge—and say it aloud twice.
Capture what happens in your Executive Meeting Visibility Guide, then continue with Day 4 to learn how to disagree with a senior leader without becoming combative, apologetic, or invisible.
To learn more visit www.speakupwithlaura.com. New Speak Up podcast episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday early in the morning.
The Speak Up Podcast helps high-performing professionals develop executive presence through strategic communication, executive confidence, and leadership influence. Each episode provides practical strategies to help you speak up in meetings, communicate with senior leaders, present ideas with clarity, build executive visibility, strengthen your leadership presence, influence without authority, stop overexplaining, answer difficult questions with confidence, and become a trusted executive leader.
Whether you're preparing for your next Vice President promotion or looking to communicate with greater credibility and gravitas, you'll learn actionable executive communication skills that accelerate career growth.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Speaking up in executive meetings
- Executive Presence
- High-stakes conversations
- Business leadership communication
- Executive Presence Tips
- Senior Leader Advice
- How to speak up in executive meetings
- How to communicate with senior leadership
- How to develop executive presence
- How to be seen as VP material
- How to influence executives
- How to stop overexplaining at work
- How to answer executive questions concisely
- How to handle pushback from senior leaders
- How to increase visibility with leadership
- Director-to-VP transition
