You carefully prepared a presentation for your superiors and you think you presented it well. You covered all the important information without making any major mistakes. However, the audience's reaction clearly show your superiors were not satisfied. They were probably expecting something different. After a moment of silence, they confirm your suspicions and may not mince their words. What should you do now? Recommendations on how to handle this situation calmly and professionally were published on fastcompany.com.
Concentrate on your breathing
Control your emotions. You can get upset later. Now you have to listen to the feedback and try to understand why they are not satisfied with you. Don't interrupt. A simple breathing exercise can help you. When you exhale, count to four, and then briefly breathe again. That will help to calm yourself down, and others too.
Search for the real cause of your failure
Don't ask what you said wrong. The problem will most often not be in details of the presentation itself, but in a misunderstanding of the broader task or goal. Think about what you wanted to achieve and whether it has been consistent with the priorities of the listeners. After you hear the criticism, express in your own words where you think you made a mistake, based on the feedback. That will help both of you clarify what needs to be corrected.
Do not think about the critic, but about the criticism
You may be criticized by someone you do not respect or someone who knows very little about the matter. Nevertheless, try to move away from the critic as a person and analyzing what his motives are. Do not take the criticism personally. Concentrate on the content of the message and what you can learn from it.
Make changes
If you do not want to hear negative feedback again, do not give your superiors another chance to criticize you. At the next presentation for the same listeners, change everything that was criticized. Modifying only some details will not be enough. Approach the whole issue in an entirely new way. Impress them with how much you've learned.
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