今天为大家分享《哈佛商业评论》近期登载的一篇短文《当恐慌来临时，如何安抚你的团队》，作者Allison Shapira在哈佛肯尼迪学院讲授“沟通的艺术”的课程。
We’ve all had that moment on an airplane where we experience turbulence. Maybe you are rudely awakened by a sudden jolt, or you stand up to use the restroom and have to hold onto the back of someone’s seat. Within a few seconds, the pilot’s voice comes over the intercom. What are you listening for? You are listening for reassurance through the uncertainty of turbulence.
第一段做了一个小引文，从几乎每个人都经历过的情景展开，大家都经历过乘坐飞机时气流影响，突然的颠簸的几秒钟后，都能听到机长的宽慰，这时你所寻求的其实是一种对不确定性的确定。在这一小段中，可以记住一个词是turbulence，就是在飞机上听过n多遍，但可能都没见过它如何拼写的单词。这也是语言学习中特别好的方式，先听音、甚至在听了多遍对应场景记猜出了词义，最后瞄一眼拼写，bingo！这个单词就会永远地记在你的心里了。
With Covid-19 concerns around the globe, it’s not just the airline industry that is experiencing a sudden lurch on its normal journey. Many business leaders are asking how they can communicate uncertainty both internally to their teams and externally to their clients — whether it’s about participating in an upcoming conference or delivering on a signed proposal. Communicating in the face of uncertainty is a constant leadership challenge.
第二段进入当下的热点话题，就是新冠肺炎引起的全球影响，很多企业主都在寻求答案，即如何与自己团队、外部客户沟通这种不确定性。两个副词用的很好，internally & externally，可以借鉴这个句子的用法，并且练习自己造句，下次商务英语沟通时就可以用到了。
In addition to working with the airline industry on this topic, my team and I have worked with Fortune 500 companies around the world who need to manage high-stakes communications to multiple audiences simultaneously. Here are five steps we have found to be incredibly effective:
第三段里面我们也可学习词汇的用法，例如high-stakes、multiple、simultaneously，high stakes其实是形容词修饰名词的结构，表示高风险、高赌注，这里用连字符组合起来就可以变成一个形容词high-stakes（与high-risk同义），这个可以展开说一下，high-pressure 高压的，high-profie 高调的，high-speed 高速的，high-ranking 高级别的，这也非常符合中文造词的习惯，所以我们更容易记住并使用。再如multiple（多个的，多种的）会用了，就可替换掉自己中式英语最容易蹦出来的different。而且multi-（多的）这个词缀一定要知道，很多词义就一目了然了，例如multifunction、multicultural、multinational。接下来，言归正传，就是作者安利她常用的五步法：
1. Pause and breathe.
Before you start communicating to others, take a minute to pause and breathe. When you are the most senior person in a room, your team takes its cues from you in terms of how to act and how to feel. Taking a minute to center yourself will ensure that you present a calm, rational force to your colleagues and clients. This applies over the phone or through email as well. When you feel anxiety, you transmit that to others. A study of empathetic stress found that observing others experiencing stress could cause observers to themselves to feel more stressed.
No.1 缓一缓，深呼吸~ 焦虑和压力是都会“传染”的，所以当你是leader的时候，一定先让自己平静下来，给你的团队、你的客户一种镇定、理智的力量，即使是电话或邮件中也同样适。
2. Put yourself in your audience’s shoes.
In public speaking, knowing your audience in advance is critical. In times of uncertainty, it’s paramount, regardless of the medium. Do a thorough strategic analysis of who you are communicating to. What are their concerns, questions, or interests? What do they need an immediate answer to? You might use language such as, “I know many of you may be thinking…” The quicker you can address what’s on their mind, the quicker you will be able to calm them down. If you are not addressing their most pressing interests, they might not even be listening to you.
No.2 设身处地为你的观众着想~ 了解你的听众是至关重要的，一定要对你的听众所关心的、疑问的、感兴趣有透彻的分析。越快地了表达出他们的所想，就能更快地安慰他们。这里作者给了一个句子的开头，就是在你想帮听众表达出他们所想的时候可以用，日常沟通都可以用起来“I know many of you may be thinking……”，后面就可以紧接着表达自己的解决方式或者消除他们疑虑。这个小段落里，希望大家学会一个词，就是paramount，这是非常正式的书面用语，表达一种最高级，至高无上的、最重要的。还有小题目的习惯用法，put yourshelf in someone's shoes, 即设身处地为某人着想。跟中文的鞋合不合脚只有自己知道异曲同工之妙~
3. Do your research.
In times of stress, misinformation can be especially destructive. Seek out credible sources of information, and read the information fully before distilling it into clear, concise language. Share those links with others, so that they too have a credible resource. As a faculty member at Harvard, I appreciate that the university created a separate webpage with credible sources for more information and that it sends frequent emails with updates.
No.3 自己做调查~ 误导是极具破坏力的，一定要探寻可靠的信息来源，并认真全面地阅读再精炼成清晰、简明的语言去表达。分享哪些信息来源的链接给你的听众，这样他们也同样拥有了可靠的信息来源。
4. Speak clearly and confidently.
You can speak with confidence even without 100% certainty. You can confidently express doubt or uncertainty, while still sounding like you are in control of the situation. You might say, “Reports are still coming in, but what we understand so far is this…” Communicate frequently with your audience, even without news to report, so that they know you are actively following the issue. Fellow communication expert Nancy Duarte wrote an insightful article on this topic several years ago and said, “People will be more willing to forgive your in-progress ideas if they feel like they’re part of the process.”
4.清晰且自信地表达~ 即使你没有100%的确定，也要非常自信地去表达。自信地表达怀疑或不确定，也能让听众感受到你对当下情形的掌控。作者给了一个很好的表达语句，我们也来一起学习下“Reports are still coming in，but what we undertand so far is this …”，这个句型真的非常好，例如你在给领导或同事做一个非常仓促的报告，你的很多信息或者数据还不能收集完全，但你仍要表达一些倾向性的观点时，妥妥地用起来！让人感觉到他们也参与了这个过程，大家会更愿意接受你正在进展中的想法。
5. Have specific next steps.
In times of uncertainty, it’s helpful to provide your team with tangible action items. Discussing your own next steps or recommending next steps to your audience gives them a sense of control so they feel like they are contributing to stabilization. Use language such as, “Here are the steps we are taking” or “Here’s what you can do” to demonstrate action.
5.具体的下一步方案~ 在不确定的时期，更有帮助的是提供一些切实的任务项。探讨你下一步的方案或者给把你的方案推荐他们，让大家感受到他们对建立当下的稳定做出了贡献和一点掌控感。此时好的句型可以用起来，“Here are the steps we are taking” or “Here’s what you can do”。
Communicating through uncertainty is an essential leadership skill, regardless of whether or not you have a formal leadership role. In fact, the ability to communicate through uncertainty is part of what demonstrates to others your leadership readiness. Use the above steps to first find your own sense of focus and then allow yourself to transmit that reassurance to others.
好啦，今天的分享就到这里，在当前的疫情之下，感谢那些真正宽慰每个生命的天使们，也愿我们都能化身一个正能量的使者，传递更多的安全感，给那些需要我们的人。