How to Handle a Curve Ball Like a Pro

·37 min·3 clips

Kath Patrick explains why curveballs from decision-makers are actually valuable gifts that expose their underlying beliefs.

This episode of the Nonprofit Power Podcast features host Kath Patrick, a coach for progressive nonprofit leaders, explaining how to professionally manage unexpected questions or statements from decision-makers. Patrick draws from her experience coaching clients and conducting live media interviews to provide a systematic approach. She aims to help listeners transform unsettling moments into strategic opportunities for deeper engagement. Patrick categorizes curveballs as either questions or statements, which typically stem from a decision-maker's misunderstanding, lack of information, or unhelpful beliefs. She emphasizes the importance of preemptively identifying common misconceptions held by key stakeholders. Patrick illustrates her points with a recurring example about a decision-maker suggesting work requirements for a social service program due to beliefs about recipient laziness. She advises treating such curveballs as informational gifts that reveal hidden obstacles. The host outlines four common mistakes: freaking out, talking faster, ignoring the curveball, and prematurely redirecting the conversation. A key insight is that attempting to simply state corrective facts will often fail if an unhelpful belief is blocking the decision-maker's understanding. Patrick suggests the best initial response to a non-hostile curveball is to ask a follow-up question, like "Tell me more about your thinking on that." She shares a story of a client who overcame persistent hostility from a county board member by sending a different messenger, revealing the issue was personal. For genuinely hostile "gotcha" questions, Patrick advises assessing whether engaging that decision-maker is strategically necessary or if efforts are better spent elsewhere. Patrick recommends using specific, sensory stories about real people served by the organization to create emotional resonance and crack foundational beliefs. In the work requirement example, she advises narrating a typical client's daily struggles and values to humanize them before presenting data. The underlying philosophy is to shift from a defensive posture to one of curiosity, viewing curveballs as clues to what a decision-maker needs to hear. The episode concludes with an announcement for a new, limited-seat coaching program focused on core advocacy strategies. The tone is instructional and conversational, blending direct coaching advice with illustrative anecdotes and hypothetical dialogues. Patrick speaks in a reassuring, experienced voice, often addressing the listener's likely anxieties directly. This episode is ideal for nonprofit executives, advocacy directors, or fundraisers who regularly pitch to donors, legislators, or government officials and fear being derailed. Listeners seeking highly tactical communication frameworks for high-stakes meetings will find it valuable, while those looking for broader organizational management topics might skip it.

As heard by us

A steadier way to handle unexpected questions from decision makers.

Kath Patrick centers this episode on a familiar meeting problem: the curveball question or statement from a decision maker. The useful move is the reframing.

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Why you'd press play

For when a meeting curveball knocks you off script and you need your footing back in the room.

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