Tip 16: Establish Credibility.
People believe people they like, people who are similar to them, people who are trustworthy, and people who have demonstrated expertise. Work on one or all of these to build your credibility with any given group. The higher your credibility, the greater impact your message will have. Aristotle summed it up this way: "Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken readily than others; this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided."
Tip 17: Talk About Rewards and Incentives to Those People Who Think in Terms of Payoffs.
Some people wake up every morning looking for ways to make their life better: how to save time, how to save money, how to move ahead in their careers, how to be better managers, how to get their co-workers to like them, how to win the lottery, how to complete a crossword puzzle. If these people are the group you have to win over, highlight the personal and corporate benefits of acting on your ideas.
Tip 18: Talk About Facts and Statistics to Those Who Think Analytically.
These people don't buy cereal without figuring out the cost per ounce. Even if they are persuaded by emotion, they'll ask for the supporting evidence so as not to be embarrassed should anyone ask the reason for their breakfast choices. They don't believe in "soft dollars," "soft skills," or "soft data." Quantify everything.
Tip 19: Talk About the "Bandwagon" to Those Who Like to Jump On It.
Whether to save the effort of thinking for themselves or to meet their needs of belonging, these people pay a great deal of attention to what everyone else is doing. Passwords here include: "The trends show…" "Experts in the field seem to think…" "The leading-edge companies have implemented…" With these people, you need to provide testimonials of what others think of your ideas.
Tip 20: Talk About Obstacles to Be Overcome to Those Who Welcome Challenge and Change.
Some people wake up each morning ready to climb mountains. Tell them they can't do something and they start circulating petitions. Routine bores them. Tell them the system doesn't work, tell them you can't afford something, tell them it's too late or too early for a change--and that's when they'll start to work. Motivate them to act on your ideas by presenting them as obstacles to be overcome. Negative circumstances merely challenge them to climb mountains of opportunity.
Tip 21: Sell What People Want to Buy
Don’t limit your thinking to product and services here. I’m also talking about ideas, policies, concepts, and feelings. Think along two channels: what people want and what they want to avoid.
Tip 22: Use the Lesser-of-Two-Evils Approach.
If the decision you want from your listener is not particularly pleasant or desirable, consider creating fear about the other alternatives. Outline what happens if they stay with the status quo, what happens if they do X, what happens if their competitors or customers do Y. Your purpose is to get the listener to decide against the other options rather than necessarily deciding for your option.
The American public makes a similar choice every year at election time.
Tip 23: Use the Jelly Principle.
When I was sick as a child, my mother used to put cough syrup in a spoon of jelly to camouflage the taste. The same principle comes in handy with bitter messages. You may have to wrap them in more pleasing ideas or get them across in more subtle ways.
Tip 24: Let the Decision Maker Hear from the Converted.
Second-hand testimonials are not nearly as effective as the words straight from the mouth of those already converted to your way of thinking. If possible, bring these satisfied users/buyers/believers/beneficiaries to the discussion with you---in person or by letter, video, or satellite. Unscripted and in their own unique way, let them speak to the effectiveness or truth of what you say.
Tip 25: Play on the Power of Your Expertise.
We rarely question our CPA, our neurologist, our air-conditioner repair person when they tell us the causes of our difficulties and recommend solutions. Why? There's power in the perception of specialized expertise. If you establish credentials early in a certain field, people seldom question them. They'll give you the benefit of the doubt on your facts and conclusions more often than not.
Tip 26: Choose Your Timing.
The time to sell roofs is right after a tornado. The time to sell investment expertise is after the stock market takes a drastic upturn or downturn. The time to sell a quality process in your organization is after you’ve been removed from the bidder’s list because of the rising percentage of defects in your deliveries. Timing is crucial. Ask any politician.
Tip 27: Create a Favourable Atmosphere.
Meeting planners claim that registrants rate educational seminars higher when they’re held in resort locations. Job applicants prefer jobs where they are interviewed in plush surroundings. Shoppers shop longer where music plays in the background. Diners linger longer over meals served in comfortable restaurants. So it stands to reason that the principle can work for you.
Tip 28: Stand Up for People to Take You Seriously.
If your office culture is generally laid-back, with people walking in and out to see the boss without appointments, with no-agenda meetings, with “your office or mine” casualness, you may want to get attention to the seriousness or urgency of a problem by changing the atmosphere drastically. Be formal. Do the out-of-the-ordinary. Use a flipchart or overhead. Make it official. A stand-up presentation adds to your authority. Put people on notice that your idea deserves unusual attention.
Tip 29: When There’s a Parade, Take the Last Spot.
If you’re one of several people trying to persuade your audience to choose among you, ask for the last time slot. By the time the others finish with all their statistics, charts, and promises, the buyers will have grown weary and forgetful. Your presentation will be the last on their mind.
Tip 30: Limit Your Objectives.
Rome wasn’t built while they were working on Sicily. You can’t accomplish everything at once. Determine your primary objective in presenting your case, and focus your efforts on accomplishing that one goal. If your chief concern is getting your boss to hire three extra people in your department, leave discussions about rearranging the workstations and lobby until another day.
Tip 31: Recognize That People Support What They Help Create.
Rally support for your ideas in a subtle way by asking people to contribute to them. Tell them what you’re about, what your goal is; then set about asking for their thinking on the subject before you put together your formal presentation of the idea to the entire group. What figures, resources, or anecdotes can they supply for you? If this plan meets with opposition, what do they think the focus of that disagreement likely will be? If others react negatively, what would they suggest you try as second best?
The White House uses this strategy in building support for major legislation in Congress. They seek out the facts, the opposing views, and the supporting views before the vote, not during.
Tip 32: Be Careful About Opening with a Broad Question.
Wrong approach: “So tell me a little about your operations now---what’s automated and what’s not?” First of all, the other person will be reluctant to answer because he or she doesn’t know where the question will be leading. Second, much of the answer would probably be irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Even with the consultative approach, people want to know where you’re trying to lead them. If you start with a question, focus it and give the benefits or the point of knowing the answer.
Tip 33: Cite Your Sources and Ask for Those of Others.
“They” have probably become the most vocal group in our society. “They say” this and “They say” that. When you have credible sources to support your information, cite them. When the other person tosses out objections based on “they says,” ask specifically where those ideas, statistics, policies, or preventatives originated. Then, when given a credible source, ask how current the information is.
Tip 34: Vary Your Intensity.
If you intend to build to a passionate appeal, you can't start pit screaming. Consider how the singer begins with a timid croon, builds with up-and-down variations, and finally crescendos to a rousing finale. Do the same with your own delivery.
Tip 35: Increase Your Pace to Increase Comprehension--Up to a Point.
The typical listener thinks about six times faster than the average person speaks. When you want to keep others' attention, you have to increase you speaking rate. Otherwise, they take a mental recess. You don't, of course, want to speak so quickly that you don't articulate. Variety is the key. Slow down for complex technical information (if you can't skip it altogether) and speed up for the remainder of your persuasive points.
Tip 36: Package Ideas Like Products.
People are lazy thinkers if you permit them to be. Make your concept understandable by it packaging. Politicians, policies, and plays are packages like soaps and telephone services. For example, insurance rates, employee compensation, unemployment, and tax incentives can all be packaged as "health-care" issues in Washington. Think beginning, middle, and end (idea, action, and implementation) and tie them all together in one packaged concept.
Tip 37: Triple Things--Use Triads and Alliteration.
One of the first lessons in speech writing is the use of triads (groupings of three). If you can add alliteration (repetition of the sound from word to word), so much the better. Our ears love the sound of:
Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Blood, sweat, and tears.
Clearly, quickly, concisely.
Motivate, renovate, captivate.
Pray, prepare, preach.
They want jobs, they want justice, and they want respect.
Change the rhythm or omit one word or phrase in any of the above groupings and you lose the impact.
Tip 38: Use Both Rounded and Exact Numbers.
Exact numbers sound more credible: "The number of employees dissatisfied with their pay checks was 51.4 percent" sounds exact, therefore accurate. Rounded numbers, on the other hand, give the appearance of estimations. Yet "slightly over half" is easier to remember than 51.4 percent of the employees surveyed. So which to use if you want the numbers to be both credible and memorable? Use the exact number first, and then round it off with later references.
Tip 39: Never Let Facts Speak for Themselves.
Facts need interpretation. According to Mark Twain, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." If you don't believe it, tune in to the next political campaign, people can make facts and numbers mean almost anything. Interpret yours.
Tip 40: Provide Memory Aids.
Listening expert Dr. Lyman K. Steil estimates that the average-knowledge worker listens at an effective rate of 25 percent. Other research shows that after a 10-minute presentation, a typical listener forgets 50 percent of the information heard. After two days, the recall level drops to 25 percent. After a week, the recall drops to about 10 percent. Therefore, you have to help the listener remember your points.
Use metaphors to make concepts easy to recall. Give your listener a personal experience with the concept; that is the idea behind ropes-training for team building in organizations. You can use a mnemonic device for your key points (the three P's of Universal Services: Prepare, Plan, Promote.) You can provide a demonstration model to let the customer get a "feel" for extending his or her memory. Whatever method you choose, work on increasing others' recall of your idea, service, or product.
Tip 41: Don't Ever Read Your Key Points.
When reading, the all-important eye contact is missing. Rapport suffers. Reading, rather than telling your ideas destroys your credibility, sincerity, and enthusiasm. The listener always toys with these thoughts: Who generated these ideas? Doesn't she care enough to learn them? Isn't he convicted enough to give them from the heart? Why is he afraid to look in the eye? Does she doubt what she's saying? Aren't these facts important enough to remember?
Tip 42: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.
If nothing else works, try the broken-record technique. If you state your message often enough in a variety of ways, somebody eventually will listen. If you hear something often enough, it becomes part of the atmosphere--like humidity. Repetition forms the core of advertising.
People believe people they like, people who are similar to them, people who are trustworthy, and people who have demonstrated expertise. Work on one or all of these to build your credibility with any given group. The higher your credibility, the greater impact your message will have. Aristotle summed it up this way: "Persuasion is achieved by the speaker's personal character when the speech is so spoken readily than others; this is true generally whatever the question is, and absolutely true where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided."
Tip 17: Talk About Rewards and Incentives to Those People Who Think in Terms of Payoffs.
Some people wake up every morning looking for ways to make their life better: how to save time, how to save money, how to move ahead in their careers, how to be better managers, how to get their co-workers to like them, how to win the lottery, how to complete a crossword puzzle. If these people are the group you have to win over, highlight the personal and corporate benefits of acting on your ideas.
Tip 18: Talk About Facts and Statistics to Those Who Think Analytically.
These people don't buy cereal without figuring out the cost per ounce. Even if they are persuaded by emotion, they'll ask for the supporting evidence so as not to be embarrassed should anyone ask the reason for their breakfast choices. They don't believe in "soft dollars," "soft skills," or "soft data." Quantify everything.
Tip 19: Talk About the "Bandwagon" to Those Who Like to Jump On It.
Whether to save the effort of thinking for themselves or to meet their needs of belonging, these people pay a great deal of attention to what everyone else is doing. Passwords here include: "The trends show…" "Experts in the field seem to think…" "The leading-edge companies have implemented…" With these people, you need to provide testimonials of what others think of your ideas.
Tip 20: Talk About Obstacles to Be Overcome to Those Who Welcome Challenge and Change.
Some people wake up each morning ready to climb mountains. Tell them they can't do something and they start circulating petitions. Routine bores them. Tell them the system doesn't work, tell them you can't afford something, tell them it's too late or too early for a change--and that's when they'll start to work. Motivate them to act on your ideas by presenting them as obstacles to be overcome. Negative circumstances merely challenge them to climb mountains of opportunity.
Tip 21: Sell What People Want to Buy
Don’t limit your thinking to product and services here. I’m also talking about ideas, policies, concepts, and feelings. Think along two channels: what people want and what they want to avoid.
Tip 22: Use the Lesser-of-Two-Evils Approach.
If the decision you want from your listener is not particularly pleasant or desirable, consider creating fear about the other alternatives. Outline what happens if they stay with the status quo, what happens if they do X, what happens if their competitors or customers do Y. Your purpose is to get the listener to decide against the other options rather than necessarily deciding for your option.
The American public makes a similar choice every year at election time.
Tip 23: Use the Jelly Principle.
When I was sick as a child, my mother used to put cough syrup in a spoon of jelly to camouflage the taste. The same principle comes in handy with bitter messages. You may have to wrap them in more pleasing ideas or get them across in more subtle ways.
Tip 24: Let the Decision Maker Hear from the Converted.
Second-hand testimonials are not nearly as effective as the words straight from the mouth of those already converted to your way of thinking. If possible, bring these satisfied users/buyers/believers/beneficiaries to the discussion with you---in person or by letter, video, or satellite. Unscripted and in their own unique way, let them speak to the effectiveness or truth of what you say.
Tip 25: Play on the Power of Your Expertise.
We rarely question our CPA, our neurologist, our air-conditioner repair person when they tell us the causes of our difficulties and recommend solutions. Why? There's power in the perception of specialized expertise. If you establish credentials early in a certain field, people seldom question them. They'll give you the benefit of the doubt on your facts and conclusions more often than not.
Tip 26: Choose Your Timing.
The time to sell roofs is right after a tornado. The time to sell investment expertise is after the stock market takes a drastic upturn or downturn. The time to sell a quality process in your organization is after you’ve been removed from the bidder’s list because of the rising percentage of defects in your deliveries. Timing is crucial. Ask any politician.
Tip 27: Create a Favourable Atmosphere.
Meeting planners claim that registrants rate educational seminars higher when they’re held in resort locations. Job applicants prefer jobs where they are interviewed in plush surroundings. Shoppers shop longer where music plays in the background. Diners linger longer over meals served in comfortable restaurants. So it stands to reason that the principle can work for you.
Tip 28: Stand Up for People to Take You Seriously.
If your office culture is generally laid-back, with people walking in and out to see the boss without appointments, with no-agenda meetings, with “your office or mine” casualness, you may want to get attention to the seriousness or urgency of a problem by changing the atmosphere drastically. Be formal. Do the out-of-the-ordinary. Use a flipchart or overhead. Make it official. A stand-up presentation adds to your authority. Put people on notice that your idea deserves unusual attention.
Tip 29: When There’s a Parade, Take the Last Spot.
If you’re one of several people trying to persuade your audience to choose among you, ask for the last time slot. By the time the others finish with all their statistics, charts, and promises, the buyers will have grown weary and forgetful. Your presentation will be the last on their mind.
Tip 30: Limit Your Objectives.
Rome wasn’t built while they were working on Sicily. You can’t accomplish everything at once. Determine your primary objective in presenting your case, and focus your efforts on accomplishing that one goal. If your chief concern is getting your boss to hire three extra people in your department, leave discussions about rearranging the workstations and lobby until another day.
Tip 31: Recognize That People Support What They Help Create.
Rally support for your ideas in a subtle way by asking people to contribute to them. Tell them what you’re about, what your goal is; then set about asking for their thinking on the subject before you put together your formal presentation of the idea to the entire group. What figures, resources, or anecdotes can they supply for you? If this plan meets with opposition, what do they think the focus of that disagreement likely will be? If others react negatively, what would they suggest you try as second best?
The White House uses this strategy in building support for major legislation in Congress. They seek out the facts, the opposing views, and the supporting views before the vote, not during.
Tip 32: Be Careful About Opening with a Broad Question.
Wrong approach: “So tell me a little about your operations now---what’s automated and what’s not?” First of all, the other person will be reluctant to answer because he or she doesn’t know where the question will be leading. Second, much of the answer would probably be irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Even with the consultative approach, people want to know where you’re trying to lead them. If you start with a question, focus it and give the benefits or the point of knowing the answer.
Tip 33: Cite Your Sources and Ask for Those of Others.
“They” have probably become the most vocal group in our society. “They say” this and “They say” that. When you have credible sources to support your information, cite them. When the other person tosses out objections based on “they says,” ask specifically where those ideas, statistics, policies, or preventatives originated. Then, when given a credible source, ask how current the information is.
Tip 34: Vary Your Intensity.
If you intend to build to a passionate appeal, you can't start pit screaming. Consider how the singer begins with a timid croon, builds with up-and-down variations, and finally crescendos to a rousing finale. Do the same with your own delivery.
Tip 35: Increase Your Pace to Increase Comprehension--Up to a Point.
The typical listener thinks about six times faster than the average person speaks. When you want to keep others' attention, you have to increase you speaking rate. Otherwise, they take a mental recess. You don't, of course, want to speak so quickly that you don't articulate. Variety is the key. Slow down for complex technical information (if you can't skip it altogether) and speed up for the remainder of your persuasive points.
Tip 36: Package Ideas Like Products.
People are lazy thinkers if you permit them to be. Make your concept understandable by it packaging. Politicians, policies, and plays are packages like soaps and telephone services. For example, insurance rates, employee compensation, unemployment, and tax incentives can all be packaged as "health-care" issues in Washington. Think beginning, middle, and end (idea, action, and implementation) and tie them all together in one packaged concept.
Tip 37: Triple Things--Use Triads and Alliteration.
One of the first lessons in speech writing is the use of triads (groupings of three). If you can add alliteration (repetition of the sound from word to word), so much the better. Our ears love the sound of:
Government of the people, by the people, for the people.
Blood, sweat, and tears.
Clearly, quickly, concisely.
Motivate, renovate, captivate.
Pray, prepare, preach.
They want jobs, they want justice, and they want respect.
Change the rhythm or omit one word or phrase in any of the above groupings and you lose the impact.
Tip 38: Use Both Rounded and Exact Numbers.
Exact numbers sound more credible: "The number of employees dissatisfied with their pay checks was 51.4 percent" sounds exact, therefore accurate. Rounded numbers, on the other hand, give the appearance of estimations. Yet "slightly over half" is easier to remember than 51.4 percent of the employees surveyed. So which to use if you want the numbers to be both credible and memorable? Use the exact number first, and then round it off with later references.
Tip 39: Never Let Facts Speak for Themselves.
Facts need interpretation. According to Mark Twain, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." If you don't believe it, tune in to the next political campaign, people can make facts and numbers mean almost anything. Interpret yours.
Tip 40: Provide Memory Aids.
Listening expert Dr. Lyman K. Steil estimates that the average-knowledge worker listens at an effective rate of 25 percent. Other research shows that after a 10-minute presentation, a typical listener forgets 50 percent of the information heard. After two days, the recall level drops to 25 percent. After a week, the recall drops to about 10 percent. Therefore, you have to help the listener remember your points.
Use metaphors to make concepts easy to recall. Give your listener a personal experience with the concept; that is the idea behind ropes-training for team building in organizations. You can use a mnemonic device for your key points (the three P's of Universal Services: Prepare, Plan, Promote.) You can provide a demonstration model to let the customer get a "feel" for extending his or her memory. Whatever method you choose, work on increasing others' recall of your idea, service, or product.
Tip 41: Don't Ever Read Your Key Points.
When reading, the all-important eye contact is missing. Rapport suffers. Reading, rather than telling your ideas destroys your credibility, sincerity, and enthusiasm. The listener always toys with these thoughts: Who generated these ideas? Doesn't she care enough to learn them? Isn't he convicted enough to give them from the heart? Why is he afraid to look in the eye? Does she doubt what she's saying? Aren't these facts important enough to remember?
Tip 42: Repeat, Repeat, Repeat.
If nothing else works, try the broken-record technique. If you state your message often enough in a variety of ways, somebody eventually will listen. If you hear something often enough, it becomes part of the atmosphere--like humidity. Repetition forms the core of advertising.
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