This One Skill Can Change Your Life

As a marketing director, much of my work life has been about persuading executives of new projects and directions to take. Usually the people I am persuading have higher line authority than me. That got me thinking and reflecting.

Why is it we can look at some people, and listen to them and what they say has us captivated and motivated? They have our buy in, they can convince us to listen to them and take them seriously.

They have learnt the art of persuasion.

Some of the most impactful presentations or sales pitches I have seen has opened with a story or a case study, something that everyone can relate to. People love stories and hearing of experiences.

When the case study or story is one of overcoming hardship, or achieving something great, the greater will be the interest.

Knowing your audience, who you are speaking to and their level of knowledge and their expectation of you, is crucial. Ask yourself why are they here? What do they know? What would they like to learn from me today?

Right upfront the audience or person who you are speaking to need to know what listening to you will mean to their lives, using statements like ‘Imagine if you never had to work again, because you have enough money to live comfortably,…’ or ‘imagine if you never suffered any joint pian again…’ then link those scenarios to what you are going to be presenting to them.

Persuasion is different to authoritarian dictatorship, and it has a much more powerful effect on the people we are trying to influence.

Human nature is such that we hate being forced into doing things against our will, so convincing someone that they are in control and making the decision that they made, which is aligned with what the action you want them to take is the most powerful form of leadership.

We achieve persuasion through presentation, and I don’t mean a formal presentation, but it includes that, it can also be an informal chat. These sometimes are the most persuasive.

Let’s look at things that would be the opposite of giving a good persuasive argument or presentation.

Avoiding eye contact with whomever you are presenting to makes you look untrustworthy.

Not having a coherent well thought out message, if they question you and expose a lack of forethought you have lost the war, any battle that you win after that means nothing.

Having a long and boring presentation or argument that you present in a monotone and uninterested way will ensure you destroy your powers of persuasion.

Having too much detail, presenting too much detail and giving your audience too much to remember loses them. The brain can only remember about 5 to 9 items, so think clearly what the five key messages are that you want to get across and present them with authority and enthusiasm. If you can link them into a story even better. People recall stories a lot easier than just a bunch of facts.

Use Analogies for complex concepts. I recall once listening to a well seasoned pharmaceutical sales person explaining the different actions of two active ingredients in a drug. The one he likened to the police, saying that it would arrest the disease, the other he likened to the military, saying it would eradicate the disease. I still to this day remember his presentation from about 18 years ago.

Know your argument or presentation so well that you are sick of rehearsing it. Rehearse answers for expected questions. You should be that well prepared that no question they ask will surprise you, but if a question surprises you and it is something that will detract from your message, say you will get back to the questioner.

Everything in life is about persuading. When you go to an interview, you are selling your skills and talents, to persuade them to hire you. When you date someone, you are persuading someone else to invest in you for mutually invested future time. When you buy a new car, you need to be persuaded that the car is right for you. When you join a gym, etc. In almost every human interaction, one is trying to persuade the other of something, even when chatting casually.

The better we become at the art of persuasion the easier we will achieve our goals and the better our quality of life will be.

So to recap:

Know your audience and their expectations, use an interesting case study or opening story “sell the dream” so to speak, let people know why they should invest time in listening to you.

Know your 5 key messages and tie them together in an interesting story. Know your story backwards and inside out and expect questions, and know the answers.

Keep eye contact and keep slides simple and engaging. We can all make presentations more fun and engaging and more importantly, persuasive if we follow these principles.

Let me know your thoughts on the subject?