Expression

Numbers can be very persuasive–if used properly

It’s pretty hard to give a business presentation without numbers. But if you think words can be tricky, numbers present their own special challenges. It would seem that there could not be anything more definite than a number—after all, 100 is 100 no matter what language you use. Just like words, they mean different things to different people.

When you decide to use a number in your presentation, there are two important principles to keep in mind. The first principle is that numbers carry meaning beyond simply quantifying something. The mere use of numerical data in a presentation sends important signals to the audience. It tells them that you are competent—you have solid information to back up your sales pitch. It tells them you are prepared, because you have taken the time to gather the data.

A surprising statistic can make an impression on someone’s mind during your presentation. If they have to rely on memory a few days later to make the decision, they are far more likely to remember the impression than the number itself. In fact, researchers have shown that they may actually rely on the memory of the impression and then reconstruct a number in memory that matches what they felt when they heard the number!

The second principle is that numbers are meaningless except in relation to something else.

It’s hard to talk for long with one of these on your head.

We like to think that our fast-paced world poses unique challenges to presenters because of the audience’s impatience, but actually the need for brevity has been respected for thousands of years. One of the earliest stories about public speaking is found in Herodotus, roughly 2,500 years ago.

If you think senior level audiences can be tough, imagine being an official from the city of Samia having to ask the Spartan authorities for aid after being driven from their city by the Persians. The Spartans, besides being fearsome warriors, were also renowned for their love of brevity.

When the delegation first spoke, they spoke so long that the Spartans said they had forgotten what they said at the beginning and didn’t understand the rest.

The Samians tried again, this time bringing an empty sack and simply saying: “this sack needs barley meal.” The Spartans applauded their brevity and approved the request, although they did say the word “sack” could have been left out.

Sticky details can make your message more convincing

Which do you think is more likely, that you might be killed by a shark attack or by a falling airplane part?

Most people guess shark attack, but you are 30 times more likely to be struck by a stray bolt from the blue than to be viciously torn apart in the blood-tinged surf by rows of razor sharp teeth.[1]

People overestimate the odds of something happening because they are more vividly brought to mind when the question is asked. One reason we call rare events to mind more easily is that by definition rare events are what make the news. That’s why we’re much more conscientious about locking our doors when we’ve read about a recent burglary in the neighborhood.

The availability heuristic,  and its subset, vividness, simply means that we place a greater likelihood on events or situations that we can more easily imagine. In short, if we can easily remember something, it is more likely to influence our decision.

Here’s another example to reinforce the point. Researchers studied the effects of vivid details on mock jury trials. In one drunk-driving case, the prosecutor had to convince the jury that the defendant was impaired based on circumstantial evidence.

In one version, the testimony said:

“On his way out the door, Sanders staggered against a serving table, knocking a bowl to the floor.”

A second version went this way,

“On his way out the door, Sanders staggered against a serving table, knocking a bowl of guacamole dip to the floor and splattering guacamole on the white shag carpet.”

When the subjects of the experiment judged the cases immediately after reading the testimony, there was no significant difference between the two versions. However, when they had to judge the cases two days after having read the evidence, they were much more likely to find the defendant guilty.

What does this have to do with selling and presentations?

One of the most important tasks of anybody trying to persuade another is to make sure that their message is recalled when it comes time for the other person to make a decision and act on the information provided. If you’re a salesperson, you may meet with an influencer who then has to take your information to the decision makers. Will they remember your great points two days later?

So, if you’re making a presentation and you want people to remember the benefits of your solution, find ways to express those benefits so that they will be recalled when needed.

How to make your presentations more vivid

Vivid details and style: You don’t want to get carried away with it, but as you can see it helps to have one or two vivid details in your explanations. “Our security is like being guarded by a pitbull with a bulletproof vest and an Uzi.”

Concreteness: Concrete words can be pictured in the mind. Try to make abstract concepts real. For example, instead of saying your solution “improves productivity”, tell them that Chris in Accounting can now get that report on your desk by Tuesday morning instead of Wednesday afternoon.

Stories: Among the many excellent reasons to use stories is that they are much more easily remembered, especially if they have one or two vivid or unusual details.

Analogies: Hitch your bland explanation to a more exciting analogy. Our performance advantage is like the difference between Superman and Mr. Magoo.

Pictures: Pictures are tremendous vehicles to make your ideas vivid, but try to use pictures that have some impact and that they haven’t seen many times before.

Try some of these ideas and your sales pitches will be as sticky as a gecko on duct tape.

[1] I first found this factoid in the Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, by Scott Plous, and also in this article. Neither one of these constitutes actual proof, of course, but the idea remains the same. Besides, most people will remember the fact long after they have forgotten this footnote—and that’s the whole point of this article.