It’s your job to reduce complexity
Any persuader who has to sell an idea faces a dilemma: simplicity sells, but the truth is usually more complex. Given the increasing connectedness and rate of change, the world is definitely getting more complex, so simple explanations are bound to get something wrong. How do you find the right balance between pure truth and getting your point across effectively?
At one end, are those who lack a grey scale in their persuasive efforts and simplify everything to black and white. Their motto seems to be: “You’re either with me or against me.”
At the other extreme are those who see everything in shifting shades of gray, depending on which perspective they’ve thought about most recently. Their motto seems to be, “on the other hand…”
The best approach for an ethical persuader is somewhere in between those extremes, but closer to the simple side.
Delicious, but watch out for pits!
Last week I attended a meeting in which an author spoke about his book. Overall, he was a very engaging speaker and his message made a lot of sense. Yet, there was one point in his presentation in which he said something in passing that struck me as odd—not quite offensive but slightly off-kilter from the rest of his positive message.
I didn’t think much of it, but late that afternoon when Chris, the organizer of the meeting, called me to discuss some topics, he also asked me what I had thought of the speaker. I told him about my generally positive impression. Chris agreed with my assessment, but then he also brought up the same comment I had noted.
Interestingly, the speaker had delivered some very good insights and helpful ideas, but when I thought about his talk a few hours later, the most salient thing in my mind was the one negative thing. It wasn’t that big a deal, and it was totally irrelevant to his message, but it stuck in my mind.
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.
Today marks exactly one year since I launched Practical Eloquence blog, and I would like to take this opportunity to summarize and stress four key themes that weave throughout every one of the last 97 articles. They apply equally to presentations, to selling, and to any personal communication in which your goal is to persuade or influence others.
Outside-in thinking
It’s not about you—it’s about your audience or your listener. Audience focused communicators know that the quality of the reception is more important than the elegance of the transmission. They use outside-in thinking, which looks at the persuasion process from the point of view of the other person first. What do they know and don’t know? What are their needs? Why would they say yes or no to your idea? How do they like to receive information?
Persuasion is not about getting people to see things your way; it’s about getting them to see your point in their way. People do things for their reasons, not yours. You have to begin with what the audience knows and believes. Any presentation, sale or other persuasive effort aims to take the other person from Point A, where they are now, to Point B, where you want them to end up. A bridge builder needs to know both the start and end points.
My daughter just delivered a presentation to the PR firm where she interned this summer, and it went off very well. Yet when she rehearsed it the night before for her roommate and her boyfriend (who both interned for a major consulting firm), they told her she needed to talk more about how she “added value” and made process “more efficient”. That was excellent advice—if she were presenting to their consulting firm. It was terrible advice for the audience she spoke to.
Focusing on the audience shows you care about them, and they will reciprocate that regard. Do you want people to listen to you and be interested in what you have to say? Then begin by listening to them and being interested in what they have to say. Do you want to influence them? Be open to being influenced yourself.
There are three sure fire ways to test how audience-focused your approach is:
- Apply the “SO WHAT” test to everything you say. If you’re talking about your product, you can bet the customer is thinking, “so what?”
- Count how many times you say “I” vs. “you”.
- Pay attention to the talk/listen ratio in your conversations.
Clarity of thought:
Effective communication begins with clear thinking. Presenters spend far too much time worrying about their fonts and decorations, or their delivery skills, when most of the battle is won in terms of clear thinking. In the end, content is still king.
Dynamic and charismatic can take you far, but only for so long. As Lincoln said, you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. Even the World’s Greatest Orator is learning that he can’t just trot out a speech and automatically work his magic on the American people when they don’t see value in his ideas. Here’s what a previous president said about it:
“And in all of that time I won a nickname, “The Great Communicator.” But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: it was the content. I wasn’t a great communicator, but I communicated great things…”[1]
In our era of information overload, clear thinking is more critical than ever. Your listeners will appreciate the value you bring by cutting through the clutter and distilling masses of data and information into nuggets of knowledge that make sense and affect them personally.
Persuasion is a process, and often a compelling presentation makes an impact on an audience—yet the good feeling may have worn off by the following week when they actually make the decision. I’m definitely not against emotional appeals, but I do think they are much more effective when wrapped around a hard core of logic and fact. Emotions wear off, but facts are stubborn things.[2]
Clear thinking begins with:
- Figuring out your theme—write the headline first.
- Making sure the content is sound before you worry about your stories, visuals, and metaphors.
- Basing your case on data rather than opinion where possible, and being candid about your weaknesses.
Preparation:
Audience focus and clear thinking don’t come easily; they take work and preparation. As my first blog post pointed out, presentations are leadership moments, so you owe it to yourself and to your audience to give it your best.
Confidence of expression is a key asset, and preparation is the best guarantor of confidence. It’s also essential to creativity: if you prepare with plenty of time you can have a day or two to let things marinate in your mind and spark new ideas.
Rehearsal also helps to clarify your thinking, because what sounds good inside your head always sounds different when you say it aloud. Even better, try them on someone else. For example, you might find something that is clear to you is confusing to your listeners because they lack a key piece of knowledge that you take for granted.
Being genuine:
Regardless of all the audience focus, clear thinking and preparation you do, you still have to execute effectively when you talk to your audience, whether it is a large group or a single person. I’ve seen too many presenters and salespeople blow it by forgetting that it’s still a conversation in which one human being connects with another. It has to be a genuine conversation.
With the exception of speeches to large audiences, there should in effect be no difference between a presentation, a sales call, and a conversation. The president of the bank where I used to work was a charismatic, confident speaker in small groups, but sounded like an incompetent fool when the group size reached double digits. You can see a similar phenomenon in sales calls where salespeople either sound like they’re mechanically reading from a script or they fire numerous questions at their prospects but don’t take the time to truly listen to the answers.
During presentations, it’s easy for your audience to be passive—like watching television. Make it a conversation with each individual in the room and, they won’t have a choice; they have to get involved because it’s a dialogue, and it’s personal.[3]
- Be genuine. Turn abstractions into concrete realities.
- Plain speaking. Talk to your listeners as you would talk to your best friend over a cup of coffee.
- Listen. Even when you’re presenting, you should be “listening” by paying attention to the audience’s response—are they buying what you’re saying, or are they distracted or disagreeing?
Keep these four pillars as a guide, and you will become known as caring, smart, thorough, and genuine. Who can ask for more than that?
[1] Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address, January 11, 1989.
[2] John Adams first said that. Wow, I just realized that I alluded to four presidents in that section! I guess they have to know something about persuasion.
[3] It’s also one of the best antidotes to stage fright.
