Point Taken Summer Newsletter 2010: Issue 27

It’s Not What You Say, But How You Say It. (Or is it?)

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Blink, tells us that first impressions are formed before we speak a single word. Physical skills, such as eye contact and voice inflection, can positively or negatively impact that impression, depending on our choices. But let’s be honest, the reason people came to hear you speak is not because you are a great person, although we are sure you are. You were asked to speak because you are an expert or you can address some topic of interest to the audience. This means you need to worry about both content and delivery to be appealing to your audience. Betty White had so many requests on Face Book© to host Saturday Night Live that SNL actually asked her to host a show, and it was the highest rated SNL since 2008. We aren’t promising the casting director will call you, but if you have the right message for the right audience, and use physical delivery skills to enhance the presentation, you just may be the subject of a few good Tweets.

Message, Message, Message

Why did this group come to hear you speak? They came because of what you have to tell them. How can you be sure you are sending the right message?

Determine the objective of the presentation. Are you simply informing the audience, or trying to persuade them? Different objectives call for different communication tactics.

Analyze your audience to determine what they really need to know. Are you speaking to high level executives? Top line information in bulleted format is best. If you are speaking to the people who will be carrying out the task, they’ll need more detailed information.

Think about what motivates them. Are you giving them good news or bad? Are there any incentives for them to change their behavior or approve this pitch? You need to know what motivates the audience so you can highlight that information and gain buy in.

Thank You, and Good Night

Close your presentation by repeating your key message. If you need action from the audience, ask for it here. Remind them of their responsibilities. And if you are lucky you will get away without any references to Saint Olaf.

Point Taken offers a Powerful Presentations course designed to help you develop that strong presentation, and practice using physical skills to give you the edge. Contact Point Taken for more information.

Famous Quote:

"The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow. "
– Bill Gates

Got any points you want taken?

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Her Point Exactly:

A message from the president

I have been musing about persuasion recently, wondering what the secret recipe is for getting other people to do exactly what you want them to do without the usual whining, bribing, threats and coercion that usually accompany my directives. While I think the actual recipe will remain a mystery a while longer, there are a few ingredients that can be identified now:

Likability: We do stuff for people we like more willingly than for people we don’t like. While this is probably an ‘open secret’, the real questions are this: why do some people like us, and not others? And why do some people seem to be actively engaged in making others dislike them? Likeability lives in the realm of non-verbal. Words are not what make others like us; actions and impressions are what impact us the most. We need to be more aware of the perceptions we are leaving with others.

Proof targeted to the specific audience: Some people like numbers, others like stories that make them cry. How do you figure out what type of information is going to be persuasive to any given audience? It lies in analyzing their belief system – which means you have pay attention to the audience BEFORE they will pay attention to you.

Expertise: Here’s the issue- becoming an expert and being acknowledged as an expert are two very different things. It’s relatively easy to amass knowledge, harder to get others to recognize that expertise. Pedigrees help, for sure, because of the “third party verification effect,” which goes something like this: while I may not be able to assess what you know, I trust that Harvard surely can – and if you have a degree from there, well that’s good enough for me! The third party person, school or company provides the short hand assessment of your expertise.

You can see the challenge – two of the three items above have nothing to do with what you actually say, and everything to do with the perceptions others have of you. To be more persuasive, we have to look at ourselves from the outside, not just the inside. And we have to look at others from the inside, not just their outside. No wonder persuasion is called an art form.

~Beth Rogers