A couple of years ago, my wife and I were shopping for a new car. I remember clearly my response to the salesman who showed us the model we were interested in. It wasn't, "Gee, that is a fine car!"(for I already knew that before I visited the lot). What I said was, "He's a really nice guy" . . . just before I asked my wife, "Did you bring the checkbook?"
And Mrs. Merchant, the 4th grade teacher that I remember so fondly? I can say with certainty that I've never mused to myself, "Gosh, I loved the way she folded culture into that unit on South American geography. And her grasp of pre-algebra? Outstanding!"
No, my memories prompt me to think: "That woman changed my life--because she believed in me and showed me what I was capable of."
In both these situations, my emotional response was what mattered.
It's the same with the audiences for your speeches and presentations.
Human beings make important decisions because those choices feel right for them. They will justify their decisions with data and logic. But it's EMOTION that turns people on, and drives the choices in their lives.
Persuasion begins with trust, not with information. Every time you talk to a customer, prospect, colleague, or stakeholder, an unvoiced understanding takes place: you (the speaker) are seeking to influence your listeners. You're trying to change them in some way--positively and ethically, we hope. Change isn't easy for anyone. It only occurs when the person to be changed trusts that you are worth listening to and believing in.
As speaker, you are modeling the way: "Hear me and see me," you are saying. "You can see I am trustworthy, and therefore what I have to say is valuable."
By speaking in the realm of emotion, you open the door for positive influence. It isn't influence that computes right--for our brains are not machines that subsist on logic--it is change that feels right.
Author and playwright George Ade, Mark Twain's contemporary, said it this way:
"In uplifting, get underneath."
He didn't mean crawl down into the bogs of raw data, or dig into foundations long since excavated. He meant get into the things that matter. As a speaker or presenter, that means reaching across the real space of your speaking venue to touch people's hearts.
You do it with the story you tell, and the way you tell it, of course. Inexperienced speakers buckle the load of information they have to convey onto their backs, and then dump it into the laps of their listeners. To an audience, that feels heavy and unwieldy, and it's not something they want to take home with them.
Instead, your story--the one you're telling to change people's lives--must begin and end with people, and the things that move people deep inside. It's only to support that narrative that you bring in your information--your content. This is so whether you're presenting return on investment, your nonprofit's mission, or the marketing tools your company specializes in. All the information you convey is important; but you must convey it in terms of the satisfaction and benefits to be gained. The more you can link those benefits to an emotional response in your listeners, the stronger your content will appear.
How does this knowledge impact the practical necessity of developing a successful message? It's a reminder that we have to get the order right: Know your audience and what matters to them. Then tell them your story in human terms, relying on emotion, and using your content to help you make your case.
You'll feel good about that way of proceeding. And by the time you're finished, your listeners will not only be moved, they'll be persuaded.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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