I’ve written frequently about the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath and have been a strong advocate for the authors’ message about the elements of effective communication. Taking a page from Made to Stick, I’ve created a Commander’s Intent for the book’s main message as follows:
Informing Does Not Equal Influencing!
In other words, just dumping an excruciatingly comprehensive 500-page report or a 97-slide Powerpoint presentation with multiple indentation levels on an audience isn’t guaranteed to sway them to the message contained therein (if in fact there is one).
Now, clearly there is a time and a place for providing information – say, when a senior leader requests a status update on a high-stakes project. Yet as I frequently advise people, if you have any kind of persuasive purpose in a given communication – to prompt action, to shape opinion, to elicit caring – then you need to do more than just report data. You need to connect your message to something the audience can easily relate to – and care about. (Yes, even the senior leader in that status meeting.)
Next time I'll provide an example of "connecting with the audience" from an unlikely source: The world of scientific research.
Next time I'll provide an example of "connecting with the audience" from an unlikely source: The world of scientific research.
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REFLECTIONS FOR THE YES! LEADER
Performance improvisers are taught a simple guideline: Show, don’t tell! For example, don’t inform the audience that the scene takes place in Spain by saying “Here we are in Spain” – connect the audience with “Spain” in a concrete way by your actions.
For the Yes! Leader, what would happen if you were to do the following?
- Talk less about what you believe in and value, act more in a way that demonstrates those beliefs and values.
- Focus less on pushing your own agenda, focus more on the questions, concerns, and ideas of your listeners.
- Always be sure to address the two key questions in any listener's mind: WII? (What Is It?) and WSIC? (Why Should I Care?)
It's funny but I was just reading about the WIIFM (what's in it for me) principle and I think that this is how I initially approach many things: (what is this new thing and how can I use it?)
ReplyDeleteBut I suppose it might also be considered to be the first step to learning how it is that WE can use something.
Hi, Wendy. You've given me a great idea for how to present the WII and WSIC in class sessions: After explaining what the abbreviations stand for (and I usually have participants first try to guess), loop back to the WII (pronounced "WE") and say "Conveying the WII and the WSIC is the first step in learning how WE can work together to make something happen."
ReplyDelete