By Suzanne Stevens - Ignite Excellence

We have all experienced speakers who made us laugh, maybe even had us rolling in the aisles in hysterics. We related to them and admired how they maintained the attention of every member of the audience. We might have regarded them with awe, wishing we had the confidence to speak to such a group of people, had lived such an interesting life, or could be so funny and engaging. We left this most pleasant experience captivated, energized and ready to take on the day or night.

The next day rolled around, and when someone asked what we did last night, we smiled, remembering the event of the evening before. “I went to see the greatest speaker.” Then they asked, “What did they talk about?” We recall with some difficulty. When they want to know if we learned anything that would help us personally or professionally, we think… and think… and think. To our frustration, we do not remember any particular message or concept, but just that we enjoyed the experience.

CAN’T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

It is surprisingly common to encounter messages that are not relevant to the audience or situation and that are not remembered. Sometimes presenters do not use persuasive techniques in delivering their messages or they don’t structure the information to promote retention.

Many articles have been written about creating a favourable impression, speaking with impact and building rapport with new clients. With so much emphasis on how to deliver a message, the message itself is often overlooked. Although creating a favourable impression is often the primary focus when meeting new people, the reason for making a good impression in the first place is so the individual or audience will listen to and remember the message that we need to deliver.

The American Institute of Management reports that 53 per cent of the impression we create results from how we deliver information, including all our communication skills – from posture to how we gesture, maintain eye contact and use our voice. About 40 per cent of the impression created is based on who we are – our title, rank or credibility. Only seven per cent of the impression created is due to what we actually say – the message itself. With the what apparently having so little impact, it is often assumed that the information we are conveying is not important in our overall ability to influence individuals and audiences. In reality, however, who we are and how we deliver our information is really only important so people will listen to us, understand what we are saying, and act on it.

PLAY THE CARDS YOU’RE DEALT

In communicating with individuals or groups, whether to win business or to inform, it is important to first understand who that individual or audience is, what interests them and what they need to hear from us. When meeting a client for the first time, we need to delve into who they are, what they want and why. We must find out what is important to them and what their objectives are. This information will give us insight into what particular information they will need to make decisions.

This is also true for presenting to groups. Having insights into what the audience’s challenges are, what their industry issues might be and what motivates them will allow the presenter to connect with an audience in a manner that will focus on their issues rather than the presenter’s well-honed but possibly misplaced message. Audiences listen carefully to what affects them, so taking the time to discover what is important to them is a key way to be heard.

Once we know what messages are important to the diverse individuals and audiences that we deal with, it is important to introduce some persuasive information. Most of us have been to networking functions where we met and seemed to connect with a prospective client with whom we really felt we would be a good fit, but then they didn’t respond to our follow-up phone call a week later. Why did they not call back?

There could be several reasons, but the most likely is that we did not provide the prospect with a message that would persuade them to pick up the phone and return our call.

To ensure a favourable response, or even just get our call answered, we must not only identify a need and be liked, but we also have to demonstrate that we have the right experience to help prospective clients achieve their objectives. This can be a good time to mention some other clients we have worked with, or provide an example of how we helped a client who was trying to achieve a similar goal. People need to feel comfortable that we can perform our service successfully, but just saying we can is not enough. They need proof, not just our word alone.

When presenting messages to our clients or to audiences, we also need to be compelling and persuasive. We must provide factual information supported by actual cases where there was a successful outcome, and include examples that the listeners can relate to. These are the messages that people remember.

BUILDING ON A SOLID FOUNDATION

A key element in communicating persuasive messages is how they are structure. People seem to need repetition in order to remember a particular message. In our fast-paced society, as we rush from one meeting to another, our minds are often preoccupied with what we need to do at work or at home. Presenters might try to keep your attention, but there are times when audience members are distracted. The message must be presented in a variety of ways in order to get through our mind clutter. Repetition breeds memory.

Many speakers seem to have adopted a common approach. During the first half of the presentation, the speakers were earning the right to speak by sharing their background experience through various entertaining stories. After establishing their credibility and with the audience ripe for information, they would then provide great insights and words of wisdom on what individuals and organizations should do to be more effective. All that great information has us craving more. But often they didn’t tell us how to achieve their recommendations. We would leave feeling thirsty but unsatisfied. Providing the how to achieve specific aspirations is the content piece that makes a motivational speech an actionable realization.

Whatever our business, we need to prepare people for our messages, deliver them, and then let listeners know what to do with the information provided. Specifying next steps is an effective way to promote retention of information in an audience.

This concept holds true when communicating with a client in a meeting or when networking. For a meeting, we need to setup an agenda, find out what is important to the client, and make sure we leave with agreed-upon next steps. In a networking situation, we listen to the prospect’s opportunity, provide information that suggests we can assist them, and then provide evidence of our competence. Before we leave, we need to ensure that we have a next step in place – an agreement to meet or be introduced to their colleagues, etc.

How we communicate will inspire people to listen to us, but ultimately it is what w say that actually makes changes in people’s personal and professional lives.