For years, I’ve struggled with the best possible ways to persuade others and sell my ideas.
It could be a new product proposal to executives, product placement with a major retailer. Or, simply convincing my wife, we couldn’t live without this boat I wanted to buy!
I remember the countless hours spent getting the facts together, building polished presentations, deep narratives, sending them far in advance, pre-selling the idea to stakeholders.
And then came “Presentation Day.” I would either spend the entire time going through my slides, leaving too little time for questions and interaction. Or, I would get started and immediately face a ton of questions that quickly turned into rabbit holes.
Eventually, in most cases, we would reach a decision and go with it. Still, I felt frustrated with such conversations and my lack of control over the outcome.
I’m sure you’ve been there too, and you might have tried a variety of techniques to improve over time.
I’ve tested different approaches, too. I injected interaction by asking questions to the audience. I also ditched the Powerpoint format and went the Amazon way by writing a 6-pager read at the beginning of the meeting, leaving some room for a more structured discussion.
All these techniques helped, but only to a certain point.
But, what made the most significant impact was when I realized that we all love stories and react better to positive persuasion.
The notion, in a nutshell, is to build a storyline that establishes common ground and makes people want what you offer because they can see their interest.
Here are the ten concrete steps I typically take when preparing a pitch for optimal persuasion:
1 – I create an unequivocal title that clarifies the topic and desired outcome.
2 – I establish trust by finding one common ground with the audience.
3 – I articulate the problem at hand that needs to be solved.
4 – I give some hope that current approaches have their benefits.
5 – Then, I demonstrate why they won’t work by showing their limitations.
6 – I share my proposed solution and how it addresses the identified issues.
7 – I provide proof points on its feasibility.
8 – I explain the required Calls-to-Action for both the audience and myself.
9 – I remind the audience of the early benefits.
10 – I end with a more aspirational view of the long-term benefits.
That’s it!
A story that flows through this ten-point narrative and keeps positively reinforcing the benefits of the outcome for all.
You need to do your homework and make sure you have your facts together. But once you’re there, it only takes minutes to build your storyline.
Want to try it? Pick a project or idea you’re currently working on, step back, and spend fifteen minutes organizing your thoughts with this canvas.
Just remember, practice makes perfect. So keep tuning and perfecting your persuasion, and feel free to reach out if you get stuck.