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Regardless of our professional role or the nature of our
audience, a common goal for any communication opportunity should be
to shape audience opinion.
January 2004
Volume II, Issue 1
The Latimer Group is solely focused on helping
executives and sales
professionals develop world-class communication, public speaking and
presentation skills.
Our programs are customized and specifically designed to create
authentic presentations delivered in the voice of the speaker.
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Shaping Audience Opinion
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
- The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Each time we communicate with an audience in a professional
environment, be it employees, clients or investors, the stakes are
high. If we don't communicate effectively, opportunities disappear.
Employees won't execute the new strategy, clients won't purchase the
product, and investors won't provide the necessary capital. The
ability to articulate the message is, without question, one of the
most critical skills in the modern business world, and the
individual or organization which can communicate well with its
employees, customers and investors will have significant competitive
advantage.
The notion of articulating the message has been a recurring theme in
past issues of The Beacon. The ways in which we develop, deliver and
secure the message are critical to any potential leadership or sales
success we may enjoy. Of course, certain individuals have more
natural and engaging delivery styles than others. But often the key
to success when communicating as a business leader or salesperson
lies in preparation. With appropriate preparation for a presentation
or sales call, it is often possible to overcome less-than-perfect
natural delivery skills.
In this issue of The Beacon, I introduce a different way of
thinking about the goal in a presentation or sales call. And I offer
a series of questions to ask yourself when developing the substance
of the message.
The Goal: Shape Audience Opinion
Regardless of our professional role or the nature of our audience, a
common goal for any communication opportunity should be to shape
audience opinion. The most effective communicators don't tell their
audience what to think. They influence what their audience thinks
about.
In other words, the most effective leaders don't simply describe
their vision to their audience and magically garner support for that
vision. Rather, they explain why their vision is important for the
organization, and shape opinion about it. The most effective
salespeople don't tell their customers what to buy. Instead, they
influence the way their customers think about their product, and the
variables on which the customers make their buying decisions.
If I am a leader within my organization and am rolling out a new
strategy, in order to be successful I need my employees to believe
in that strategy. My goal is not to impose the strategy on them. My
goal is to build consensus around the strategy. I need the audience
to adopt it, so that they will then execute it. As the leader, I
cannot execute the strategy on my own. I need others to execute it
with me. If I cannot shape opinion about this strategy and persuade
them to think positively about it, they won't believe in it or
execute it, and I won't be successful. Leadership is about, in part,
having a vision for your organization, articulating it, and shaping
opinion and building consensus around it.
If I am a salesperson, I need to be aware of what the client thinks
and wants. Beyond that, I need to ensure that my prospects and
clients view my product or service in a way that will increase the
possibility of a purchase and help them recognize its value. If my
company is not the low-cost producer in our industry, for example, I
need to shape opinion about my product so that my clients see its
superior value, despite its cost.
The world of politics offers a valuable lesson for business leaders
and salespeople. Though rife with other flaws, politicians are
correctly focused on one thing. They understand that without voter
support, they will not get elected and cannot lead. They need to
build consensus among their peers and their voters in order to be
effective. Thus, the effective political leader is constantly
thinking about what voters support today and how he or she can
represent the constituency's needs. Furthermore, the effective
political leader is focused on setting an agenda and shaping opinion
around that agenda. Their elected life is dependent upon the ability
to shape opinion - about themselves, their platform and their
ideology.
Business leaders and sales professionals, take note. Your
professional life is equally dependent on this same ability to
persuade and shape opinion. To be effective as a business leader you
need to persuade and shape opinion around your vision, your strategy
and your initiatives. To be effective as a salesperson, you need to
shape opinion about your product and the criteria on which your
customers make their buying decisions.
I am not suggesting that effective leadership is reactionary to
popular opinion. Effective leaders interact with popular opinion in
two ways - they shape it and are shaped by it. The effective leader
needs to know what the constituency thinks today, as well as what he
or she would like them to think tomorrow.
Let me repeat the point: A common goal for any communication
opportunity is to shape audience opinion. The goal should not be to
tell employees or customers or investors what to think. The goal
should be to influence what they think about.
Develop Your Message with the Correct Questions
The questions we ask ourselves to prepare for a presentation or
sales call will directly influence the message we develop and,
subsequently, our ability to shape opinion. In much of my client
work, I have noticed a fundamental and critical flaw in the way many
professionals prepare for presentations or sales calls. Many prepare
by asking the following question: "What do I want to say?" On the
surface this seems like a logical starting point, one that will lead
to plenty of preparation. But on closer inspection, this question
will lead to flawed preparation.
The flaw lies in the fact that the question is ego-centric,
requiring an answer from the speaker's perspective. Instead, the
more appropriate questions to ask focus on three things: the
audience and what their perceptions are today (point A); what the
audience perception needs to be to achieve the desired outcome
(point B); and finally, what needs to be said and how it should be
said to move the audience perception from point A to point B.
More specifically, when preparing for presentations and sales calls,
these are the critical preparation questions that need to be
answered:
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1. |
What does the audience think today - about me, my company,
product, or service? What are their concerns? What is valuable to
them?
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2. |
In order to get my desired outcome, what do I need my
audience to think so that they will follow my lead, buy my
product or invest in me? What do I want them to focus on?
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3. |
What should I do, what should I say, and how should I say it
to shape the audience opinion and adjust their perception? How
do I get them from point A to point B? What will make sense to
them?
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This is a fundamental difference. The one ego-centric question has
been replaced by a series of questions focused on the audience -
where they are, where you need them to be, and how you can persuade
them to get there.
Your ability to shape audience opinion will dramatically impact your
professional success, in whatever capacity you serve. Audience
perception is critical and, once formed, is often difficult to
reverse. They decide quickly if you are worthy of their allegiance,
their purchase or their investment dollars. Asking the correct
questions during preparation will ensure that you can begin shaping
opinion from the outset of your presentation or sales call.
The bottom line is this: If we can generate a positive perception of
what we are "selling", we increase the likelihood that the audience
will follow our lead, buy our product or invest in our idea. Have
the correct communication goals, ask the correct preparation
questions and focus on persuasion by shaping audience opinion.
Dean M. Brenner
President |
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© 2004 The Latimer Group. All Rights Reserved.
Dean M. Brenner -
The Latimer Group: 203.265.4344.
Feedback or comments: dmbrenner@thelatimergroup.com.
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