Tag: persuasive communication

Leadership Communications

Nothing brings more opportunity into your life than speaking well in public.

I have been teaching for 16 years on many leadership programs at IESE Business School. Today I’m sharing a playlist of a series of videos that we put together as an introduction for participants of future courses.

There are 10 videos in the full playlist with a total duration of about 60 minutes.

There are 4 steps to speaking with impact:

  1. Have something to say
  2. Say it well
  3. Say it with Intensity
  4. Connect with the people in the audience

Here’s the link to the Leadership Communications video playlist: 

 

Framing is Everything

Rory Sutherland tells some wonderful stories about the power of framing.  If you want to be persuasive, you must get good at framing the argument.  Good framing shifts the argument to a playing field where you can achieve your ends and the other can feel that they have gotten a good deal.

Prices are not expensive or inexpensive in abstract, only in relative terms.  If I say that “this watch costs €100” – I have allowed you to frame your perspective on expensive or cheap.  If I say “other watches in this very category sell for over €1,000; this watch costs €100” – I have started to provide my own framing for the situation.

Compared to what?

Rory talks about small shifts in framing have a powerful impact.  He gives the example from car sales that it is far better to give a rebate of €3000 on top of trade in valuation versus giving €3000 off the full purchase price.  The framing of a trade-in price of €7000 plus €3000 is much more impactful than offering €3000 reduction on the full price of €22,000.  It is the same €3000 in cash, but it is not the same €3000 from a psychological point of view.

This framing also works for selling expensive cars at plane and boat shows – context shifts way we see the price.  A €300,000 car seems expensive when seen in a showroom of €50,000 cars…  but it feels more reasonable when placed next to €1.2M boats or €6M private jets.

Here’s Rory’s talk at Zeitgeist:

Event: Persuasive Communication Masterclass in UCD Smurfit Business School (Dublin)

Persuasive Communication Masterclass, Dublin, 3 April

Sold out – As of 13 March, this course is completely sold out.  

I will be teaching a full day Persuasive Communication Masterclass in Dublin on 3rd April.  The class is part of the UCD Smurfit Masterclass series.

UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business is Ireland’s leading business school.  I am looking forward to spending a day in Dublin on their beautiful campus.

The brochure for the full day course is downloadable here.

I’m Irish, but I have lived outside of Ireland since I was 14 years old.  That is more than half my life.  I have always felt a desire to reconnect with Dublin and the business life of Dublin.  I am really happy to have this opportunity to build a relationship with UCD Smurfit Business School, and with the business community of Dublin.

Course Content

The course will cover Persuasive Communication:

  • Aristotle’s triad of Persuasion: Logos, Ethos & Pathos
  • Developing The Logos-based Persuasive speech structure
  • Body Language: Authority, Energy and Audience engagement
  • Preparing to Perform: developing mental strength, overcoming anxiety: the 4 ways to handle anxiety
  • 5 Aspects of a Powerful Voice: how to improve the power and quality of your voice
  • Simple story: engaging audience, moving to action with emotion. Reason is absolutely necessary, yet the most powerful, persuasive communication has a deeply human element…often delivered simply and personally through the telling of stories
  • Framing your Argument: The 6 Laws of Scientific Influence
  • Selling Value: Asking powerful questions, overcoming objections, the checklist sale
  • Authentic Leadership: Making it a Habit; The 20 Mile March
  • Creating self-disciplined habits. “The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency. Consistency is the hallmark of success.” — Jim Collins

Requests for Further Information

To book your place contact: Deirdre Luby on +353 1 716 8080 or email deirdre.luby@ucd.ie

You cannot promote world peace when you are angry

Last week I taught a course on persuasive communication.  One individual was a charismatic speaker who repeatedly gave speeches that I would classify as “Rant”.  This is a passionate and initially engaging way of speaking, but it has no place in a Leader’s communication.

To rant is to speak or shout at length in an angry, impassioned way.

Leaders Do Not Rant

A rant is never a leadership speech.

A rant doesn’t help the situation.

A rant is lazy.

A rant is not enough.  You have to decide:

  1. “what action can I take to improve the situation?”
  2. “what action can we take together to improve the situation?”

If you are ranting about something that you can change, this is lazy: do the next step and take action, then ask us for action.

St Francis of Assisi had this prayer:

“Lord give me the strength to change the things I can change,
Give me the patience to accept the things I cannot change,
and the Wisdom to tell the difference.”

If you are ranting ab0ut something that we cannot change, you are wasting your energy.

The wisdom to tell the difference comes from thinking about whether there is an action that you or I can take that might improve the situation.  If I cannot find an action, then I am probably dealing with a type 2 Assisi situation: lets accept this one and find a place we can make a difference.  If I can find an action, then the speech is about inspiring us to take this action.

We are what we choose to become.

More on the Wisdom to tell the difference:

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