Voice of Influence

We are scant minutes away from the opening bars of very urgent music that will signal the start of the Leaders Debate in the current Canadian election. There are six candidates and five moderators – not much hoopla compared to what’s on deck for our friends in the U.S. but it will still be a bit frantic by our standards. Sorry.

Here’s how to get the ROI in your screen time.

Turn the sound off. Watch the debate without the audio and pay particular attention to the wide shots that show as many candidates as possible. Body language often tells a different story than actual words. What do you see? Confidence or arrogance? Aggression? Bullying (you may see this in a wide shot with a person leaning forward as another leans back or shifts around)? How does that information make a difference for you?

Flip the script and close your eyes while listening to the voices. Who is always interrupting? Who never answers a question no matter what? Who sounds stiff, defensive, or uncomfortable? Is there conviction or passion in their tone when talking policy as well as leadership? Does that tell you anything? Do you believe that voice?

Take advantage of all your senses including intuition.

Remember to vote!

I’ve just heard the most extraordinary speech in the form of a letter dictated by U.S. Senator John McCain before his death and read today by his long time aide, Rick Davis. The letter was honest and heartfelt; acknowledged reality while also being hopeful; was inclusive and reached out to his entire audience while managing to make you feel that he was talking directly to you.

What I want to point out about the letter is that it is full of ‘heart messages’. It talks of feelings and asks that people connect with those feelings. Heart messages are inspirational.

This final letter from John McCain is powerful because it is authentic to who we knew him to be. Regardless of politics, this letter spoke to a higher good and that will resonate with people everywhere. That’s big!

Here’s where you come in – I’m asking you to remember to always be authentic when presenting your ideas, sharing a vision, and building solutions. Authenticity is influential. It moves people. You don’t have to be on the world stage to use it either. It works in the boardroom, it works in team building, it works in all your relationships.

PS. I have to get political. I can’t resist. This letter and the legacy of John McCain will be the thorn in Donald Trump’s tiny paws for the rest of his public life. His childish behaviour will always be compared to McCain and that letter. Sad.

Have you ever been in the middle of a presentation and realized that you can’t breathe? It can be a scary moment. Here are some ideas to help you.

Often the feeling of not being able to breathe comes from anxiety. When you are practicing your presentation or pitch (you are practicing before you do it, right?) take a deep breath before you start speaking and let the air out slowly. Very slowly. Actually, slower than that. Here’s why it works: you have to come back into your body in order to control your breath. That’s a good thing because, not only does it help relax you, but it also keeps the mind focused. You can’t control breathing and freak out at the same time. The other benefit is that, when you do that deep breath and slow release, then begin practicing, your body will remember being relaxed and it will lessen your anxiety when you are actually presenting.

It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s free. The only thing you need to do is remember to use it. Breathe in deeply, let the air out slowly, let your shoulders drop, and share what you know. It will make you more efficient and, more importantly, it will make you more effective.

I have the pleasure of working with a lot of very smart people; people who have created multi-billion dollar companies from nothing; have risen up the food chain to the very top; people with great insight and technical knowledge. I always learn from them. I love that part.

The part that makes me cringe is when an executive says we’ll say this and that and then ‘hope they get it’. Whaaaat? You’ve just spent dozens of person hours on preparing a speech or presentation that likely has a high stakes outcome for you (or you wouldn’t be doing this at all) and after all that money and effort you are going to hope they get the message? Unacceptable, people.

Research shows us that people only remember 10% of what they hear once and that they are distracted and forgetful 25% of the time. That means you are down 35% before you open your mouth. Now is not the time to hope it all turns out the way you’d like it. Now is the time to have a focused and emotionally targeted message that will take you to the outcome you desire (funding, investment, sharing a vision, getting another meeting). Then, be sure you share your message more than once.

It’s not about hoping they get it. It’s about making sure they can’t ignore it.

Happy presenting everyone.

When you are delivering news and/or information to an audience that may not like what you are saying, you must meet people where they are or you will lose that audience and your ability to influence them.

Let’s say you are introducing a new process to a team. You have reviewed all the options and made a sound decision. Your next task is to think about how this decision will be received. What if the people who will execute on that decision feel they are already overburdened? People don’t like change and employees who already feel frenzied will push back.

Your first key message must recognize what they are currently doing well. Then, acknowledge that change can be difficult and meet them where they are in that anxiety/reluctance/anger (everyone will have a different level of emotion).

Bad: We’ve decided to make changes in the way we are processing quarterly reports in order to streamline the process and make it easier for clients to access. A new software package has been purchased and you’ll have a training schedule soon.

Good: After listening to comments from you and our clients, we are making changes to how quarterly reports are processed. You have done a great job with them and (not but) now it’s time to streamline the process to make it easier on everyone. In order to do that, we will need new software. We know you have a lot on your desks and this will mean extra effort to learn the software. We have made arrangements to delay deadlines (or share workloads, etc) in order to make it easier for all of you to learn the new system. Our goal is to ultimately save you time and also make it easier for clients to access their information.

See the difference? Meet them where they are — “I don’t have time for this”; “are they crazy?”; “when am I supposed to learn all this and get my regular work done?”; “I hate learning new stuff on the computer-I’m so awful at it”. Then acknowledge where they are and make the outcome something that supports employees as well as clients and your bottom line.

Letting them know you’ve thought about them makes all the difference to ‘buy-in’. That’s how you Communicate with Influence.