Blow it up

I finally watched Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth this week and my verdict is in: Al Gore knows presentation skills. Sure, he's been giving the same "slide show" for years (over 1000 times, by his own account), and yeah, the renowned design firm Duarte Design helped create the compelling visuals. If you deliver presentations, you must see this film. You can read plenty of comments on Gore's presentation style, but one of the most striking aspects is this: at one point Gore comments that he continuously updates his presentation by pro-actively addressing objections to his message. Here's how Gore explains it: "I guess the thing I've spent more time on than anything else in these slideshows is trying to identify all those things in people's minds that serve as obstacles to them understanding. And whenever I feel like I've identified an obstacle, I try to take it apart... demolish it, blow it up."

That's a master presenter - a persuasive one, too. Arguing the other side, or acknowledging differing points-of-view actually increases your credibility (Authority principle) in the eyes of the audience. As Lawrence Lessig says: "Even if you want to reject the argument, understand it first."

If you're serious your presentation skills, I strongly suggest you take a close look An Inconvenient Truth. Gore has set the standard by which audiences will judge your "slide shows."

Cialdini Goes to 10 Downing Street

As reported in The Inside Influence Report, Dr. Cialdini was just recently invited to 10 Downing Street in London to visit with Tony Blair and his advisors.

Now, if ever the Principles of Persuasion can be applied to affect positive change, it is in the area of public policy. Getting out the vote, garnering support for decisions, or even moving the public to take action are all key areas wherein the principles are not only effective, but downright essential. You simply cannot hope to influence large numbers of people to think or do anything different unless you leverage the principles. Kudos to the UK politicians who sought out Dr. Cialdini to learn more about how the influence process actually works.

"Dr. Cialdini addressed the ministers and aides on his research and how it could be applied to major social issues such as how to influence citizens to protect the environment, to achieve educational goals, and to help establish sound social policies without the use of costly technological fixes, tax incentives or new laws and regulations."

The Law of Contrast

The Law of Contrast states that when two items are presented one after another, “If the 2nd item is fairly different from the 1st, we tend to see it as more different than it actually is.” Think of a time you went swimming then decided to go into the hot tub... if you returned to the pool it now felt much colder.

Another way to put this: context is king.

Contrast is used every day to influence your thinking. Here's one very clear example, in an ad for autism awareness.

Expect more posts on Contrast - it is impossible to ignore.

Rapid Response Trumps Perfection

According to Dr. Cialdini, the principle of Authority states that people tend to defer to legitimate experts. Think about all the "experts" you probably consult throughout the year: lawyers, accountants, engineers, inspectors, mechanics, doctors, etc.

Okay, that makes sense, but the real question is how do you establish your "authority" with those people you are attempting to influence? How do you stand out from the crowd and build credibility with those who don't know you very well?

Well, research shows that humility helps builds trust with colleagues. By admitting an error or acknowledging mistakes, you are seen as competent. Co-workers or clients think "I can trust you. You won't try to bluff me."

Now before you jump all over me with what are you crazy, admitting a mistake is a CLM (career-limiting move), let me sway you. Admitting a mistake on its own can indeed be a CLM and I would not suggest it. What I am saying is that when you admit a mistake or error, what you want to do right after is detail the steps you've taken to address the mistake or weakness, thereby trumping the error altogether. It's what we call "rapid response trumps perfection."

Speaking of rapid response trumping perfection, take a look at what's happening in luxury hotels. What they've found in one survey after another is that they are able to generate the greatest level of customer loyalty (defined as a guest's willingness to recommend a hotel property to a friend or their willingness to return to that property) with guests who have experienced a problem during their stay that was resolved in a quick and satisfactory manner.

It's how you establish trustworthiness and loyalty, especially with those who don't know you very well.