Tag Archive for 'Influence'

Influence your audience with data

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“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

The term was popularised in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881). In today’s information overload world, the need to use data in business is a necessary tool for an effective communicator. Big data is here.

 

Today’s article looks at three guidelines when using data to influence your audience:
1. Don’t lie or mis-lead

I once heard a CEO from a major coaching association stand up and give a confident presentation full of his insights, trends and forecasts from his research of talking with … 16 people.

Now maybe these were the 16 most important people in the field. Or maybe they were the 16 most insightful people. But let’s face it, it’s a little dangerous to make big bold predictions from a sample size of 16. While industry leaders, gurus and media titans are great food for thought, they can often skew the outcomes. Always explain your sample size and the implications this has on the data itself.

Another common mistake occurs when visually displaying data. When you’re using a bar chart for example, always use a baseline of zero. The two charts below will show you the impact of starting a baseline from anything else.

 

The first chart shows what looks like a massive increase in one year:

You’ll notice that the scale actually starts from 79,000 so that the increase from 1998 to 1999 looks significant.

Plotting the same data with a baseline of zero gives a different picture:

In this chart the increase looks much less “massive”.

 

2. Comparisons and contrasts

Single data points carry very little meaning and are instantly forgotten unless you are a subject matter expect within that particular niche.

I once heard an engineer stating that his products had helped to take out one billion grams of fat from the US diet. That sounds like a lot but can you imagine how much that is?

Instead, comparing it to population of New York City gives a better indication of the magnitude of how much fat was really removed.

When Apple were marketing the iPhone 5, they contrasted it’s dimensions with the iPhone 4 so that the new phone was “18% thinner and 20% lighter”. This brings out the incremental improvements in a better light than may at first be obvious when comparing the two phones.

Comparisons and contrasts are especially useful because they take a complex subject and should the most important similarities or differences.

Remember that the amount of detail you show will depend on your audience. So the example below show how Apple compares and contrasts in China, where a higher comfort with technical specifications and a higher focus on price exists.

3. Tell your story behind the numbers

Whatever your data set, you can always find a way to personalise or humanise the way you introduce it. This is known as telling the story behind the numbers.

Overwhelming an audience with a slide back full of numbers is not an effective way for them to internalise or remember your message. Instead, your data should be used as a way to strengthen the message you wish to convey throughout your presentation.

Whatever story or anecdote you choose to share it should follow these checkpoints:

A. Memorable or meaningful to the audience

The audience can relate to the story, understand it quickly and likely to remember it.

B. Impactful

Help your audience remember the point by making your story clear, concise and finish with a precise point.

C. Personal

Ideally, as an expert on your subject, you’ll be able to share a story that comes from your experience. This adds credibility to you as the expert.

Types of business stories:

  • Give an example from your own experience
  • Share an example that you’ve observed your colleagues doing
  • Share a customer story
  • Give some insight from your company’s culture or values
  • Recount the lessons from your CEO or founder
  • Explain how this number was reached
  • Show what the number means to the audience

Adjust to your audience

In a Harvard Business Review article titled “How to Tell a Story with Data,” Dell Executive Strategist Jim Stikeleather explains how you can divide up your audience based on their technical knowledge.

These levels are novice, generalist, management, expert and executive:

The novice is new to a subject so likes it clear but not too simple.

The generalist is aware of a topic and looks for an overview and the main themes.

The management seeks detailed understanding.

The expert wants to deep dive into discovery and limit vague storytelling.

The executive needs to know the significance and conclusions.

Conclusion

Using data to influence is a necessary part of an effective communicator’s arsenal. Use these guidelines to ensure that your data doesn’t bore the audience but engages and leads them to the points you wish them to remember. First, never mis-lead. Then use contrasts and comparisons to give context to your data. Finally, add anecdotes, stories and examples to personalise the main points you wish them to remember.

 

Five Metaphors you can use to better influence your audience

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One of the key challenges in influencing is to use a range of influencing techniques. Many business executives commonly use data to influence. To be honest, data is often overused, and many business professionals do not use data in an influential way. We will cover how to better use data in a difference letter. Today I would like to introduce the idea of using a more visual way to influence. There are various techniques that you can use when it comes to using a more visual approach. For example, storytelling, sharing anecdotes and personal experiences. The reason why visual influencing techniques are effective is because they allow the other person to “see” the ideas that you wish to convey. Storytelling is a very powerful and deep form of communication for humans. As children, we love to hear stories. As adults, billions of dollars are spent on entertainment such as going to movies, watching videos and playing video games. Reading fiction allows the reader to visually create the story in their own minds. So the ability to use visual images to allow the other person to see the ideas that you wish to share is a powerful, memorable way to communicate and influence.

Today I’d like to share a technique around using metaphors. Metaphors are commonly used in business. For example the famous Chinese book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, is frequently referenced in business. Here the metaphor of war is applied to the world of business. There are many metaphors that you can use in business to convey a visual picture let’s look at some them.

1. The metaphor of a ship
Let’s imagine that you wish to describe your organization and you want to use a metaphor to do so. You could use a metaphor such as a ship. The ship, like an organization, is a complex system. You could think of a ship as going on a journey, you think of the ship as having to be constantly in motion, a ship always has to be making correctional changes to reach its target, a ship has a captain that decides on direction, ship has a crew who needs to be working together to help the ship reach it’s destination. A ship could be considered as going on an adventure, you could use metaphors of Christopher Columbus or in China you have a similar general, Zheng he. You can use different types of ship. Consider the classic voyaging ships from the 18th century. They convey the sense of adventure, facing undiscovered worlds and the hardships that go along with being pioneers. Alternatively, you could also have a different metaphor if you wanted to focus on speed. Perhaps then a better metaphor is not a huge ship but a small faster speedboats that can adapt quicker and is more flexible to the environment. The business environment that many companies operate in is harsh and changes rapidly. If you stand still, you get beaten. Many technology companies face this reality. You could use the metaphor of having to decide to go through a storm or go around the storm. When it comes to the crew, you can talk about how it’s important that everybody pulls together and works together. If you are talking to an audience who were familiar with the America’s Cup you could use the idea of a race and the technology that goes into the modern yachts. The most important aspect of a metaphor is that the audience can very easily picture and also understand it.

2. The metaphor of a machine
Another example that you could use when it comes to using a metaphor is you could talk about an organization as a machine. You could talk about the importance of process, a system, you could talk about the need to increase effectiveness and efficiency. You could use examples of businesses that are regarded as machines, for example when it comes to franchising, such companies such as Starbucks or McDonald’s have very effective systems to open and serve a huge network of stores. The metaphor such as the machine focuses on cost and consistency and delivering the same experience every time. On the other hand using a metaphor such as the machine is slightly cold in the sense that it’s not something that people naturally appeal to. While many organizations have very systematic processes underpinning their success, they won’t necessarily focus on this when communicating with their staff and customers. An organization may not actually wish to be seen as a machine. However you also have to relate the metaphor to to your audience. So for example if you’re presenting to a group of technical people or  to blue-collar workers who were very familiar and have hands-on experience of machinery, then this would be a good metaphor. You could expand this metaphor to include the importance of maintenance,safety and quality.

3. The metaphor of natural environment
You could also use a metaphor such as the natural environment. You could use nature as  a metaphor to show how a business needs to evolve, how it needs to compete for resources to survive  by gaining an advantage against other organisms competing around it. This type of organization needs to respond to its environment and needs to be able to learn and adapt to be able to grow. This is quite different from the machine metaphor because once machine is set up and and its programmed to run, it stays the same, it doesn’t evolve. If you’re using nature as a metaphor, then there is not some central controller. In the ship metaphor you could say that the captain was in control of directing the ship. But with a natural environment maybe there’s an ecology maybe there’s a lot of interdependencies so it’s not clear who’s in charge. Today many companies operating in a matrix organization where reporting lines are more complex than before. By using nature as a metaphor you could talk about ideas of whether your actions have a bigger impact on the environment or if the environment has a bigger impact on you. You can talk about how a company needs to respond to the market, needs to be agile. In this metaphor you could say that a company’s focus needs to be more focused on external influences rather than internal influences. We could make the case that external influences have a much stronger impact on an organization. You could also take this metaphor forward by thinking about what kind of organism or natural metaphor could be used. Is our business more like a spider’s web where we need to adapt to the environments, we need to have different connections, we need to be able to survive. Even when one part of the web is destroyed, the other parts of the web can still do their jobs. Select a relevant and appropriate image that conveys the message effectively. While financial firm, Merrill Lynch were known as the “thundering herd” in their early days. Post financial crisis and acquisition by Bank of America, this is downplayed although they still retain their bull logo.

4. The metaphor of sports
Another commonly used metaphor when it comes to business is sports. In many countries football or soccer is the most popular sports and that’s an easy one to use. You could have a look at your organization as a football team. For example, you have the manager with a supporting coaching team which could be linked to the leadership team, you have the people performing on the football pitch, the fans in the stadium cheering them on and the media projecting their brands around the world. There’s lots of ways that you could use as a sports team as a metaphor. Depending on the culture that you wanted to influence, you could use different sports metaphors. So for example in America, baseball and American football would be would be a better metaphor. In Brazil, football. In China you could use volleyball or basketball. The advantage of a sports metaphor is the idea of being competitive and staying competitive in competing with other teams. Also most sports result in winners and losers. Except of course if your country plays the unusual game of cricket, where two teams can play together for five days and the result can be a draw. There are very few sports played in the 21st century where this can happen. You got the British to thank for that. You can also use the language of sports in your metaphor. You can talk about a project “kick off”. You can take a “time out” to review activities. You can analyse the situation at half time. You can advise your team to “keep their eye on the ball”.

5. The metaphor of a movie
You could also use that the metaphors of the movie industry to relate to your business. The production of a movie is a large and complex process. You have the talent acting in the movie,  the movie director to work with the talents and of course the behind-the-scenes guys like the script writers, the video animators, and other technical guys who all need to work together, on a demanding schedule.  You have the importance of the publicity and marketing departments and of course you have the fans. Have a look at the type of movies your target audience are watching and see how you can relate it to them. If you’re conveying a change message to a younger audience, think about using Transformers as a metaphor. Large epic projects may be matched to Lord of the Rings. Go and watch every movie that grosses over USD500m at the box office, even if it’s not to your usual tastes. Watch it and look for the metaphors that are connecting to the target audiences. There is most likely a strong powerful story line or great archetypes that you can learn.

Conclusion
So you can see when it comes to using metaphors, you are only limited by your creativity and your ability to link your metaphor to a picture that is easily understood by your audience. Recently I’ve been speaking in Asian countries like Japan, China and Thailand with audiences ranging from high school students to executives in multinational companies. The metaphors that I use when I’m facing these different audiences will vary. When I’m facing a younger audience I will do some research to find out what are the  current popular movies, hot brands or singers in that culture for that particular age group. Then I will find a way to link my message to these metaphors. In that way I’m helping the audience to digest my message by providing them a picture that is easily understood because they are already familiar with the particular metaphor whether it’s a singer or actor or brands. Finding ways to link your message to a metaphor or image is a very powerful way to influence because it’s memorable, it’s easily understood, and often you find that it sticks far longer after your presentation.

Action – Next Steps
So for your next presentation think about a message that you want to convey and then try and find a metaphor that you can link it to. Good luck and if you would like to share your metaphors or if you have any questions about how you could use your metaphors then please feel free to reach out. Send me an email or connect with me on LinkedIn.

What can Nordic design teach us about influencing skills?

Published on in Create Your Connection, Events, Presentation Analysis and Speech Analysis. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

I recently attended Nordic Innovation Week and was especially impressed by an event around what Nordic design is, how it’s regarded and how it can be used in China. As I listened to the three speakers, there were some good takeaways from an influencing and communication perspective :

Here’s what I observed:

 

Speaker 1: Lars Falk, VP of Design, China, Volvo.

Lars was talking around the context of building a design centre in China.

What he did well?

1. He made a human connection in the opening

Lars started by building rapport.

He showed his enthusiasm for the topic.

Shared his personal journey as a timeline.

He quoted Confucius “ wisdom is what you don’t know”

He contrasted the tastes of the Chinese consumers in 2011 and 2013.

He compared design tastes of different counties visually using their flags.

 

2. He set up the main content with a connecting question

“So what does China want?”

This gets the audience thinking along the right lines. He answers the question in a nutshell (great material and exterior design) and then moves onto the body of his content.

 

3. Good structure for the main content

Lars divided his content into three parts; Proportions, Dimensions and Interior Design.

He used impactful visuals to make his points in each section.

 

4. Attention grabbing close

Lars used a powerful but simple pie chart showing how 96% of a car in China should be on par with the best in the world. While the final 4% should be something special for China. This one chart really summed up nicely his topic. Then he closed it out with a quote from Einstein.

 

Speaker 2: Henrik Larsson, Head of Architecture of Inter IKEA Centre China.

Henrik’s talk was around implementing Scandinavian design in China through the eyes of IKEA’s real estate developments.

 

What he did well?

1. Set the context

Henrik briefly described IKEA’s approach to building around their stores to create a more complete retail presence and their current projects with shopping centres in Beijing, Wuhan and Wuxi.

 

2. He had a clear overarching structure

Why we do it

What it is

How to do it

This helps to keep the audience’s direction on track through the 30min talk.

 

3. Soundbite messages

Henrik used short and snappy messages throughout his talk.

We unify

We save

Design makes a difference

 

4. Used a clear visual style for slides

When running through the “What is it” section, Henrik used various characteristics to explain Scandinavian design (human, modern, functional) and had a clear visual for each point. The consistency ran through the characteristics. A large picture with key words dominated each slide. Each picture was a metaphorical representation of the big idea.

 

5. Closing in reality

After abstract (and highly interesting) discussions around Nordic design, Henrik came back to reality and showed some plans from current developments. We learned about the anchor layout, how multiple attraction points are developed and key traffic pullers in each development. It was a good way to show how the principles are applied.

 

Speaker 3: Olle Carlbark Director SCA Innovation Centre in China, SCA.

Olle’s talk was based around introducing SCA and a case study of launching a product in the baby diaper market In China.

 

What he did well?

1. Set the journey

Olle opened with a quick slide showing the agenda clearly. Four sections:

This is SCA

Innovation

Relaunch Sealer

China insights

 

2. Keep self-directed information short

I was interested to learn about SCA but sometimes company profiles can drag on. Olle kept it short and used visuals to show the wide range of brands his company covered. His message “Europe’s largest forest owner” was a nice soundbite.

 

3. Case study

A case study on relaunching a product with some innovative safety features and package design that catered to local needs was capped off with a video TV commercial. Using a mixture of media is a good way to break up your delivery. All media used should be relevant and consistent in quality and message.

 

4. Close with clarity

Olle finished with a slide showing main innovation drivers in China. Three points.

 

 

Conclusion

All speeches were well structured, included personal touches and generally had very clear impactful visuals. It helped make the experience of learning about Nordic design and how it’s applied in China enjoyable and easy to digest.

 

Talk less, say more: three ways to becoming more influential

Published on in Create Your Connection and Influence. Closed Tags: , , .

Today’s topic: Talk less, say more.

“Talk less, say more” is the title of a book by Connie Dieken. It’s an easy to read book with three broad steps and plenty of quick tips on how to be more effective as a communicator in today’s distracted world. The message is very much inline with the philosophy of The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to more successful business presentations in a short attention span world. 

The three steps or habits are:

  1. Give people what they want and value so they’ll tune in
  2. Use portion control to get your points across with clarity, not confusion
  3. Create commitment to influence decisions, actions, results. 

 

Connect: Managing Attentions

I’m a big believer that the major communication obstacle we all face today is shortening attention spans. Station 4 in The One Minute Presenter is called Create your Connection and this first habit is all about how to connect. Connie gives good suggestions around Staying in their Moment which is all about listening carefully. She also introduces a concept called “Frontloading” which means you quickly find what’s relevant to your listener and communicate what matters most to them first. This helps the audience stay connected to you and your message. Another technique involves been more candid. Connie suggests that you don’t sugercoat and do your best to create a candid culture. This is a good idea. However, for those of you working in Asia, you may need to adjust what candour means for your audience. You may be able to be direct with an American colleague in a stronger way than with your Chinese boss. 

 

Convey: Managing Information 

I love the concept of portion control. What a great idea! Especially as I see this as a major problem inside businesses today.  Too much information being dumped on the audience without any clear point. It’s lazy presenting. Connie’s tips include reminding us that the eyes trump the ears; use visuals when they convey the message more directly than words. Talk in triplets is another reminder; the rule of three is a useful technique to use while presenting. Also the power of stories are lauded as a way to engage your audience more than a fact-attack.

Convince: Managing Action

This habit is all around how to influence people’s behaviours, decisions and actions. This is often the most challenging skill for people to master. Sounding decisive is a good start. Connie suggests that you contribute to meetings and voice your opinions with sincerity. As many managers realise this is often an area that is missing in many business meetings. Having the ability and confidence to speak up is a sure way to increase your visibility inside your organisation, and assuming you’ve got something useful to say – a good way to career progression. Another tip is to adjust your energy to help boost your likeability, an important ingredient to influence others. Adding warmth your voice and energy to your face can help. Seek role models in your company and also on TV to help you see how to increase your energy range.

 

One second survey: What format do you prefer to receive?

Do you prefer reading, listening or watching your information? Please help me adjust this newsletter into a format you like with this one-second, one-question survey. I’m considering offering this in audio and video versions and would love to hear your feedback. It will only take a second! Here’s a link to the survey. 

 

 Working with Warwick

I’ll be working around Asia this year and if you need to boost your leadership capacity in your China operations, then you can see an introduction to my service areas here. I especially work with technical executives and business development teams to help Chinese managers become more competent and confident in their leadership presence.

Wise Words to become a more influential presenter

Published on in Influence. Closed Tags: , , , .

I was recently delivering a workshop in Kuala Lumpur and over the course of the three day workshop, a few insights became clearer on how to be a clearer, more influential communicator:

1. How to learn soft skills. “Play it. Don’t tell it. Get inside the character or role. Act it out.”

When it comes to soft skills like communication, leadership and management, the best way to learn is to become an actor and step inside the role and try out the skills in real time. Most people tell you what they would do. They don’t learn the skill. They know the skill but they can’t use it. Take a situation and become the character and play with the scenario. I use improvisational activities to help manager develop these skills. It’s fun and effective.

2. Attitude to learning. “The way you do one-thing, is the way you do everything.”

People are quick with excuses. They justify their actions by saying that if the situation was different, or the audience more high profile or the presentation more important, they would do it differently. In reality, they will do it the say way. One of the challenges in a workshop is a closing presentation or role play. Even after a day or two of trying out skills and learning new tips the majority of people go back to their old habits. My role as a trainer is to intervene so that they shift from old skills to new skills. The people who perform the skills in a workshop are often the ones you will apply them in the workplace.

3. Learning by re-doing. “Step outside your comfort zone by making small adjustments.”

By definition, to learn something, you have to try out something new. This involves stepping outside your comfort zone and feeling uncertainty. This is a not a nice feeling and most people avoid it. The best learners realise that they only have to make small adjustments on a continual basis to really see a big improvement. Don’t look for massive changes. If you are looking for something mind-blowing and totally new, you will probably spent most of your time disappointed. Take action now with the things you do know. Chances are you not implementing all the good tips and techniques you know. Pick a focus area and target small – and ongoing – changes.

4. Expertise is not enough. “It’s not only what you say, it’s how you say it.”

I have talked before about the trap of technical experts. They know too much, so they say too much. Another trap with subject matter experts is that they believe the content is all they need to shine. Unfortunately, it’s not. You are not unique in the world. There are many other people doing exactly the same thing you are doing somewhere else in the world. And that’s fine. The world can accommodate this. So what this means is that you need to inject your own personality into your communicating and influencing. Be yourself, and always look for ways to better connect and relate to your audience.

5. Influence is precise. “Use precision tools, not blunt objects when communicating”

Being precise and specific while communicating and influencing is tremendously difficult for technical people. They are great when it comes to being precise about numbers, statistics, processes and standards. To achieve mastery in soft skills needs taking this precision and transferring it to the field of human behaviour. You need to be an excellent listener and observer to see what impact and change your presentation or speech is having on the audience. Learn how to test their level of engagements. Is that person bored because they are looking at their watch or do they just want to check the time?  Drill down. Being “confident” is a destination not a process. What does a confident person project? How is their posture, they voice and gestures. You can learn these micro-behaviours and add them to your arsenal to becoming a more proficient influencer.

Warwick John Fahy runs workshops around Asia which help managers and senior managers from technical backgrounds to become more influential in business situations.

Warwick is author of The One Minute Presenter: 8 steps to successful business presentations in a short attention span world. Read Warwick’s blog and download an e-version of The One Minute Presenter at http://www.oneminutepresenter.com/

Warwick is Asia’s leading business presentation coach working with business leaders who need to influence clients, investors, shareholders and team members. His results-driven approach and deep cross cultural understanding make him a sought after business presentation coach throughout Asia. Download a free report “10 Warning Signs Your Leaders Lack Executive Presence” at http://www.warwickjohnfahy.com/

How influential are your leaders and managers?

Published on in executive presence and Influence. Closed Tags: , , , .

You can download this article as a PDF file here.

We have designed a one-day or two-day hands-on workshop that show leaders, managers and service professionals how to use, apply and combine influencing techniques

Influencing is :

  • Situational; you need to adapt your approach for different people at different times

  • Needed in combination; no single technique will work in every situation

  • Value based; you need to offer something of value to the people you wish to influence. No value. No influence.

  • A catalyst; influential people are able to get more things done quicker.

  • Dynamic; things change. A technique that worked last year may not work this year if everyone is exposed to it.

Influencing is not:

  • Manipulation; your intention and purpose should be as transparent and ethical as possible

The Influencing Matrix:

We have researched 15 key influencing approaches that have been tested to consistently work over time and across cultures. They are:

  • Scarcity

  • The Force

  • The Vision-caster

  • Walk your Talk

  • The Connector

  • The Rules

  • The Give-and-Take

  • Silent Allies

  • Do me a Favour

  • The Vulcan

  • The Coach

  • The Robin Hood

  • Dr Feel Good

  • Be Likeable

  • The Pharaoh

To learn more about The Influencing Matrix…

We conduct workshops which are tailored to your industry and leadership challenges. To learn more about how your leaders can apply The Influencing Matrix, contact Warwick at warwick@warwickjohnfahy.com or call on 021 6101 0486.

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