2015 Presentations Tip

Add questions and answers just before your close--not after it. Your opening and ending are your power positions to plant your message into your audience's memory. Q&A in the end position can undermine your message, so prepare a summarizing story or tagline that your audience will want to remember after their questions are answered.

The Levels of Influence and Leadership

When thinking about leading and influencing your followers, consider these four levels:
Transformation: This highest level integrates personal values and principles with others' commitments. Leaders aspire to this approach and followers are inspired by it.
Transference: This next level connects people with their experiences and expectations based on the leader's traits and style. The "paternal" style in hierarchial organizations is that of a distant, protective leader. The "maternal" style is that of a nurturing parent who develops character through lessons and boundaries. The "sibling" style in flat organizations is that of social and professional peers influencing one another. Leaders of both genders can apply any of the three styles of transference. (Michael Maccoby: "Why People Follow the Leader: the Power of Transference," 2004)
Transaction: The second lowest level of influence simply facilitates an action in the easiest way possible or by eliminating objections. This can be a powerful sales technique.
Compliance: This lowest level of influence focuses on laws, policies, procedures, and their consequences should they not be heeded. There is a reason why organizations have Compliance Officers! Nonetheless, there can be a void of caring or connecting--the focus is on doing what must be done, or else!
During your next meeting, decide which action items need which level of influence. Then align your leadership approach with the best choice for the situation and for your reputation.

The Behavioral Science of Persuasion

In doing research and editing for a client who is writing a book on business communication, I came across an article published in the Harvard Business Review: "Harnessing the Science of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini (2001). He culled the following six principles from research that has been around for a while.
1. "The Principle of Liking: People like those who like them." So find similarities and offer praise.
2. "The Principle of Reciprocity: People repay in kind." So give to get.
3. "The Principle of Social Proof: People follow the lead of similar others." So use social evidence and experience (peer pressure and peer power).
4. "The Principle of Consistency: People align with their clear comitments." So identify values.
5. "The Principle of Authority: People defer to experts." So specialize and seek out those who specialize in their expertise.
6. "The Principle of Scarcity: People want more of what they can have less of." So use deadlines and target dates to create a sense of closure, and to create a sense of reward and releif for those who act quickly.

So what? Observe and listen to the infomercials where many of these principles of persuasion are at play. Then be serious and genuine in your approach as you influence people in acting and thinking as you want. Furthermore, be nice. Be kind. Be fair. Be true. And refrain from yelling at your audience! 

Patronizing Attitudes

As she looked into the refrigerator, her husband said, "There are some great blueberries in there you are welcome to." Subtle but definite: A "Mad Men" moment, a flashback from the 1960s. A "permission granted by the generous patriarch of the house" attitude permeated those spoken words. Sometimes in an effort to be what the husband believes is polite, he sounds less than what a woman might believe is erudite. The couple both lived through the Mad Men decades, yet only the woman experienced the sexist inequities in family, education, and career. The husband has been an unaware observer. I recall a vivid scene in Children of a Lesser God in which Marlee Matlin's character confronts William Hurt's character who stops listening to his beloved music because she cannot enjoy it, hear it, with him. Then in Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts' character comments to Richard Gere's character, "You just did [treat me like a prostitute]." The kitchen scene and the movie scenes perpetuate the sexism and discrimination from an assumed power role, that of the man. Embedded attitudes die slowly.

Avoid "You Need To"--Even if They Do Need To!

"You need to..." stirs the embers in me. I immediately want to yell, "No I do not need to...." I became aware of this expression years back when I was teaching parenting skills with a training group at the Women's Correctional Institute in Topeka, Kansas. The guards led with that expression when they spoke to many of the inmates. "You need to take responsibility. You need to be silent. You need to do what you are told. You need to calm down. You need to--." It seemed to be to be a power-tripping command statement which was condescending to the receiver. It burns me to hear it from anyone in the workplace. Later, I became aware of the expression while watching overwelmed and tired parents in grocery stores. "You need to stop hitting your brother. You need to listen to me. You need to leave that stuff alone. You need to quit running around. You need to--." It seemed to me that the expression was used out of a sense of powerlessness which was an abdication of parental effectiveness. It sparks an angry flame in me to hear a teacher say it to my children. Interesting paradox: a power-tripping command or words of powerlessness--neither description is complimentary or professional. Both scenarios demonstrate a misuse of authority inherent in the expression. My suggestion: avoid using that expression--unless, of course you want to offend or charbroil the receiver!