How can you influence team members resistant to change with public speaking?

My 2024 keynote is “Welcome to the Artificial Intelligence Transformation”, it’s addressed to C-Level executives, telling them how to overcome their organization’s resistance of introducing AI into their daily working practices. Can you imagine any stronger resistance to change nowadays than welcoming AI? In my experience, I found that, at the end of the day, it’s all about the call to action. Will the audience identify with it? Can we inspire a sense of purpose? Is the challenge worth their effort? And why? My advice is: focus on the call to action. It’s all about engagement, the rest just provides a jumpstart.

From my experience, understanding team members' concerns is just the starting point for influencing change through public speaking. Empathy bridges gaps, but empowering individuals truly shifts mindsets. In your speech, go beyond acknowledging their concerns; illustrate the tangible benefits of change on a personal and collective level. Use stories and examples where similar resistance led to positive outcomes. Encourage ownership by involving them in the change process, like through feedback sessions or pilot projects. Influence comes from inspiring a shared vision, not just addressing fears. Your role as a speaker is to transform resistance into collaboration, turning skeptics into architects of change.

Public speaking is a powerful tool to persuade and motivate others. If you want to influence team members who are resistant to change, you need to use public speaking effectively. Here are some tips to do that: 1.Know your audience. Understand their needs, concerns, and expectations. Tailor your message to address them and show how the change will benefit them. 2. Use stories and examples. Stories and examples can make your message more relatable, memorable, and emotional. They can also illustrate the positive outcomes of the change and the negative consequences of staying the same. (1/2)

Make your audience understand the benefits of the change and make them feel they co-create the change actions as this will make them have ownership and feel part of the change itself.

Why would you try to influence them vs understand why they are resistant to change? Next question...Looks like LI wants more AI data with a question like this and then prompts.

Influencing team members resistant to change through public speaking involves emphasizing the benefits. - Explain how the changes will make things better for each person and for the whole team. - Show that the changes match our long-term goals and values. - Answer their worries before they ask and share examples of how similar changes worked well before. By focusing on the positive side, you help your team see the benefits of the changes and make them more open to the idea.

Communication is always key. Letting your team know quantifiably and quality-wise how certain benefits can positively affect the team is the best way to keep the team towards the goal and in the loop, while it is equally important to take their suggestions. When everyone knows of the progress, everyone feels included and inclusion is UNDOUBTEDLY most important.

When people are reluctant to change, it is because they "feel" stuck emotionally or logically. There is a saying called "paralysis by over-analysis". To help them get out of it, you need to use your public speaking talents to get them to recognise that they aren't seeing the BIG PICTURE, and how they need to move forward for mutual wins. If you can achieve these benefits, then even the most adamant people will move as you say. All the best!

Effectively conveying benefits is crucial. Understanding and addressing underlying emotions is key to influencing change through public speaking. Leading teams for over 30 years has taught me that resistance often stems from fear, uncertainty, or a sense of loss. When speaking, openly acknowledge these emotions and show understanding by referencing similar past changes and the emotions they evoked. Guide the narrative from acknowledging concerns to leading them through the vision of change, aligning it with shared values and support mechanisms. Emotional connection is as important as rational benefits in influencing others. Addressing both the heart and mind creates a compelling appeal that motivates even resistant team members.

You have to believe in the need for change. If you're passing off some uninformed company policy as the Gospel, then you'll never persuade anybody. In the world of education, we see administrators who love to make changes just to keep themselves busy. If a teacher disagrees, then the teacher is 'clearly' wrong.

Change is mostly challenging for a vast majority of people. No one likes to take risks or even move out of their comfort zone. Hence these insights need to be addressed in your speech. Find ways and means to coax and cajole the resistors. Size up their difficulties and enumerate a broad plan of weathering change. Thus make way for a broader outlook on resistant ideas. Explain the advantages of new outcomes. Seek feedback and collaborate with others to propel proper direction and teamwork. Public speaking prepares you to deal with resistance. Your persuasive tactics will fetch rich dividends for you. Here persuasion is key. Moulding others to see your viewpoint in bringing change is crucial to be the game changer. Have faith in yourself!

Address openly the challenges associated with change so you can better demonstrate your commitment to finding solutions. Show your team that you've considered several potential issues but encourage them to actively participate in finding alternative solutions all together. Take advantage of this moment to promote a growth mindset by framing challenges as opportunities for learning, improvement and nurturing a sense of collective competence. Always keep a clear and updated roadmap that shows how the team will navigate through the challenges and who is in charge of which task.

Addressing your audience is no different to addressing your team about challenges, why? Well for starters the former trains you really well for the latter. How? addressing people is 100% a trained skill, build on it by addressing people, talking to them and understanding their concerns; all while having a consistent and complete communication loop. Address issues, communicate, resolve.

Le changement assure forcément de quitter sa zone de confort. Il faut donc s'assurer que les équipes disposent des ressources nécessaire pour faire face à ce changement, et qu'ils ne sont pas lancés en tant que cobayes. Si difficulté il y a, les informer correctement. Des surprises peuvent avoir lieu il faut cependant les minimiser au mieux pour éviter ce sentiment d'insécurité.

Honest and transparency is so important when addressing the challenges of change. People tend to be resistant to change because they worry about the unknown. So, be upfront with the challenges ahead and emphasise the importance of teamwork and collaboration going forward.

Humans are great in understanding in what is needed to achieve, but we are not great in actually doing it! Calling to action someone is not about showing to swim into deep waters.. is another process! Try to great step by step small calls to actions and clear steps on how and why. By doing that, you do not only help others to eventually act, but you are helping them build up their self-esteem, as they are continuously feeling capable, and they gather momentum boosted by the dopamine effect of achieving goals to the correct direction.

Action cures all fears. I have come to realize that people DO NOT fear Change, they fear the Unknown FROM Change instead. But once we can get people moving, they will realize that there is nothing to fear from taking the 'first step', and will no longer be constrained by fear. It is exactly the reason why Tony Robbins, the guru of public speaking, always get his audience to stand up and "be in motion". It is because this physical movement has a psychological effect on people to break away from their fears, and embrace change. So next time you face a person who fears change, get them to move, and watch the magic happen!

When it comes to taking action for change, it's easiest to start with small steps. Share 1-3 simple tasks that the team can undertake without too much change and difficulty. You can build on the Call To Action over time to add more and complex steps once the team has developed the muscle of handling change with small steps.

Once you are equipped with the skill of plugging in your call-to-action seamlessly in your speeches, you are more than equipped to do the same with your team; and make great positive changes. Try it, you'll see how experience in putting a CTA subtly can actually help you a lot, it's not a cup-of-tea to bring people to do what you want, train it well, with your addresses as a public speaker.

Les rendre acteurs du changement ne peut être que bénéfique. L'implication du collaborateur est essentiel. La cohésion d'équipe aussi. Ne pas laisser l'équipe seule pour éviter que les collaborateurs se tirent vers le bas. Rester à l'écoute et être réactif sur les objections.

I would suggest storytelling (after understanding the situation). If you tell a story that resonates with them and strikes a chord, they will listen. And with the story, you can show the pitfalls and success. For example, a story of "John" and "Jane",one is resistant to public speaking and the other is not. At the heart of everything, everyone is concerned with themselves. Your story has to resonate

Not everyone will make the shift, and that is ok. It is not a failure on your side. Maybe they are not ready yet, or there is some other block. You cannot fix the world in 45 minutes. But you can make a change.

Communicate the 'Why' and the 'Why Now' clearly to your team - why is the change necessary and why is it important now. Share in detail the negative impact of not making the change as well as how it will affect the team. Then it will be easier for you to get your team on board with the change. They will also be more motivated when it comes to taking action.

For me it’s all about offering a wholistic perspective. Good example: A.I. is advancing quickly and there are so many ways it is— and can be—integrated into our work. It’s not about whether it’s “good” or “bad”; the truth is that it’s both. Understanding your audience and what their enterprise or use-cases might be, then, doing your homework so you can speak to that is essential. Many people are wary about bringing A.I. into the workplace, so educating with specific examples of how it can be a benefit or where to take caution is what resonates with my audiences. I’m a professor at a large University and speak to my students all the time about A.I. and how they will have to be very responsible with it as they head into the workforce.

People don’t want to be changed. However, a truly inspired speech can perform miracles. I remember how Simon Sinek’s famous TED talk about the golden circle made a huge impact on me and was responsible for a change in my career and life. The point is to find out what, as a leader, deeply motivates you. Articulate your intent connected to this and explain how others (the team) will benefit from it. Secondly, keep on repeating this. Give your team members time to get used to your ideas. Ask for their take on your idea and how it can come to life together. Don’t start with an inspired speech, followed by a mandatory protocol. That’s coercion, not cooperation through alignment.