Guiding Principles for Influence (1.3)

This is my third and final post around this topic. Quick recap, I recently was told that my ability to influence people went beyond titles, and I find it easy to communicate with people regardless of their job titles, roles or social positions. That is why I felt it would be good to share some basics that I always try to live by. My first post discussed how to look past basic assumptions about people you meet and how to keep your eyes on what is really important. The second post looked at simple things we should all remember to take an extra few minutes to review. This final post closes with two more guiding principles in my life.

1. Always start with a story, the cold reading – Ah the Cold Reading, or as my other father used to say, ‘A sucker a minute is what keeps the lights on.’ Cold readings involve skillfully utilizing audio and visual cues to gain insight into your audience. Initiating your storytelling with phrases like "That reminds me..." or "There was this one time..." accomplishes two crucial objectives: it establishes a relatable connection and puts your audience at ease. Sharing a relevant anecdote enables me to keenly observe the person I'm conversing with, pinpointing their interests.Regardless of your audience's role – be it CEOs, VPs, Directors, managers, or even janitors – everyone possesses unique motivations and interests. Whether you're a marketer, salesperson, or any professional aiming to develop a relationship, understanding what’s important to your audience is paramount. In my storytelling approach, I often sprinkle elements from the persuasion triangle (Pathos, Ethos, Logos) to gauge where individuals exhibit the most interest in my narrative. This invaluable insight guides me in tailoring my future interactions with them effectively.*Additional Tip: If storytelling isn't your strong suit, consider kickstarting it by setting the scene. After all, some of history's greatest jokes begin with scene-setting: "A priest, a rabbi, and a monk walk into a bar..." or "A blonde steps onto the stage at a commencement speech..." or "A man is sitting on his porch in the deep south in August..." Establishing the scene not only captures your audience's attention but also immerses them in your narrative.
2. Love of triangles – I have always professed my love of triangles. Triangles serve as powerful tools for simplifying complex concepts and providing a unique perspective on problem-solving. When confronted with most problems, people often gravitate towards a binary view, labeling things as either right or wrong. However, triangles introduce a compelling third dimension to the equation. As one of my English teachers used to emphasize, every story has three facets: your perspective, their perspective, and the objective truth.We employ inverted triangles to gain insight into areas like sales, demand generation, and account-based marketing (ABM). In the realm of marketing, we delve into the Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA) model to craft effective customer journeys. In Psychology and public relations, you’re taught about Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, that teach you how to help you identify what people need or missing to help you understand them better. In advertising and public relations, you learn early on about how to develop convincing persuasive ad techniques triangle of Pathos (emotional), Ethos (credibility) and Logos. (logical).Recently, I've delved into the ABM triangle, a paradigm shift from the conventional marketing triangle (to learn more about ABM, check out https://bit.ly/BB_Inflexion). Instead of striving to make a broad audience aware of your product or service, this inverted triangle concentrates on pinpointing a specific audience and devoting efforts to cultivate meaningful connections with them. This approach emphasizes the cultivation of return business, aligning with the principles of long tail economics and the innovative concepts of Lovemarks introduced by Kevin Roberts (for more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovemark). In the end, my affinity for triangles arises from their capacity to illuminate various aspects of problem-solving and understanding in diverse fields, making them versatile and invaluable tools in my intellectual toolkit.