Say it Better

Get Them Involved and Telling Others

That saying “familiarity breeds contempt” may be true. We tend to take loved ones for granted, no matter how well-intended. Yet it is equally true that familiarity breeds acceptance.  Thus it is easier to stick a new idea in someone’s mind if you can attach it to something familiar – an existing memory. So....

Become more quotable by employing this Familiarity Effect

Here are two ways:

1. Piggyback your characterization on top of a familiar concept or saying.

Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn and an investor in other successful online networks gave this advice: “Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins. Facebook is ego. Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed.”

2. What familiar and respected product embodies the valuable trait for which you want your product to be remembered?

Plum wants to be the Netflix of baby clothes. Instead of buying clothes for your child, rent them then return the clothes when they are outgrown, and get a new set.

Here's a third hint. Let others be the stars in your story.

People are more likely buy your idea or product if they are placed in a situation where they can be the experts, exploring the topic their way.  Better yet, enable them to gain bragging rights, proving themselves right – in front of others - in their choice to buy from you or to support you.

Imagine, for example, the astonishment of the staff  -- and the sommelier -- at Bone’s, an Atlantic steak house when they started handing dining guests iPads at the table, loaded with a copy of the wine list. 

Purchases of wine, shot up 11 percent. Mused Mr. Reno, the sommelier, “With the information on the device, they seem more apt to experiment by buying a different varietal or going outside their price range.

It stuns me, but they seem to trust the device more than they trust me, and these are people I’ve waited on for 10 years.”

Or, perhaps diners feel more comfortable and confident, looking at various wines themselves and discussing them at the table. The key here is that they get to be the expert. 

Hint: Let others take charge of your message, tweak it for their needs and thus sell themselves on it. 

Entertainment mogul, Peter Guber, is a passionate believer in the power of a purposeful narrative. That means sharing a story that is meaningful to others, leaving ways for them to jump in and become an important part of that story. 

In Tell to Win, he gives many examples of how people love to tell others about a story in which they have a great role. Surrender your story to their re-working of it, rather than correcting them, and they will re-tell it with passion and conviction.

Organizations as diverse as LEGO and the S.F. Giants, and individuals as diverse as Nicholas Kristof and Tony Hsieh have attracted passionate supporters, in part, by letting others take over their story to re-tell it in their own way.

Surrendering your vivid story in which we can play a meaningful role can probably spread it farther, faster and in more directions than you can on your own.  What story are you sharing that will pull me in? I am eager to hear it - and your insights about now to nudge us to participate with you.

 

Feel you flubbed the last speech you gave?

You’ll feel much better after watching Phil Davison’s emotional appeal for support.

His talk demonstrates that recommending the use of emotion is not sufficiently specific advice for a speaker. Also, having apparently apt credentials like a Masters in Communication, does not necessarily mean one has mastered the skill.

In the apparent absence of their use Davison demonstrates the vital need in preparing for a speech to:

1. Discern, ahead of time, what most matters to your audience.

2. Craft an outline for your talk with a main point, no more than three supportive points, segues between them – each supported by a few relevant and vivid facts or examples - and “bookending” the beginning and ending of your talk with the same point and a call for action.

3. Praise the audience and/or individuals in it for specific, positive actions or beliefs that reinforce the stands you are advocating.

4. Ensure that your metaphors and figures of speech are congruent and make sense.

5. Practice in front of one or more people who are familiar with your audience and who will give you intelligent, candid feedback

 At least Davison probably made Jan Brewer feel better. 

Here's two speaker friends who continue to provide valuable insights about how to connect with your audience, move them to act and make a positive difference in the world: Bert Decker and Nick Morgan.

One final thought. Even if you are not the president someone maybe recording your talk so don’t let something you pledge come back to bite you later.

Want to be boring?

 It’s easy.  In fact you just have to do what you usually do when you put on your thinking cap to craft a description that’s important for you – like what you do in your work or why we should support your cause.  That’s when one turn’s to generalities.

Here’s how to make this common mistake. First strive first for accuracy - and then offer an example. 

Forest Stewardship Council of Canada, for example, explains that "FSC is an international certification and labeling system that guarantees that the forest products you purchase come from responsibly managed forests and verified recycled sources.”  

 Instead, writing pro Daphne Gray-Grant, suggests starting with this: “Ever gone to the lumberyard and purchased a 2x4 for your deck, wondering if it was ethically produced? 

Or, perhaps you've bought a stack of paper for your printer or a new desk for your office or a box for moving and worried about exactly the same thing. This is where the FSC can help...” Then add that accurate description.

Now it is always easier to edit someone’s improved description so I would hone the message further into everyday language and fewer words, “Ever been at a lumberyard, about to buy planks for your deck, and wondered, “Is this wood taken in a way that damaged a forest?” Or, when you’re buying printer paper, would you like to be able to choose the brand that was better for the environment?

As an avid evangelist for saying it better I turn to friends for help in honing my message.  I am too close to my subject - and know too much about it (the Curse of Knowledge) – to pick the starting point that will pull other in.

Even better, I try to listen to what people say about what I do to get insights about what resonates. Inevitably my self-descriptions are accurate yet blandly general. The vivid and thus compelling specifics come tumbling out when I ask myself (as I ask my clients) “Give me an example.”

Conclusion: You can be accurate in describing what you do or compellingly accurate so they actually get interested - and may even remember, ask questions, buy and tell others. 

See also:

• Become Quotable by Comparison

• Create a Tag Line to be Top of Mind in Your “Market”

• Six Off-Beat Ways to Get Along Better

• How to Help Your Critic’s Argument Sway Others

Look at Me (Bet You’ll Pay Attention)

 Do people stop listening before you stop speaking? 

Sometimes an ad can be used as a primer on how to attract and keep attention  - and get people talking about what you said. 

Watch Isaiah then consider these tips:

1.  Say your first sentence in three words or less.

2.  Make the first word a verb.

3.  Suggest a specific action to take.

4.  Evoke one or more senses.

5.  Use word pictures and gestures and movement to reinforce your words.

6.  Maintain a tempo in the cadence of your speaking

7.  Repeat a phrase that supports:

     •  The way you want them to feel, and 

     •  The main action you want them to take.

8.  End by looping back to the beginning, with your action phrase. (By that time they should be saying it out loud with you or at least saying it to themselves.)

Notice that in this ad the sexual cues and special effects don’t keep viewers involved as much as the “we’re having fun here” compelling presence of Isaiah Mustafa, the man; his face, stance, voice, and, most of all, his use of words – and his rhythmic sequence of sentences. This ad has attracted over five million online views. 

Yet if the advertiser’s market is to influence, not just men but also women (influencing their men) then Armpit Mountain misses its mark. 

How to Help Your Critic’s Argument Sway Others

Arnold Schwarzenegger violated a cardinal rule of persuasion. 

Never disagree or respond to an accusation by vividly characterizing the bad thing you are protesting or otherwise countering.  

That reaction just sticks the bright, negative image in people’s minds.  The oft-cited example of this truth is, “No I don’t beat my wife."

California’s state budget and economy are cratering. This week The Guardian even dubbed California a “failed state.” 

What did (usually media savvy) Schwarzenegger say in response to critics? "There is people [sic] that sometimes suggest that the American Dream, or the Californian dream, is evaporating. I think it's absolutely wrong. I think the Californian dream is as strong as ever."

The most specific and thus the most vivid word picture in his statement is “evaporating.”  “Wrong” and “strong” are generalizations. 

The specific proves the general but not the reverse.  Specifics are more credible and memorable.  

The bank, for example, that advertises, "We are the people who care" will not be as credible nor memorable as the bank that announces, "We are now open Saturdays for your convenience."

When you want people to remember and repeat what you say, use a specific word picture, contrasting scenarios or other comparisons or concrete offer, deadline or other action.

Warped humor from a pharmaceutical firm?

See this ad for a medicine to sooth aching muscles.  

The farm woman believes goat tears are “nature’s pain remedy.” 

Yet she must get the goat to cry. Trust me the dry humor in the ad is funnier than my dry description - and please forgive the pun. 

The Unfolding Conversation That Captured a City’s Attention, And You Can Too

When a fancy waterfront restaurant was opening soon in Buffalo, the smaller, nearby, homegrown restaurants, including Garcia’s got worried. For just $20,000 Garcia’s hired a scrappy ad agency to create a campaign around which everyone was sworn to secrecy. It got the town talking, won an Obie and, on a momentous day, pulled an eager crowd to their restaurant.  Perhaps you, too, can pull customers into your place of business, using the same penny-pinching, conversation-based and conversation-provoking campaign elements…..

Design your campaign to be:

Specific

Begin with a specific, situation-based question, directed - not at the masses – but to a person, thus involving us.

Brief

Use few words so that:

• You have honed down to your simple, core story, making every word count. 

• The message (typeface) can be large and easy to read

• More people will pay attention to a “quick read.”

 

Emotional

Tap into a universally-felt emotion via a familiar situation feeling. In this case, love and courtship.

 

Personal

Craft lines of conversation (rather than ad copy) from distinctly different personalities to:

• Evoke a voyeuristic sense of eavesdropping is extremely hard to resist.

• Make us feel we’re a part of a real, unfolding story.

 

Mysterious

Don’t give too many details at a time so they can fill the rest in from their memories and imagination – and want more.

 

Build-up

By releasing a detail at a time over time (whether on a billboard, email or online) you heighten anticipation – just like the classic Burma Shave billboard campaigns.

 

Suspense

May them want to see how the story ends.

Us

Give them a way to participate – and bring friends to share the experience.

Thank you Drew McLellan for discovering this story and describing it so well. I can see why all those companies seek your advice.

By the way, you could use the same elements to involve attendees in the multi-sensory moments of the unfolding story of your conference or other event.

How a Fertilizer and a Snack Stand Out - And You Can Too

Want to sell or secure support? You’ve got less than a minute, experts say. Much less it turns out. With the first three to five words, listeners instinctively tune in or tune out.

To compound the problem, you may know too much.  The deeper your expertise, the less able you are to offer the vivid detail up front that motivates them to listen longer.

Instead we start with background, qualifiers and other “underbrush.”  Meanwhile they go on a mental vacation.

To make your idea or product stick in their minds, here are two tips and examples that have helped me:

Two tips

1. Hot Button: First offer the point that most matters to this listener

Craft the sequence of words in your first sentence like a string of pearls, with each word solidly connected to the next. That way you build the briefest, “most valuable benefit” statement. Add supportive points if:

• They relate to the main point, and

• Can be said in three words or less.

2. Memory Anchor: Say it so they can see it

Offer the vivid, supporting detail that evokes a relevant and positive mental picture and thus anchors the benefit in their mind.

Two examples

1. Hot Button:

The natural fertilizer that outgrows the leading synthetic fertilizer, doesn’t burn plants and comes in recycled packaging.

Memory Anchor:

Terracycle's fertilizer is made from worm poop.

 

2. Hot Button:

Because they are made of dried fruits and nuts bound together by honey KIND bars are healthier than other health bars. We use whole natural ingredients  - not paste.

 Memory Anchors:

• Mango Macadamia is a favorite.

•  A Yale pilot study found that eating two KIND bars a day can help people lose weight.

Your Pitch: You've Got a Minute to Pull Then in and Persuade Them

The best way to craft your elevator pitch is to watch several good ones. See Jeff Novich’s compelling, concise minute on his start-up, VocabSushi. Notice how he dives right in with a warm, non-pushy facial expression face “plain language” description. No extra words. 

Then, visiting the web site, see how quickly you can grasp the service and sign up for a free test drive. Like Jeff’s pitch, it pulls you in.

From How to Win a Pitch author, Joe Asher here’s five ‘fundamentals” for giving the pitch that persuades – even inspires others to remember and repeat to others.

1. Present a solution and nothing else. Your prospect wants to know only how you can help them. Be specific.  How has it helped others?

2. Keep it simple. Have a central point and no more than three supporting points with meaningful segues.

3. Speak with passion and confidence. When you feel it they will too.

4. Leave half of your time for questions. That way they can be in charge and you can see their hot buttons, level of knowledge and what most interests them.

5. Rehearse.  Practice so much that it seems second nature.  Conversational. 

Offer Loyalty Cards in the Way That's Most Likely to Lure Customers Back

At a car wash or coffee shop you’ve probably been offered a loyalty card. Since it’s one of the lowest-cost ways to lure customers back, consider offering them to yours - in the way that maximizes profits.

Here’s how. Now we’re talking about the kind of loyalty card that's inexpensive to make so independent business owners can offer them. Not the laminated corporate cards. You can print elegantly-designed cards that get stamped or hole-punched each time a customer buys from you.

Why is this method appearing in the Say it Better blog? Because how you “say it” in your card offer influences how motivated they are to return and use it.

Key insight on human behavior:
We are more likely to want to fill up our card to get something for free - if we believe we have already made progress towards our reward.

Background:
In a study, loyalty cards were handed out to three hundred customers of a car wash. Customers were informed that every time they bought a car wash, their loyalty card would be stamped. Cards were offered in two way. One motivated more customers to return.

• One type of card stated that eight stamps were required to receive a free car wash, and no stamps were attached to the card.

• The other kind of card stated that ten stamps were required to receive the free wash, but two stamps were already affixed to the card.

• Both cards required eight purchases to receive the award, but the second group seemed well on its way to completing the card with 20% of the stamps needed for the free wash.

Conclusion: It's more profitable to give people a ten stamp card with two stamps already marked off, instead of an eight stamp card with nothing marked off.

Hint: How can you encourage customers to want to buy again or buy more or refer others because they are already "well on their way" towards that future, free reward?

See other ways to influence behavior - or to be aware that you are being influenced.