Communicate your ideas to inspire action
They say nothing happens until somebody sells something. The quote is so ubiquitous that it's hard to find who to credit (my money is on Henry Ford). You may not think you work in sales, but you do. We all do. To your boss you're selling your value, ideas, and work product. To your friend you're selling companionship. If you are a parent you're selling bedtime, broccoli, and brushing teeth (tough products to move). For everyone, every day, our job is to give people a reason to take an action; to give you that favorable performance rating, to join you for coffee, or to get to bed and stay there! How is it going for you? When was the last time you really put thought into how you are communicating those ideas? Even the most innovative ideas are worthless until you communicate them in a way that inspires others into action.
There are many ways to inspire others. Let's start with the very basics.
Know your audience
Who are you pitching? What are their interests? It can be easy when you are passionate about an idea to be blinded by your perspective. Everyone lives in their own reality. Even when you have shared experiences and knowledge, individuals interpret information differently and come to different conclusions. At work, you can use job role as a short cut to think about potential motives of others. Marketing will care about how your idea will promote the company brand and improve share of voice in the media, operational risk will care about what the process and controls are, finance will care about the impacts to the P&L. Talk about what is important to THEM, not to you.
Real Life Example:
If I'm trying to spend time with a friend and they have small children I'll invite them to come to my house for dessert (peanut butter cup cookies) and drinks after the kids are in bed and I'm sure to mention that I'll already be in my PJs. Why? Interrupting the bedtime ritual can be a big deal and new parents are tired and don't want to get dressed and go out - but they do want to connect with other adults. Thinking of what might work well for THEM makes it more likely that I get to see them.
Tell a story
Statistics, facts, charts - I love them all. They are amazing tools to support your ideas. But most people don't remember statistics. People remember stories. People share stories with others. The most compelling stories are true and come from the narrator's life experience. A personal story is not typically appropriate at work. In this case telling a compelling story means having a logical narrative with key phrases that are easy to remember. You can use the fundamental principles for paper writing that you learned in high school English. Has it been awhile since you were in high school? Me too. Below are the high-level components for writing an effective paper. Also check out this resource from the University of Mary Washington:
Introduction: includes your main thesis
Body: supporting points and evidence
Conclusion: ties the points together
Back to knowing the audience, you should tell the story differently based on the audience and their interests but your key message (i.e. thesis) needs to be consistent, crisp, and clear every time you tell it.
Close the sale
What's the 'so what'? I can't tell you how many presentations I've sat in where it was unclear what the action presenter wanted the audience to take. We're here for a reason, don't forget to tell us what it is! There are a crazy number of techniques to close the sale including; assumptive, summary, urgency, question, and (my favorite) the puppy-dog close. It's worthy of an entirely separate article. The point here is to know what outcome you want and be sure to ask for it.
To clearly state the outcome I’m looking for… I want you to try this approach! Be thoughtful in how you communicate your ideas with others. Know your audience, tell them a story, and close the sale. Remember that even the most innovative ideas are worthless until you inspire others into action.