Last
week, we tossed around ways of making your ideas concrete to increase their
stickiness. In this article, we’ll explore how one of Cialdini’s six
principles of influence is a key to making your ideas sticky.
When I
worked as a consultant, one of my clients used to refer to a strategic
technique he called “throwing the steering wheel out the window.” The idea
was simple: two trucks are driving straight at one another, each of the
drivers waiting for the other to change his course (the classic “chicken”
scenario). Suddenly, one of the drivers throws his steering wheel out the
window. In doing so, he has demonstrated massive commitment to his course of
action, & won a huge emotional victory over the other driver.
For
those of you who are just joining us: in Dan & Chip Heath’s superb book
“Made to Stick”, they reveal the master keys to making your messages & ideas
“sticky”, so people will pay attention to them, understand them, act on them
& pass them on:
·
Simplicity –
They convey something in a way that is simple & straightforward.
·
Unexpected –
They use surprise, interest & curiosity to get & keep attention.
·
Concrete –
They connect with what we can see, hear, feel, smell & taste.
·
Credible –
They are believable (testable against your own experience, if possible).
·
Emotional –
They connect with us on an emotional level.
·
Stories –
Stories resonate deeply with human neurology – they’re the ultimate delivery
system for ideas.
Credibility equals believability. The more believable an idea is, the more
credible it is. This week, we’re going to explore some of the ways you can
make your ideas more credible:
a. Putting your
money where your mouth is -
Both you & your message gain credibility if you can
demonstrate that you “practice what you preach”. When I’m training NLP, I
demonstrate the patterns (both covertly & overtly) as I use NLP to teach
NLP.
Just like you probably wouldn’t take dietary advice from
someone who was overweight or unhealthy, your message becomes more credible
if you demonstrate that you live by it in some way.
b. Making it
testable by the listener -
There’s a tired old NLP cliché used to explain the idea that
negatives are processed differently in language than they are by the
unconscious mind. “Don’t think of a pink elephant.” This is instantly
testable in the mind of the listener. A powerful way of making your idea
testable by the listener is to use analogies.
For instance, my friend Richard Wilkins talks about the idea
that all people really want are feelings. He explains that even though we
already have all those feelings inside us, people think they need to get
certain things (jobs, cars, money, love, fixed) in order to experience those
feelings. He says it’s like having two filing cabinets, one marked
“external” & one marked “internal”. People are looking in the external
filing cabinet, trying to find something that’s filed in the internal one.
He asks the question “How long will it take you to find something if you’re
looking in the wrong place?”
This is instantly testable by the listener.
c. Authority /
Celebrity As
humans, we tend to trust messages that come from people we regard as
authorities. As a licensed NLP trainer & someone who’s quite well-known in
this field, I have a certain amount of “authority-credibility” when it comes
to NLP, hypnotic language etc. However, I have very little authority when it
comes to veterinary medicine. If you have authority that’s relevant to your
message (or can find someone who’s willing to lend their authority to it) it
will make your message more credible.
d. Results –
results speak for
themselves. If you can show the results of your proposal, in a way that
people can relate to, you’re message will be more credible.
e. Testimonials –
people relate to testimonials from authority figures or from people like
themselves.
f. I’ve been there
– people relate to people who’ve “been there”. When it comes to recovery,
they say that only an alcoholic can win the trust of another alcoholic. It
seems to be the same with drug addicts etc, because they’ve been there.
1) Choose an idea or message you’d like to make
stickier.
Dan &
Chip Heath (the authors of “Made to Stick”) say that the stickiest messages
carry their credibility with them – their credibility is built into the
structure of the message. Like the humour in a funny joke, you don’t need
someone to convince you that its funny – the message does the work for you.
2) Ask yourself
“How can I increase the credibility of this message?” You may want to use
one of the ideas above, something from the list below, or something else of
your own invention.
Have a
great week,
Best
wishes
Your friend
Jamie
Jamie Smart
director of training
jamie.smart@saladltd.co.uk
If you have found this tip useful, please share it with any friends,
family, colleagues and associates who you think will be interested. You are
welcome to reprint it (with copyright and subscription information) and
continue to enjoy the tips. I am always grateful for any comments,
criticisms or other feedback that you may have. Please send them to
jamie.smart@saladltd.co.uk
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