Rainmaking Presentations by Joseph Sommerville

Author:Joseph Sommerville [Sommerville, Joseph]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Business
Published: 2010-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 6: VERBALIZE

RAINMAKING PRESENTATIONS PERSUADE WITH LANGUAGE

RAINMAKING PRESENTATIONS PRINCIPLE 6 – WHEN DEVELOPING BUSINESS, THE WORDS WE CHOOSE MAKE US WIN OR LOSE

The audience will form their impressions of you just a few moments into your presentation. After looking at how you’re dressed and how you carry yourself, the next bit of data they’ll use to make their judgments is what you say. That first impression acts as a filter for everything that follows. In Chapter 2, I discussed how the coding and decoding process worked within overlapping frames of reference. That means the creation of meaning is a collaborative effort between you and the audience. Consequently, what you say sometimes differs from what the audience hears. For the best results, focus on the latter instead of the former.

Imagine yourself as a consultant faced with the following situation. You’re advising the communications team of a large oil company. One of the company’s tankers has run aground off the coast of an island in Asia. The hull has ruptured and oil’s leaking out. You’ve been asked to advise the communications team in drafting a press release that gives the details of the incident. One of the first decisions you have to make is how you’re going to describe how much oil has been spilled. Will you say it was “more than 10,000,000 gallons,” or will you say it was “less than 250,000 barrels”?

Most people who want to keep their jobs will choose the latter. They choose it not because it’s more accurate or more objective, but because it sounds like a smaller amount. You can describe any given situation in myriad ways. Given that this choice exists, why not choose the language that makes the most compelling case for your position?

The first four steps in the Rainmaking Presentations System (Analyze, Strategize, Organize, Vitalize) focused on designing the message. The remaining three steps (Verbalize, Visualize, Dramatize) focus on delivering the message for maximum effect.

At the risk of incurring the wrath of my former Latin teacher, I want to emphasize that effective language use isn’t about using proper grammar, making sure you have complete sentences and cutting out dangling participles. Effective language use depends on choosing language your audience finds persuasive. Rather than thinking of language choice as merely a stylistic choice, think of it as a strategic choice.

I invite you to learn the nuances of a special language. Most of you already speak it, so my goal is to help you become more fluent in it. I’m referring to the language of influence. When you take the time to become fluent in the language of influence, here’s the return on your investment: You’ll enjoy greater visibility in your market because you can differentiate yourself from others. You’ll enhance your credibility because you can articulate your expertise, your experience and your professionalism. You’ll increase your business because you can persuade prospects that you’re the right choice to solve their problems.

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