Communicate to Persuade

One of the most common types of business communication is communicating to persuade. From sales representatives persuading customers to mid-level managers persuading workers and upper management, we spend almost every business day involved in some form of persuasive communication. No matter our role, improving our ability to persuade others is vital to our career growth. Effectively communicating to persuade requires us to be adequately prepared, clear on the action we want our listener to take, and able to provide a compelling reason to take the action we desire. Dale Carnegie recommended a simple three-step structure that can significantly improve our ability to persuade a listener. The formula provides the structure to capture attention, build credibility, eliminate nervousness and call others to action, and it increases the likelihood that we will get results with others. The formula is as follows:

Incident: Relive a vivid, personal experience relevant to the point. Aristotle said, "The speaker's character is one of his most effective agents of persuasion." We must be credible in our example and evidence. We must have earned the right to share our example or give direction. A personal incident is a sure-fire way to grab favourable attention: It pulls people in, opens them up to persuasion and provides evidence as to why our idea is worth considering. In persuasive communication, we spend most of our time providing the situation and evidence before asking the listener to do something.

Action: Call on the listener to take a single, specific action. Too often we assume our listeners will know what to do once we have presented them with evidence to change their thinking or direction. We fail to persuade them if we don't clearly explain what we want them to do. Other times, we may give a clear action but may ask them to do several things -- leaving them unsure about which action should be the priority. Effective persuasion requires us to simplify the message and recommend one clear action for listeners to take.

Benefit: Clearly emphasize how the listener will benefit from taking the recommended action. Again, this portion of the communication must be clear, specific and direct. It must also be based in reality. If the benefit we provide sounds too good to be true, the listener will doubt us. If what we are recommending benefits us more than the listener, the persuasion will seem manipulative and self-serving. So consider the listener's point of view to be sure the recommendation is truly in his or her best interest. This balanced approach will be appreciated and will allow the listener to be more open to what we suggest.

Communicating to persuade is a critical skill to master in our daily business interaction. Dale Carnegie Training's three-step process -- Incident, Action and Benefit -- provides an opportunity to gain the results we desire from others.

By demonstrating that we have earned the right to give direction and are communicating from a position of solid character, not only will we be persuasive, but we also will be compelling. These two factors are a winning combination in our ability to communicate to persuade.

To learn more about how to use Dale Carnegie's three part process and to practice it in a classroom environment sign up for the Dale Carnegie Course: Effective Communications and Human Relations.

To find out more Click here.

Dedicating Time to Time Management

An interesting thought in our busy day to day grind, actually dedicating time to time management, it sounds like the age old question, what came first, the chicken or the egg?
Taking the time to evaluate, then focus on what’s really important can be the best 15 minutes of your day.

We all know the modern working world can be a very distracting place, for example last year globally there were 90 Trillion emails sent, 360 billion photos uploaded to facebook, along with an overall 18% rise in internet usage. The stats keep going, but it can be hard to keep up just thinking about it, making it very easy to waste time!

Before we get pulled away into cyberspace, consider these 2 simple techniques for time management.

1) Do your to do list the night before so you can hit the ground running when you arrive the next day.

2) Create time logs. For a 3 day period, record every little thing you do, update it every 15 minutes and analyze where you are currently spending your time. Once this is done, focus on the import tasks which bring you results! Review after 2/3 months again for a 3 day period to note improvements.

Haven't been making time for time management? Want to know more techniques? Join us on the 15th of June for a free interactive session focused on Time Management, one thing I can guarantee is it will be an effective use of your time!!

Angus Firth
Performance Consultant

www.London.dalecarnegie.com

Always look on the bright side of life!

The volcanic ash fallout obliterated many people’s hopes of travel, either for business or for a well earned holiday. Suffice to say I was affected by this. My dream trip to the Bahama’s was suddenly pie in the sky as the air space closed and passengers were stuck in foreign countries looking for ingenious ways to get home.

To say I was disappointed was an understatement but there was nothing I could really do about it, other than be grateful that I wasn’t waiting hours at an airport desperately trying to get home. The key to this was acceptance. Accepting what had happened and then trying to make the best out of a bad situation. After some calls to hotels, I was all geared up for a holiday in Cornwall where I would still be able to take some time out and relax.

So what do you do when things just don’t go to plan? Here are five tips that may help.:

• Acceptance – this really is the key to most things in life...once you have accepted the situation then your mind is free to move on to look at your options


• Avoid dwelling on the situation – by churning the disappointment over and over I wouldn’t gain anything other than the continued feeling of disappointment


• Be willing to compromise – a trip in the UK wasn’t what I had looked forward to, but it was still a holiday


• Focus on the positive – the fact that I wasn’t stranded in a country without somewhere to stay and little money was a relief


• Keep your sense of humour – a little light-heartedness goes along way and really helps your body fight stress and anxiety

Needless to say the break was wonderful and although it wasn’t the Bahama’s I was grateful I could still get away.

Helen Mills
Financial Controller

www.London.dalecarnegie.com

Certainty in Uncertain Times

It’s certainly been an interesting 24 hours on the political stage but what are we to make of a potential hung parliament and how it will affect us at home and our businesses?

If you’re interest in politics is the same as mine then perhaps you were also sitting watching the results come in at 4am this morning. Having followed the polls over the past few weeks, I set my alarm for 3.30 am in the expectation of seeing David Cameron taking the stage and forming a government with a small majority. However, as 4am became 5 am there was still no result! So what are we to read into this leadership battle and how can we draw from that experience into our own businesses.

It seems that the big surprise of the night was the lack of gains from the Liberal Democrats. There was talk of gains to perhaps 100 Liberal Democrat ministers and as the night drew on it looks like the party despite good coverage in the press has not moved from its 2005 position. Without question Nick Clegg had the common touch as it came to the leadership debates. He talked to the audience and used questioner’s names in a sincere fashion, he often drew the others back to the question asked and sought to answer it directly. He also did a great job of driving his point home to camera ... the debate around our office was who had trained him in presentation skills.

All that done but no real gains when the votes were cast! So what can we learn?

As has happened in many past elections the word ‘Change’ has been bandied around by most of the parties. Certainly it has been the theme of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat campaigns. Based on the results in so far it would seem that as a nation we have more trust in David Cameron than Nick Clegg to bring change to our country. As leaders in business we are often called upon to lead our teams through change so what can we learn from the experience of the past 24 hours.

I can only speculate what was in peoples’ minds as they cast their votes .... Therefore the points below are my own thoughts and how they might relate to us in business.

1.Perhaps in times of uncertainty people value experience higher than new ideas .... Therefore when leading a team through change make sure we take the time to demonstrate our competence as well as our passion.

2.Did Nick Clegg miss the mark on matters of immigration and national security? We should perhaps remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs when it comes to winning people to our way of thinking. Maslow talked about ‘Security’ as one of the base drivers. Remember how important security is to people when leading change.

3.Think about the importance of Charisma when you think about leading your team or business. Labour it seems were the biggest loser on the night. Was that based on track record of the party in power or lack of Charisma from their top man? Who knows?

It’s certainly going to be an interesting few days and hopefully through democracy we’ll find some certainty as we head into next week. From my experience of helping teams and businesses deal with change it’s the uncertainty not the change itself that scares us and stops us making decisions.

Therefore set a clear direction and move your team towards it..... Hopefully our government will do the same!

David Anderson
Managing Director

www.London.dalecarnegie.com

Ready...Steady....Go!

The sun is shining and the air is filled with the sounds of cheers and whistles. The roads are clear of cars and there are people lining both sides of the street, crammed together and craning their necks to catch a glimpse of the runners. I’m at the London 2010 marathon.

The atmosphere is electric and everyone around me is happy and excited, everyone is here for the same reason to cheer on the people brave enough (or you could say mad enough!) to run 26 miles around London. Most of the people running are doing it to raise money for their chosen charity, their commitment and enthusiasm is inspiring – some are even going that bit further and running it in fancy dress as camels or chickens.

The crowd of on-lookers are not only here to support their loved ones but to support absolutely everyone who is running and they are a great example of Dale Carnegie’s principles for becoming a friendlier person. I have never been anywhere where everyone is so kind, generous and friendly to complete strangers; on marathon day London is the friendliest city you will ever go to!

Principle 3 – Arouse in the other person an eager want.

If the crowd saw someone struggling they would shout to egg them on and give them a pat on the back as they ran by.

Principle 6 – Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest most important sound in any langauge.

Lots of the runners had their names written on their tops and the crowd shouted out their names with words of encouragment – ‘Come on Sue, your over half way.’ This made the runners feel important almost like they were famous and gave them that extra bit of adrenelin to keep on running.

Priniciple 5 – Smile

It may seem like such a small thing but just a smile from a stranger can really help to keep someone going as they reach mile 20 and begin to hit the pain barrier.

Why not try using these principles all the time and perhaps we can make London feel like its marathon day everyday!

Sophie Whittall
Marketing & Admin Co-ordinator
www.London.dalecarnegie.com

Play Win Win

Volcanic ash, its dominated the news and sent major disruptions to travelers worldwide, clearly the biggest event to rock aviation since 911. During the airport standstill, I was curious to see how companies directly involved were handling the pressure from their customers, so I rang the British Airways customer service line. Immediately a voice prompt informed me that the call centre was experiencing immense volumes of calls and if my enquiry was not urgent, to call back at a later time or visit the website, I waited a few minutes and thought I would try my experiment on a different airline (one not quite as heavily affected by the crisis).
So I rang Qantas, again, the same voice prompt, high volumes, visit the website, but this time I waited and was connected. I opened the conversation by being as nice and friendly as possible, I spoke to “Vicky”, I asked her how the past week had been for her. She was surprised by my first question and said she had been working around the clock dealing with calls, trying to help people who were stuck all around the globe. Realizing I needed a reason for my call, I enquired about a flight for later in the year. She didn’t dismiss my enquiry even though it clearly wasn’t urgent and at the end of our 3 minute conversation I had got the quote I was looking for, thanked her for her help, and she said, “thank you so much for being appreciative… By the way, that is the very best deal you will get at that time of year and if you want to get a good seat best do it on the phone so we can help you if there is an upgrade available”.

I understand my situation is different to those that were stuck all over the world who have missed weddings, holidays etc, however, taking it out on people like Vicky wont help their cause – I know for a fact she didn’t want the volcano to erupt, but it did.
There are things we can control and things we cant. The Volcano is clearly out of our control, how we deal with what it brings it is purely our choice. Taking the call centre as an example, I used two of Dale Carnegies principles and put them to the test, which got me a positive result.

Principle 13: Begin in a Friendly Way.
I began by asking her how she was, sympathizing, then agreeing it has been a crazy time in her industry. How many people before me had started the conversation with: “Look, I am stuck in Geneva and have had it up to here with your company”. This puts Vicky offside and ultimately hinders your chance of getting what you want.

Principle 17: Try Honestly to See Things From the Other Persons Point of View.
I doubt Vicky wants people to be stuck in Geneva missing their families and friends, I also highly doubt she wants to be working around the clock dealing with a crisis. Both these things are out of her control, but what is in her control is that she can help you get a better seat or bonus frequent flyers in the future, my point is, always aim for win win.

Next time you are about to call a customer service line out of frustration, first think about what you ultimately want to get from the call, then think how you can play win win to get the result!

Angus Firth
Performance Consultant

http://www.London.dalecarnegie.com/

Spring Cleaning!

It is that time of year when we yearn to ferret out the dirt lurking in the normally unseen and/or awkward places of our homes. Perhaps we could extend this to our lives and work; here are four ideas.

Use of time - we are all blessed with 24 hours a day. Frequently our time is high jacked by other people; they will not mean to disrupt our day but will just have to talk to us about something that is bothering them, often at great length. We need to take control. Give them a clear space for them and stick to the arrangement, giving total attention at the right time.

File management - there are mysteries lurking within our filing cabinet drawers and computer folders. The golden rule of filing: it is not where we put something that is important, but how we find it. How many times have we tidied up our folders and discovered documents and material that would have been really useful: if only we had known. There is no shame in keeping a piece of information because we think it will be useful; we just need to remap our system of files and computer folders to reflect our life.

Clearing mess – there is an ancient art called Feng Shui, which positively channels energy flows by using rules of Chinese philosophy that govern spatial arrangement and orientation – so there you are! We often experience Feng Shui in a negative sense: looking around our work place we feel overwhelmed by the clutter. So buy some cupboards, get a skip, be ruthless – it will feel like losing 5kgs of excess weight!

Relationships - some people energise and inspire us, others exhaust us – we know where we would love to spend more time! The trouble is our great friends and relatives do not berate us for our neglect so they often lose out and so do we. It is time to make that call and fill up the diary with people who we love to be with so we are genuinely too busy for the moaners.

So a bit of Spring Cleaning to support the way we want to be, the person we are and the quality of life we desire.

Jane Kustner
Trainer

www.London.dalecarnegie.com