The ability to persuade others via communications is a crucial skill for senior executives with global ambition.
Insights from Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion and the Regents' Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, have found that persuasion succeeds by connecting with deeply ingrained human responses.
These human responses are: linking, reciprocity, social proof, commitment and consistency, authority, and scarcity.
Let's break down these six responses and discover how using them will improve your communications.
Liking | If people like you - namely because they sense you like them or because of commonalities - they are more apt to say yes to you and respond to your communications. One of the tenets of global street smarts communications is that you can deliver the same message, but the word style and connection techniques to connect with a VC in Connecticut will be different than to connect with a VC in California. Connecticut and California like the same thing, but in different styles, your communications needs to reflect this.
Reciprocity | People tend to return favors done to them. If you help people, they will help you. If you behave positively toward them, they will respond positively toward you. One of the principles of successful communications is to make your words educating or entertaining while at the same time ensuring actionable insights. Providing positive communications should impel a positive response.
Social proof | People will respond positively to ideas they see other people using - especially if they are in a similar position or someone they aspire to be. When I work with clients, I get them to envision the two people they want to read and respond to their communications - and tell them to write for those people. These two people should be someone in their immediate network and someone they aspire to have read their work. Social proof is as much for the reader as it is for the creator.
Commitment and consistency | People want to be consistent and enjoy committing to an idea, action, or experience that makes them feel positive and successful. Remember this when you are putting pen to paper - are the words and ideas produced here worthwhile to the audience so that they will want your content consistently and commit to your words and ideas? As part of the communications E-STOCK framework, C stands for consistency - from having an editorial calendar to creating communications on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly cadence.
Authority | People defer to subject matter experts, thought leaders, and persons of authority. Make sure your communications has authority and executes a high-low technique. Seek elite venues to share your authority and expertise as well as more accessible settings, from an interview on Bloomberg TV to a guest lecture at a local university business school. This unique skill of connecting and communicating high-low will make you rare, help you get in the reps, and spread your ideas much better than just staying in elite or accessible venues.
Scarcity | People value things more if they perceive them to be scarce. The simple point here is to make sure your communications is surrounded by other types of communications you and your target audience deem to be non-commodity, pedestrian, or trite. From now on, algorithms will decide on communications served and delivered, meaning that your brilliance has the potential to appear next to a food truck influencer. But you have control and can make your communications scarce. You can decide where it starts. You can determine if it begins as an exclusive in a trade publication, shared first with a podcast audience, or at said for the first time conference. You have scarcity control.
If you need help with your persuasion communications, Caracal is here to help.
Caracal believes successful communications requires intelligence, strategy, and engagement.
Caracal is here to help you navigate today's interconnected global business environment with one-on-one services for senior executives with global ambition.
Better communications will help you succeed in today's interconnected global business environment.
Enjoy the ride + plan accordingly.
-Marc
