To Be Persuasive, You Must Do This First

Lynda Stucky February 28, 2020 Build Your Brand

What’s the most important skill to develop when constructing an intelligent argument or convincing someone of your point of view? Know your audience. Because if you don’t make your argument about them, you’ll struggle to even get their attention. How do you accomplish this?Simply put…Be intentional! Sometimes, you have to interview the person, sometimes you may just know the person well enough to know what’s important to them so that you can incorporate their needs into the conversation. You will not only appeal to them but you may also persuade them to your point of view. Let’s do a hypothetical situation (although it is a situation I hear about a lot.) Here’s the project:

You are trying to convince someone to give you money (a grant) for a big project. Depending on the audience, you will appeal to them differently. Each audience wants to know what’s in it for them?

The board may want to know what your objectives are and how do you define success.
The banker may want to know what the key milestones are and your most important dates.
Your boss may want to know what the biggest obstacles are to getting this done.
Your team members may want to know what it will mean when they succeed.

You may give nearly the same message about the budget but you will craft it according to your audience’s needs. Here is an exercise you can try: Think about a request you currently have. How would you ask for it if you were speaking to a colleague, your boss, the board of your company or the senior executive team? How could you frame your request to meet each of their needs? What changes do you need to make to appeal to them based on what you know is important to them?

When speaking to a roomful of people or only one person, the most important information that any audience wants to know is the benefits. By knowing your audience, you can effectively and persuasively use the proper tone and language to communicate with them the benefits that will positively influence them the most.

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