Planes are great places to learn something, and I’ve been on enough of them in recent weeks to have fathered an encyclopaedia of facts, figures and inane trivia.
BA’s Business Life mag is a great source of news, views and interesting articles about entrepreneurs and how to get that extra edge in the board room.
November’s edition (can’t find it online!) had a great snippet of insight into “persuasion.”
Picture the scene, you’re about to go onstage at a conference in front of hundreds or you’re within yards of the biggest pitch of your life.
What tactics can you employ to propel yourself into the consciousness of your audience so they listen with an more keener ear than normal?
Well according to some research conducted at Stanford Business school, a simple introduction would be good for starters!
Apparently bigging up yourself and your credentials in your opening gambit is an instant turn-off and likely to set you back in the persuasion process.
What you need is someone else to kick off proceedings and give your audience some insight into you as a person and indicate some of your business successes.
It helps if the introducer is an expert of reputable standing but, interestingly, it doesn’t really matter whether this person knows or is in any way connected to you!
It’s not even a problem if they obviously stand to gain something from the deal. As long as it’s a simple and credible passing of the baton, the uplift in the likelihood of a successful outcome is increased.
So the next time you’re about to conjure up some prospects, make sure you have a glamorous assistant waiting in the wings ready to sprinkle some magic dust on you before you go on!
PS – I am available for a small donation but not tickets to Twickenham at this time!
