NEED TO BE MORE INFLUENCIAL?

How often have you thought to yourself, “I need to be more influential?”

If you think this to yourself, often we don’t know how to address the issue. From a communication standpoint, three issues are critical to making a powerful impression on others.

People need to:

1. Understand Your Ideas
2. Accept Your Points as Appropriate
3. Trust You as Being Honest & Credible


1. Understand Your Ideas

When you are presenting your initiative, people have to follow your logic. One point logically has to lead to another.

Ideas have to be well supported. You have to provide the data and analytics to make people comfortable moving forward. Decision makers can be risk adverse; they do not want to make a mistake. Although most of us provide the metrics, we may provide too many details. We may also bury our thoughts in long convoluted sentence structures, leaving executives confused and unable to provide a decision.

If you present a simple, well documented solution, you increase the likelihood of having real impact.


2. Accept Your Points as Appropriate

Leaders accept your points as appropriate if they fit into their identified initiatives.

They expect you to do your homework and know what those key ideas are. For example, if the company’s thrust is to grow business in emerging markets and your idea shows how to do that, it is likely your idea will be considered. On the other hand, if your plan is to develop a marketing campaign around a product that is considering a faltering brand, you probably won’t be successful, unless, for example, you can show a trend among the 35-45 year olds for loyalty to products that they loved in their youth.

Presenters who show influence always connect the dots. They don’t expect their audience to do so.


3. Trust You as Being Honest & Credible

People need to trust a presenter as a “straight shooter.” 

Some people are trusted because they have many years of experience and truly understand the business. Their reputations precede them. Others whose reputations are not well known are trusted because they “appear” confident. Their body and voice show that they believe in what they are saying. They stand erect, look people in the eye, gesture in a meaningful way and sound passionate. They easily answer tough questions and sound sure. The speaker who “hems and haws” and reads from notes or slides is not likely to get a positive reception.

While a lot of factors come into play when influencing others, from the perspective of communication, do not overlook the importance of presenting a simple, well supported argument, tying your ideas to the audience’s critical issues and delivering your ideas with confidence and conviction. 

People will never give a nod of approval to someone who rambles, hasn’t done his o her homework or looks or sounds tentative.


All the best with your future presentations