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You’re speaking to the board of directors,
trying to win approval for a large capital
improvement. Do you give them a detailed
analysis of the reasons to approve the project?
Or do you hit them with a few key messages
supporting your position?
You have a better chance of winning the approval
if you go with a few key messages. Too much
information actually makes decisions more
difficult, according to “Blink”, the bestseller
that focuses on how people make judgments.
Gladwell writes that it’s easiest to
make decisions when we focus on just a few key
things instead of an overwhelming amount of data: “. .
. . in good decision-making, frugality matters,”
says Gladwell.
The book cites several fascinating
studies. One study involved how Emergency Room
doctors can best decide whether someone is
having a heart attack when they come into the
hospital complaining of “chest pain.” The study
determined that focusing on just a few key
factors as opposed to a very broad number of
factors, actually increased the ability of the
doctors to accurately predict the heart attack.
“What screws up doctors when they are trying to
predict heart attacks,” Gladwell writes, “ is
that they take too much information into
account.”
Similarly, frugality matters when trying to be
persuasive in a presentation. Focusing on a few
key messages is far more persuasive and easier
on the decision-maker. Of course, it’s
incumbent on the speaker to sift through to the
most important pieces of information.
So next time you have to persuade, don’t dump
data on the decision-maker, pick a few key
points and drive them home. You’ll be far more
successful.
At Speechworks we help our clients learn how to
communicate in a way that connects and
persuades. If you’re interested in becoming a
great communicator give us a call at
404-266-0888 or check out our website at
www.speechworks.net |
