Communication and the sweet smell of persuasion!

Thanks again to my friends at e science news (Fri October 23rd 2009) for reporting another fascinating piece of research. This work by Brigham Young University looked at the link between behaviour and scented air. They observed two control groups in exercises that indicated levels of trust, fairness, and generosity. They found clear evidence that the group in the room with "clean" lemon scented air were significantly more virtuous in their response to the exercises.
Wow! The implications of this are immense!  Is this the cure for the problems of Saturday night binge drinking in town centres ...will stewards at football grounds subdue feuding fans with air fresheners?
What about the opportunities for those of us in communication and persuasion? Lemon scented newsletters? Incense sticks during appraisals? Kew Gardens could become the conference venue of the year!!


This latest research corresponds well with our growing understanding of the "science" of communication, in particular the powerful impact of external stimuli on sub-conscious interpretation and reasoning.  Interestingly, the participants in this research didn't notice the "clean lemon" smell.
But it certainly is another reminder that there is a lot more to getting your ideas across and winning hearts and minds than just getting up on your feet with a powerpoint presentation.

Bob Howard-Spink is a partner in Persuadability. For tips and advice on getting your message across more persuasively visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/

The Power of Perception

I love hearing about the latest scientific research on how we think, behave and communicate. And a quick thanks to http://www.esciencenews.com/ for their daily dose of eureka! This week's favourite came from the U.S. and Purdue University's study of perceptions and performance. In one experiment they looked at goal kickers...the Rugby or US Football variety. It seemed that successful goal kickers perceived the goal uprights to be wider apart and the crossbar to be lower than was the case for unsuccessful goal kickers.
The conclusion being that performance will influence perceptions. I guess this could explain why that worst ever presentation we made was due to a really tough audience!!
The goal size experiment also struck a chord with me. As a "llttle nipper" my dad would play football with me and I would be goalkeeper. The goal posts were towering oaks...driving distance apart. The "goal net" was the perimeter wall of Wormwood Scrubs.....pretty high!  The goal mouth surface was bone hard clay and gnarled tree roots....totally uninviting. The ball was a sodden cannonball...to be avoided at all cost!
These perceptions persuaded me that nothing that I might try to do would stop my dad from belting that ball "into the net!" And that my role was to retrieve the ball from the below the prison wall.
So performance may influence perception but perception most certainly influences performance. Which is why we have always found that the surest preparation for a great presentation or sales pitch is to picture success and see yourself winning.

Bob Howard-Spink is a partner in Persuadability. For tips and advice on improving your persuadability visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/

Ensuring that your point is understood!

I'll be honest... I'm not a Manchester United fan, my loyalties are more blue and southerly. And I'm definitely not a great fan of Sir Alex Ferguson! But I have to say that his record puts him amongst the all time greats of football management.      And so I think it's a non-partisan view that I offer on his persuasion style. 

It's difficult to see any underlying classical influences like Cicero or Aristotle. Maybe some reference to Socrates? Although his questioning technique is rather more inclined to presupposition than the rhetorical. He kind of dares you to disagree more than invite consideration of the posssible.

Which is probably why he has the Football Referees Association going for him over his post-match comments following United's 2-2 home draw with Sunderland. Suggesting that the referee cost them precious playing time by taking rest breaks, he blasted Alan Wiley as "not fit to do his job!"

With punishment from the FA a real possibility, Sir Alex has since reframed his empassioned touchline "presentation" to the 4th Official... and anyone else who happened to be watching. In his statement on United’s website, he said: “My only intention in speaking publicly was to highlight what I believe to be a serious issue in the game, namely that the fitness levels of referees must match the ever-increasing demands of the modern game, which I hope will now be properly addressed through the appropriate formal channels.”

So that's what he meant!!! 
A good reminder then.  If you think you overdid the impact in your opening, and maybe lost the body of your message with too much passion and excitement, you can still always make your point and achieve your goal with a good summary and close!   

Bob Howard-Spink is a Partner in "Persuadability."  For more tips and advice on improving the impact of your business messages visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/