Persuading Crowds Part 3: A Crowd of One

Hey everyone!

Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications.

Welcome to Part Three of this series on Crowd Persuasion, again brought to you by T.S. Eliot's quote: "Business today consists in persuading crowds.”

Today's focus is "A Crowd of One"; what does persuasion look like in 1-2-1 situations? The three principles we used last week for "An Audience of Self", be present, be transparent, be consistent, are the same principles we use when working with an audience of one--head's up, they're the same principles we'll use when we discuss persuading crowds of many.

Be Present: Dale Carnegie was a master at this. If you haven't read it, 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' absolutely has to be the next book on your reading list. 

If you want to persuade you have to be interested and engaged in the other person. Talk less, listen more, ask questions, basically shut up and get out of your own way.

To use a great theatre term, 'live in the moment' with your other. There cannot be anything more important than the conversation you have in the moment. Your other is the most interesting human being in the world. That's the role you play in 1-2-1 crowd persuasion.

Be Transparent: Your other has to believe you, and they're not going to believe you if all you do is say it. They have to see, feel, and experience your energy and enthusiasm about them. And my two favorite ways to do this:

1) Create a box that goes from their shoulder to shoulder and from the top of their chest to the top of their head. This is your focus box and your eyes never leave it. Staying in their focus box forces them to stay in yours which ensures a stronger connection.

2) Your body language and energy needs to move toward them, not away from them. Use your body language to encourage an attachment.

Finally, Be Consistent: The worst thing we can do to ourselves is undermine growth, confidence, and success by reinventing the wheel every time we engage a different crowd of one. I understand every person is different and requires nuance during interaction but nuance and inconsistency are not the same thing. So save yourself the trouble and write a script. If you're not great at asking questions: write them down. Your price presentation is a mess: write it down. You struggle with overcoming objections: write your responses down. Then take the time to memorize and own those responses. The more comfortable you are in your memorization, the easier it will be to adapt the script to fit each different audience.

For those of you who don't memorize well, the first three people who respond with the words 'memorize better' in the comments section, I'll send you my 10-day process for memorizing scripts.

So there it is: Be present. Be transparent. Be consistent. Go kick ass in your 1-2-1 persuasion opportunities.

Thanks again for reading, this is Christopher Peck with Speak Into Action Communications: helping businesses perform better by training better performers.

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