Strategy Masters Series: Persuasive Storytelling

The building blocks of persuasion.

Strategy needs persuasion

In the second of these ‘Foundations’ we explored the idea that any Strategy worth its salt is much more likely to come from strong Psychological foundations and that needs Psychological empowerment.

A psychologically empowering approach that builds the pressure, then releases the pressure and uses pauses and perspectives to deliver the creativity that is fuel behind strategy.

In the last part of these foundations, we come to the thing that is also often missed in any strategic conversation - that is it only as good as your ability to persuade others it is any good. Without that it will never achieve the action it is designed to deliver.

This is the approach I have found most effective.

The logic trap

There is a pervasive assumption that if a strategy in whatever form it takes is great, that just by sharing it others will see the wisdom in the argument, they will be persuaded.

The facts will speak for themselves, the powerful logic will cement the deal, how could it not?

If only.

Strategy is never understood in isolation, and certainly never without the believability of the author/s. You have to layer in the human to any conversation about persuasion and therefore it is a critical fact in any strategy.

To simply ask: How do we take them with us?

How do you get them on board as well?

Aristotles building blocks

There are some simple elements to keep in mind when trying to persuade others of something:

1. ETHOS - Is the source credible? Do they have authority to know what they are talking about? Without this, you probably need to stop, without this you aren’t going to get very far.

2. PATHOS - There’s a part of the brain called the Limbic System, and in it are two structures called the Amygdala, if they are damaged, we can’t really make decisions. Why? They control emotions and without emotions you can’t make decisions. Remember, most of the time we post rationalise an emotional decision, not the other way round.

3. LOGOS - The most obvious one, and perhaps the easiest: it also needs to make sense, be logical to the person/s you are trying to persuade.

4. KAIROS - Lastly, the time element, why now?

Mr Connell-Waites

There is one other system that I have found particularly helpful, and that’s from the story telling master himself Jeremy Connell-Waite. Here’s my adapted version:

It’s worth digging into one in particular: Disturb - Excite - Assure.

This is something that I always use in any bit of communication, to ask what emotions am I trying to elicit? How can I take the audience on a journey from one emotion to another? How can I help them feel differently? It can be in a different order: Excite - Disturb - Assure, but it almost always has those elements.

Consider surprise

There is also a meta emotion that sits above and beyond these - surprise. If you are aiming for anything, aim for surprise because it is the emotion studies show is most likely to elicit action, and it is also the root of a strong memory trace - it has a place (it is familiar) but also a place of its own (it is also different).

There is always a little risk attached to surprise, you’ll need to be careful and test it with others first, but it is a weapon of persuasion that is well worth considering.

All of these are critical, but they need a frame to hang off, they need a system to build to and from…

A simple shift

That framework needs to be constructed around a fundamental shift, one that is aiming for a transfer of confidence and belief as much as it is a transfer of facts.

This is easier said than done, because it’s here that the worlds of strategy and ideas begin to merge, where business and comms most align.

Because to make that shift you need to find what’s most interesting, what’s most compelling and organise yourself around those things.

A simple framework

This works a bit like a great ad, or a great story, it has a start, a middle and an end. It’s not revolutionary, but it works, ‘keep it simple stupid’ and all that:

To ask - The hook: How do I get them to notice, to lean in, to engage (again think of surprise as a filter here)? The journey: how do I sustain that interest? The reward: how do I link back to my beginning, how do I answer the question I have asked of myself and of them?

If nothing more, put yourself in the audiences shoes, would you really find this interesting if you didn’t have too? Might you engage if you were outside this place?

(note - this has parallels with different kinds of authority - if you want a deeper look you can find it in my short article on ‘The authority trap’).

The delivery

This is one thing that most people don’t really engage that much with, because it’s arguably the hardest, because it requires the most work - the actual delivery.

There are no hard and fast rules but here are key things to consider:

1. Vary your tone, pace and volume: If you are ‘mono’ in delivery, so will how people engage, mix it up.

2. Posture, place and movement: If you are doing this in real life, this is particularly important, standing confidently in one place is great but not the whole time.

3. There is power in the pause, use it: don’t be in a rush to get through it, leave gaps, it can increase interest but also a sense of authority and confidence.

4. Interact with the audience: This is one of the most difficult things to pull off, but if you can do it, do. It could be as simple as a slido survey, or a raise of hands at the beginning and end.

Lastly - Staged. Caged. Natural.

One last thing which is a combination of all of the previous ideas, is that to present anything really well, especially to a bigger audience, I have found there are essentially three stages everyone moves through…

Staged: When something is clunky, it feels the opposite of natural, it looks like it too: it's wooden, it's semi acting.

Caged: Many of those staged elements have been ironed out, much is good, the person feels much better, feels much more assured. They could probably do it all without notes or charts and with minimal stress.

Natural: It is almost automatic, it flows, it feels natural for the deliverer, and it looks deeply confident and assured for the receiver.

This natural state also allows something else. It is flexible, when you are there, you can pivot, you can adjust. It's a confidence multiplier.

If you’ve ever got to this space, you’ll know it feels as lovely as it sounds. For everyone concerned.

The step between Caged and Natural is the hardest, and it requires the most work.

So there you have it.

If you want to win in strategy, you also have to win in persuasion, and that requires a whole other set of skills, systems and practise.

Don’t spend all your time crafting a beautiful strategy and then fall over in how it is presented and shared.