RAINMAKERS
A Toolkit For Powerful
Change Communications
By Dr. Clifford Ferguson
N
o matter how many difficult
messages you’ve delivered, there’s
no denying it, leading change is
tough. Try out this simple methodology
to get to the heart of what you want to say
and what people need to hear.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t
need to send subliminal messages or be
an illusionist for people to buy into your
vision.
Take the ‘priming’ technique, a
subconscious memory trick centered on
the perceptual identification of words
and objects; it can take years to master.
In practice, it means that if a person reads
the word “banana”, they’re more likely to
pick the color yellow. Say ‘try’ and ‘cycle’
in separate sentences and you’re priming
someone to think of the word ‘tricycle’.
But clever priming can lead to the
opposite effect (reverse priming). When
people realize they’re being manipulated,
they overthink their responses and their
feelings become biased.
Delivering information doesn’t need to
be that complicated. To communicate
powerfully, a short story will do. And
stories don’t need to be five minutes long
– you’re not writing a novella. Instead,
try a two-sentence metaphor or simile.
For example: “Cracking the US market
is like trying to teach a Neanderthal to
use a digital watch.” This simple method
creates three-dimensional stories that
have meaning and energy. It’s also a useful
tactic for offering your own opinion (no
one can argue with your view when you
place ‘like’ before it).
Of course, a storyteller’s artistry starts way
before the delivery. A good story starts
with good preparation.
What do you want your audience to
think, feel, do? There’s often a supra-ob-
jective and then minor objectives under-
neath; so are you clear about the objec-
tive? The objective can never be to “give
an update” or “provide information”.
There must be an outcome. What do you
want your audience to do differently as a
result of the update or new information?
70 MAL28/19 ISSUE
Four elements of all
communication
You: What’s your relationship with the
communication? Do you own it, believe it?
What’s your natural style, and how much
can you flex it? What’s your connection
with the audience, for instance, is there
historical baggage? What do you want
them to feel about you – love, like,
indifference?
Them: Who are you communicating
with? What’s their preferred style of
communication and does that suit the
message you wish to tell? What’s their
response likely to be? Indeed, do they
bring their own emotional baggage to the
room?
Message:
Can
you
distil
the
communication down to three sentences?
And then, down to one? It’s deceptively
simple, yet after working with many global
CEOs, I find that the message often comes
too late. When the message is considered
first, the desired outcome is clearer and
the rest of the process much simpler.
Objective: What do you want your
audience to think, feel, do? There’s often a
supra-objective and then minor objectives
underneath; so are you clear about the
objective? The objective can never be to
“give an update” or “provide information”.
There must be an outcome. What do you
want your audience to do differently as a
result of the update or new information?
These elements are not exclusive to face-
to-face communications, they work over