5 Steps to Communicating Persuasively: Introduction/First Impression

Have you ever wished that you could communicate your ideas and words in a more effective and persuasive way? Well, this week we start a 5 part series on how to do just that. These come from my academic education, work education, and just plain doing it for work and in my personal life.

I want to go ahead and tell you what the 5 steps are:

1. Introduction/First Impression
2. Qualification
3. Building Rapport
4. Education/Information
5. Close & Reaffirm

These can happen quickly or slowly. They may be easy to find during the process. Or they may happen so quickly that you don't catch them.

I will caution you that you can skip or reorder these steps at your own risk. Walking through the steps, intentionally and deliberately, will bring you a higher level of success in conveying your ideas or selling your product.

So, let's get started!

1. Introduction/First Impression
We want people to want to want to hear whatever is coming out of our mouth. Since more than half of our communication is nonverbal, we should focus on what the other person sees.

For starters, we should be dressed to the situation, the product/idea, or the person to which we're talking. For example, I wouldn't wear a shirt and tie to persuade my wife of what movie we should see on our date night. However, I would most likely be in a shirt, tie, and possibly a suit if I was talking to a CEO of a company about his insurance needs.

Next, we should focus on our facial expressions and vocal tone. These can be condensed into something called the S.E.E. Factors (Smile.Eye Contact.Enthusiasm.). Always be smiling, but not in a creepy or fake way. Make direct eye contact with whomever you're speaking. Then, finally, be enthusiastic about whatever you're talking about so that the other person gets excited too. (you can read more about the S.E.E. Factors on https://kennylange.com/sales/do-you-s-e-e-yourself-in-sales-3-tips-to-a-better-first-impression/" target="_blank">last week's post)

Lastly, we should be able to clearly and concisely communicate whom we are and what we want to talk about. A lot of people call this your "elevator speech/pitch". Ideally, this would include your name, company (if applicable), a brief summary of your idea or product, and your desired result and last somewhere between 30 seconds and 2 minutes (the average ride time in a elevator).

After you say your pitch, get quiet and let the silence take over. This is your chance to read the other person and get a sense of their interest. Don't jump the gun and fill the quiet with chatter. After they reply, we can typically move to the next step, Qualification.

Let's walk this out...
What is one thing you can start doing today to make sure that your Introduction/First Impression is better than it was yesterday? Write it down, apply it, then share with a friend that can help you improve it. Feel free to share with me by replying to this email!

Lead Your Home! Lead Your Work! Lead Your Life!

Resources:

Book: *http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451617852/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1451617852&linkCode=as2&tag=leadtues-20&linkId=F5LBUY452IYUJ3LW">EntreLeadership: 20 Years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trencheshttp://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=leadtues-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1451617852" alt="" width="1" height="1" border="0" /> by Dave Ramsey

*affiliate link: I get a small commission on any sales of this product through this link.