Entreprenerus: how to be a powerful persuader.

Here are my thoughts on how entrepreneurs can be powerful persuaders and effective communicators.

Understanding your target audience or customer. Who are they? How do you effectively communicate in a way that they can understand?

Persuading and influencing. Appealing to peoples’ practical and emotional needs. How to understand explicit and implicit wants. J.P. Morgan once said that people have two reasons for everything they do: the good reasons and the real reasons.

The importance of an empathetic approach to communications. People need to feel understood. Address their values, needs, wants, desires and fears.

Listen to what’s being said and not said. People will tell you what they want but sometimes it’s important to listen between the lines. Be intuitive. What are this person’s real needs—not just the presenting ones?

Ask good questions. People often reveal more than they realize.

Tell great stories. Stories build an emotional connection between you and your listener. Facts are important, but stories capture the imagination.

Be aspirational. Connect with the listener’s desire for a better life.

Create a feeling. People often don’t remember what you said, but they always remember how you made them feel.

Differentiate. Demonstrate how your product or service is different from anything else in the market place.

Ten Ways to be a Great Communicator

By Bob Berkowitz
Principal
The Dilenschneider Group
bberkowitz@dgi-nyc.com
(212) 922.0900

Know your audience and why you are talking to them. People need to feel understood. Address their values, needs, wants, desires and fears. When people feel you get where they are coming from, you get the business.


What are their explicit and implicit needs? JP Morgan said that people have two reasons for everything they do: the good reasons and the real reasons. For example, someone might say they are going to buy a Mercedes because they are well made and safe. Those are the good or explicit reasons. The real reasons may be because it makes them feel good; or that it tells the world that they are important, powerful and affluent. They have arrived. Those are the real or implicit reasons. Ultimately, they are all right.


Listen between the lines. Be an intuitive listener. What are these people’s real needs—not just the presenting ones? They will tell you everything you need to know, if you stop talking and listen.


Tell great stories. Stories build an emotional connection between you and your listener. Facts are important, but stories capture the imagination.

People often don’t remember what you said. They always remember how you made them feel. Those who make others feel good about themselves win people’s confidence and business.


Ask good questions. People often reveal more than they realize. With the information you glean from the answers, you’ll have a much better idea how to effectively communicate.

Differentiate. How does your product, idea or service differ from everything else out there?


It’s not what you say, but how you say it. You can have the greatest message in the world, but if the listener does not understand you, it’s a waste of time. It’s your responsibility to make sure the listener gets it. You have to either explicitly or implicitly answer the listeners’ question: what’s in it for me? Make compelling arguments for your position.


Be aspirational. Connect with the listener’s desire for a better life.

Be brief. Brevity is not only the soul of wit but of good communications.

Can you make someone great who really isn't?

The short answer is no. That said, I've had a few clients who have asked me to make someone into something they are not.

I'm reminded of the movie "All That Jazz." It was a bio-pic of the late choreographer, Bob Fosse. In one scene, Fosse (played by Roy Scheider) was particularly harsh in his criticism of one of the dancers in a show that he was choreographing. Finally, she burst into tears. Fosse turned to her and said "look, I don't think I can make you into a great dancer. I'm not even sure that I can turn you into a good dancer. But if you listen to me, I can make you a better dancer."

As a media and message trainer, I feel confident that I can help virtually anyone be a better communicator. But great? Maybe, but you better very good to begin with.

We can all be better at communicating. I've never met anyone who couldn't improve. It's hard for me to imagine being successful in business (or in life) without good communications skills.