INFLUENCE AND PERSUADE: WHAT SKILLS CAN YOU HARNESS?

[slide 1]

Jeff: Hello, everybody! Please get ready: we’ll begin the webinar in one minute.

Jeff: As promised we’ll begin today's webinar in 30 seconds. Please get ready.

[slide 2]

Jeff: Welcome, everyone, to today’s webinar, “Influence and Persuade: What Skills Can You Harness?” And as you can see, this is a one-hour program. I’m very excited about what we’re going to cover, but first, let me go over one or two administrative items.

[slide 3]

Jeff: First, a very simple disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed on today’s program are those of Phil Vassallo, the author and expert commentator. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of ADP or SmartPros.

[slide 4]

Jeff: In addition, I want to thank ADP for sponsoring this series of webinars as well as a program of lunch-and-learn sessions. And in that context, I’d like to introduce Jamie rmbecause they've sponsored and helped us with shaping these webinars and we've gotten a great response to it and I want to welcome to our program Jamie Seegmiller, who is ADP’s marketing manager for the Accountant Channel. Thanks for joining us today, Jamie.

Jamie: Thank you so much, Jeff. And good afternoon to everyone - or good morning, depending on where you are joining us from today. On behalf of ADP and our Accountant Channel, I want to thank each of you for joining us on this webinar. ADP truly values your business, and we are proud to partner with SmartPros, in bringing you continuing education programs, such as this one. This session is meant to provide you with valuable tips to help you leverage the important “soft skills” of influence and persuasion. Before we begin, I’d just like to mention the amazing Accountant Channel program we have at ADP, which includes a dedicated accountant-only hotline as well as a preferred discount on our services for you and your clients. To learn more, you can always contact your ADP representative or email us at: Canada.Accountants@ADP.com.

Jeff: Thanks, Jamie. We truly appreciate your hard work as well as ADP’s sponsorship.

[slide 5]

Jeff: Our expert commentator today is Dr. Philip Vassallo, who is a well-known author of books and articles as well as a blog. Phil also serves as a trainer, writer, editor and faculty member. And one of his qualifications for today’s program is that he is also a professional persuader. Thanks for joining us today, Phil.

Phil: It’s a pleasure to be here. I’m looking forward to the program.

[slide 6]

Jeff: One final administrative item: how do you receive continuing professional development credit for participating in today’s webinar? This program qualifies for one CPD credit, and there are two ways that you can validate your attendance today. I will interrupt Phil Vassallo’s presentation four times today and – each time - I will provide you with an attendance validation keyword. If you are logged into your own computer, all you have to do is select the “prompt” on the screen when it appears. The second way is for those participants who are watching in a group or are not logged in to your own computer. You will need to write down the four attendance validation keywords, so that you can enter them after the event. I’ll remind you at the end of the program, but you’ll enter those four validation keywords within twenty-four hours at:adpcanada.smartpros.com. That same link - adpcanada.smartpros.com – is where you can also go to download a complete copy of today’s presentation or to ask questions of today’s expert commentator.

[slide 7]

Jeff: It’s customary to begin any presentation with a definition of what the key words or phrases means. But in this case, let me begin by asking Dr. Phil Vassallo: don’t most people already have a good idea of what “influence” and “persuade” mean?

Phil: Absolutely, but just to give you an idea of what I mean by “influence” - at least for the purpose of this program - I'm going to look at the word “influence” in its use as a noun. Yes, I know that influence can also be an action: “I influence you.” But I'm going to look at it, for the purpose of this webinar, as having an influence. In other words, the capacity – and that’s the keyword here - the capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of someone or something, or to have an effect on the effect itself. And that will be the first part of our webinar.

The second part will be on that second word in the name of this webinar: “persuade.” And I will look at “persuade” as an action: to cause things to happen or to cause someone to do something though reasoning or argument. Of course, in many cases, persuasion is making a sustained effort to cause someone to believe something.

[slide 8]

Jeff: As you suggested, we’ll begin with “influence.” And I know there’s an entire library of books devoted to the subject of influence. Why is this such a popular topic?

Phil: Well, obviously, because we want things in life. And we have to get other people to either give us their blessing or to say: “You can get half of what you're asking for.” In other words, we just don't have complete control. And this is something that we realize at a very young age. I recall many times, when my daughters were little girls, they would know to go to their mother and request her: “Can you get dad to do something for me?” In other words, they realized that, if they asked me, I'd probably say “no.” So, even at a very young age, we know how to influence others to act in our behalf. And of course you're looking at some landmark books on this slide. And incidentally, some of the ones on the bottom row - the ones by Sheryl Sandberg and Arianna Huffington, as well as “The Art of Woo” – are very recent books. But I do want to give you some key points from some of these very, very famous books.

The one by Dale Carnegie on the upper left informed me tremendously, especially something that he lectured us: “The best way to win an argument it's not to have one.” I learned a lot from that book about getting other people to believe that an idea was theirs in the first place. That's also a very, very important principle that we take with us from these writings on influence and persuasion. In the Napoleon Hill book - “Think and Grow Rich” - he talks about the very powerful autosuggestion that you can and should believe that you already have in your possession, the very thing you want. In other words, just believing in it makes you act in your march toward getting that thing that you want. So, that was a very important takeaway from the Napoleon Hill book, “Think and Grow Rich.”

The only other book I’ll mention from this collection, at least for now, is “Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion,” by Robert Cialdini. He discusses different laws of influence and persuasion, like the Law of Reciprocity: “If I do for you, maybe you'll do for me.” Or the Law of Commitment and Consistency: “Once I get you to agree to something, you will follow through on it” Or the Law of Social Proof, which is basically: “Look, everybody else does it this way. Why don't you do it this way?” And the Law of Authority: “Look, we have to do it this way, because management says we have to do it this way.”

And these are all very, very powerful laws that guide us. But the book that you see on the upper right corner, “The Art of Woo”, is the one that’s going to inform a lot of what I talk to you about today. Because it's not as simple as just pointing to one law and then saying: “You know, I am going to convince you in no time at all.”

[slide 9]

Jeff: That’s very interesting, Phil. And it looks like I have a lot of reading to catch up with. But I’ve got to ask you: isn’t influence also something that you see in terms of online articles?

Phil: Sure. In fact, I pulled these three articles from the internet and I read them and they were practical. But come on, just look at those titles: “24 Scientific Ways to Influence People Without Saying A Word.” We know that this is not science we’re talking about. Influence is art; it’s not science. And how about “10 Psychology Tricks You Can Use to Influence People”? Once you know I'm pulling tricks on you, aren’t you going to feel I have no credibility whatsoever? So, I don't know if I'm going to put a lot of credence in these articles. And finally, “The Best Way to Influence Others.” Well, I don't know the best way to influence you, Jeff, but I certainly know some of the best ways to influence myself. So, we are all individuals. And it's really important not to put too much credence into these slick titles and these guarantees because influence is a lot more than that.

[slide 10]

Jeff: You’ve told me what influence is NOT. Now, Phil, why don’t you tell us what influence actually is?

Phil: Well, influence needs many sources, as well as many means – means of expression and means of connecting with people. Of course, influence takes time. And while influence comes from within us, it also comes from the things that we experience, from outside of us, and from outside forces over which we have no control. Influence comes in small doses and it comes from very, very small things that we do. And finally, it’s important also to remember that influence goes both ways. So, I’d like to take each of these, one at a time, starting with influence needs many sources.

[slide 11]

Phil: Now, when I talk about sources, I'm thinking about - even in our childhood – four sources: people; places; things and events. These are the four sources that I find have had the greatest influence on my life – the people I’ve met, the places I’ve been to, the things that I possess or the things that I see other people possess, and the diverse events in my life. As an example – and, again, this is going to be purely subjective – a person who's had the greatest influence on me - not to mention the very famous people, because we all have our own very famous people. But I think the greatest sources of influence are the ones with whom we have interacted personally. One guy who comes to mind was a gentleman 50 years my senior named Morris Laminski. He was a “go-fer” at the office. He was a retired man and he would just get coffee for the boss or he would clean the conference room table when the meetings were over. And he once came up to me and said: “You know, people should use their education to lift people up, not put people down. And our boss uses his education to put people down.”

And I was feeling the same way, although I had never articulated it that succinctly. And I’ll never forget Morris for that. The least educated person in the organization probably said the most profound thing to me. And I have used that as my credo - I'm going to use it to pass it along to people. And that is my whole philosophy in life to use my education to help people, not to harm them.

In terms of places that I've been to, the place of my parents’ birth - the island of Malta - has been a huge source of influence for me. Any time I see anything in the media or a book in a library shelf about Malta, I'm going to pick it up, I'm going to gravitate towards it. If I knew that you were of Maltese descent, I would ask: “Oh really? From what town do your parents come?” Because it is a place of particular interest to me, especially because it's such a small place, population = 400,000. There are more Maltese people living outside of it than on the island.

In terms of things, let me give you a thing and an event together: the thing being art and the event being visiting a museum. I remember being in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York one day when I was a young man in college. I had a definite idea what good art was. It had to Rembrandt. It had to be Van Gogh. It had to be DaVinci. And then I saw this one painting of the composer Philip Glass by his friend Chuck Close, the photo realist. The painting is simply called “Still.” And when I saw that painting by Chuck Close, I had an “amen” moment, like an “a-ha” moment, like I cannot believe what I'm seeing here. This is a painting, but I can't believe my eyes. And it completely changed the way I look at art and the way I look at life in many ways. It opened me up to many more forms of expression, not only in art but in music and cultures. And even as a result, it opened me up to many more doors that I was able to walk through and meet many people that I wouldn’t have met. That’s a perfect example. Who knows if I hadn’t seen that painting back then in 1970 if I would be doing what I’m doing now?

[slide 12]

Jeff: I said that I would interrupt you four times today, Phil, and this is the first: our first attendance validation keyword. If you would like to earn CPD credit for today’s program, please note that our first keyword is “connectors.” If you are logged in to your own computer, a “prompt” should have opened up on your screen. And all you have to do is select the word, “connectors.” Just click on it. But, if you're watching this program in a group or if you're not logged into your own computer, then please, I'm going to ask you to write down these four validation keywords down, so that you can go online later and enter them. So, since you’ll have some choices, do yourself a favor: start making a list right now, and begin it with: “number one, connectors.” And after the webinar is over, I’ll remind you of the link you can go to in order to enter these four words and get your CPD credit.

[slide 13]

Jeff: Phil, let’s return to your list of what “influence” actually is. And the second item is that influence needs many means. By that, are you saying “means of expression”?

Phil: Yes, but it also be the means you have to connect with people. For instance, on several occasions, when I worked for a company, I would go into a meeting to do a presentation. Now, I thought that the real influence was going to come through my perfect PowerPoint presentation. I walk in after slaving for days over this presentation. And the person who ran the meeting said: “We have taken that off the agenda.” Clearly, something happened before that meeting: perhaps, someone had a one-on-one with the boss, who didn't like the idea in the first place. So, I want you to think of all of the things that come before that meeting: the one-on-ones that take place; the phone calls; the lunches that you have; even the text messages that you write from your smart phone and the emails that you write from your laptop. These are all means of expression and they culminate in giving you great influence over people.

[slide 14]

Jeff: Influence takes time. That makes sense, Phil. But I see a bookcover.

Phil: Well, this is another book that I strongly recommend: “The Talent Code,” by Daniel Coyle. He talks about expertise occurring after the 10,000th hour. Now, I want you to think about how many hours a year you work. I should not be saying this to accountants in the springtime, since I realize that you are working many, many hours. But I'm sure the more experienced ones would say: “It probably would take four or five years to become an expert.” All of that studying I did in school, it wasn't enough. I had to have experience with clients in dealing with the issues of accounting. As a result, expertise basically comes after a rough average of 10,000 hours. Well, if expertise takes that long, then how much time do we need to influence other people? It might not be 10,000 hours, because we’re simultaneously building our expertise and meeting people as we go along. But it is through all of these events and they accumulate. So, we have to acknowledge that influence won't happen just because you attended this one webinar. But maybe, if you attend this webinar, and read a couple of the books, you’ll talk to people who will lead you to even other sources.

[slide 15]

Jeff: Tell me, Phil: does influence really come from inside?

Phil: What I'm referring to is your own being: the things that you experience. You might be a lover of the arts or a lover of sports. Bring people into those parts of your life. They often will go a long way toward getting people to understand you a little better.

A quick example of that is my daughter, who knows how much I love jazz. She’s a doctor and she was talking to the medical director of the hospital where she was working. And when that physician mentioned that his birthday was August 21st, my daughter responded: “Oh, Count Basie’s birthday.” Now, how did she know that? She happened to know that because her birthday was also August 21st and I always brought that up, since I’m a jazz fan. So, just by bringing up little things like that, knowing the point of your own influence, you will be able to move people a little bit better, you'll be able to connect with them better.

[slide 16]

Jeff: Well, if influence comes from inside, I suppose it must also come from outside of you.

Phil: So, when I talk about influence coming from outside, what I want you to reflect on for a moment is that there are sources, even beyond the people you are trying to influence. For example, you want your manager to give you a raise, let’s say. Your manager might not have complete control over that. So, you need to think about the sources beyond that. I worked in an organization where you had to get approval for a raise from the CEO. It was a very small company. So, you would often need to find who were: your connectors; your maven; and your salespeople. And I get this from the book, “The Tipping Point,” by Malcolm Gladwell. What I mean by that is: who were my connectors in my organization, the person who can get me closest to the CEO? That would be my connector. In my case, it was my immediate manager, who did report directly to the CEO.

The maven was the person who would have all of the information on my performance. I was in sales. So, my job was to bring in business. And I would need the person who had the marketing forecast and the changes that are affected in the company. So, the mavens are your experts. And then, the people who also have a great deal of influence are the people who will sell you. And in my case, again, the salesperson - as well as the connector - happened to be my immediate manager. But that's also a very, very important thing to reflect on. Who are the people who will get you to where you need to go? So, connectors are those social butterflies who connect you to others, like the mavens and the salespeople, who can actually talk the talk in your absence. So, influence comes from outside as well.

[slide 17]

Phil: Now, influence also comes in small doses. I’ll give you an example of what I mean from a personal event that occurred in my life, something that doesn't have to do with my everyday life. But you can imagine this happening in an organization of any sort, not only in the example that I'm giving here. I live in a town that tends to never pass the school budget. At this particular point in my life, it hadn’t passed for 10 years in a row. And the only reason I was even remotely interested in the school budget was that my daughters were in the school system. So, someone encouraged me to join the PTA. I said: “Okay, another wasted organization for me to belong to.” but I did join the PTA.

[slide 18]

Phil: And one day, I did go to a PTA meeting. And I heard that the school board was going to do something that was very controversial, and that the parents were against it. And it seemed to me that the parents were right. But when I brought this up to the school superintendent, she said to me: “Phil, you have to know parents think with their hearts, not what their heads. That's why the school board and the superintendent are here, because we think with our heads and we know what’s the right thing for children.” So, I was skeptical. I did some research. And sure enough, I found out that the parents were right. At least, most experts backed up the parents on this. So, because I’m a writer, I wrote an article which got published in the National School Board Journal, which that board and that superintendent regularly read. That gave me a little bit of a reputation in the school district.

[slide 19]

Phil: And the superintendent asked the school board, now that the word was out that parents were right, to move ahead with that policy, but to make significant concessions in order to make the parents happy. As a result of that, I've got a little bit of a reputation, not a huge one but somewhat of a reputation with the school board. And the school superintendent asked me to join a Blue Ribbon Committee in the hope that I would make recommendations to transform the middle school in that district into a better middle school. So, I gladly joined.

[slide 20]

Phil: And once again I used my writing skills, which is my greatest strength, to write a report about the middle school recommending specific changes.

Now, the problem with this recommendation was it was going to add even more expense to the school budget. So, now, it would be even less likely for the school budget to be approved. But the school board did include my recommendations in the budget.

[slide 21]

Phil: So, that was it. I thought my job was done. But then the board went to a salesperson. I might have been the maven. But the board went to a salesperson – Mia, who was a parent in the school district - asking her: “Well, Phil might not trust us. But why don’t you ask Phil for help to get the school budget passed?” And Mia did approach me. And I said: “You know, Mia, I'm not one to knock on doors. That's just not my style.” And she says: “Well, you can write. Can't you write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper?” And I said: “Well, okay, that I can do.”

[slide 22]

Phil: So, I wrote a letter which the editor of the newspaper did publish. And once it was published, it seemed like a very cogent argument to pass the school budget. Mia used that letter, photocopied it and handed it out to people in a door-to-door campaign throughout my town. And that became kind of like the rallying cry - that particular letter that I wrote.

[slide 23]

Phil: As a result, for the first time in ten years, the school budget did pass. And passed by a remarkably small margin of five votes, which is really small. Even in a small town that's really, really tiny. So, you would think that maybe since there was a record turnout, enough parents were encouraged by what I had written.

[slide 24]

Phil: I also want you to think about the fact that influence comes from very small things. Just saying yes when someone asks you to show up to a board meeting, something might happen as a result. And this is why I look at this quote of this film director and writer and actor Woody Allen. I love this quote: “80% of success is showing up.” It really is. It’s not just a Hollywood story: “Oh, the actor broke his leg. You over there, get over here. We need someone to star in this show tonight.” This really does happen in real life. Of course, you have to be ready when opportunity arises. But just because you fail, it’s not the end of the story. How many times did Thomas Edison fail with the invention of the light bulb? People will only remember for your one or two successes, not for your 150 failures.

[slide 25]

Phil: So, you've got to just show up and look at what role you're playing in the source, the means and all of that. So, if you just look at that red dialog bubble: the school budget passed for the first time in a decade by five votes. Just think about those small things that happened along the way.

I mean, someone had to approach me. And I had to say yes. And that happened two or three times along the way from me to the superintendent, the superintendent back to me, from me to the editor of a national publication, from them back to me, from Mia back to me. So, if we remove one of event from this chain, would the school budget have passed? And I am not trying to say by any means that singlehandedly I had this effect. Because the truth is that you couldn’t have taken Mia out of the equation at all, nor the school superintendent, nor the school board, nor the persuaded parents who did show up to vote. So, it’s very, very important to think about influence in terms of the whole bulk of it and the whole experience of human interaction.

[slide 26]

Jeff: I said that I would interrupt you four times today, Phil, and this is the second: our second attendance validation keyword. If you would like to earn CPD credit for today’s program, please note that our second key phrase is “both ways.” If you are logged in to your own computer, a “prompt” should have opened up on your screen. And all you have to do is select the phrase, “both ways.” Just click on it. But, if you're watching this program in a group or if you're not logged into your own computer, then please, I'm going to ask you to write down these four validation keywords down, so that you can go online later and enter them. So, since you’ll have some choices, do yourself a favor: make a list. And include: “number two, both ways.” And after the webinar is over, I’ll remind you of the link you can go to in order to enter these four words and get your CPD credit.

[slide 27]

Jeff: Let’s return to Dr. Phil Vassallo with the second-half of our program, where we turn from “influence” to “persuasion.”

Phil: And I want to start this portion the same way I started influence. You can't even fool this little kid, if you're going to say: “How to persuade anyone about anything in 10 seconds.” It just ain’t going to happen, right? Or how about: “Five copywriting tips guaranteed to persuade your prospects to buy.” I would be a fool if I told you that anything we say today will guarantee you to persuade anybody about anything. Or even: “How to persuade others to act on your ideas fast for free.” Now, I did read those three articles from the internet. They were helpful. But I bring this up, because I think persuasion very much like influence: it takes a lot to get people to act.

[slide 28]

Jeff: I recall you told us what influence actually is. In a similar vein, Phil, why don’t you tell us what persuasion actually is.

Phil: Let me give you five important pointers about persuasions: One, we persuade hearts and minds. It’s very, very important to think that the heart is there too, when we're talking about persuasion and the soul. Number two: we persuade with actionable ideas. So, we have to make sure that people know what we want them to do. Three, we need other people to persuade people. Four, we need to communicate honestly. And five: we need to persist. Just because we don't persuade them the first time doesn’t mean it won't happen the second time or the 14th time.

[slide 29]

Phil: So, let's start with the first one: we persuade hearts and minds. I’m borrowing from Aristotle’s book on rhetoric which is about 2500 years old. So, if you heard of these three mindsets of persuasion – Ethos, Pathos and Logos – you probably have heard it in a persuasion sort of book. In that case, you probably know that these are the three elements that we still use to convince people today. Not much has changed in 2500 years. Human beings are still human beings. What Aristotle meant by Ethos is personal credibility or, for lack of a better word, trust. Ethos – you can almost see the word “ethics” in there: “You have high moral standing. I trust you. I believe you. Once you lose that, I'm never going to trust you again.”

Pathos is the use of emotion. I wouldn't start with emotion. I would start with getting your credibility first, of course. But I know - as accountants or as engineers and scientists - we might think that Logos is everything: the use of logic. But if I said to you: “You can make 3% more with this investment.” It is not that you want the 3% more simply for greater money. It's the underlying value of the money. For you, it might mean changing your lifestyle. For me, it might mean paying for my kids’ education. For someone else, it might mean personal security. So, it's the underlying value and that's why Pathos is so important.

Then, of course, some people, you don't have an influence over no matter how hard you try. I want to give you a quick example of that. My wife has known her best friend for many, many years, since they went to high school. One day, she came to our house and I greeted her by saying: “Mary, that’s an interesting haircut.” And she replied: “If you have nothing to positive to say, Phil, don’t say anything.” What did I say wrong? Then, my wife walked in and she said: “Mary, you look awful in that haircut.” And Mary said: “Oh really? What do you think I should have done instead, honey?” And she was completely accepting the horrible criticism my wife gave her because of the law of likeability: she trusts my wife. They've been friends together for a long time. And I should have known better than to go someplace that I shouldn’t have gone. Does she like my wife more than me? Of course, it’s her lifetime friend. But my wife has more trust with Mary when it comes to hair-dos. Many times, Mary has come to me about what book I would recommend to her, because she knows I’m an avid reader and we have shared books. So, that’s an area where I have “ethos” and she trusts me.

So, the tricky thing here is you can see that the three circles do overlap and connect. So, if you hear a great speech: Is it because you trust the speaker? Is it because you agree with the logic of his or her speech? Or is it because the speech touched you emotionally? Chance are: you'll notice that all three elements are there. And that's why the circles do intersect.

[slide 31]

Phil: We also persuade with actionable ideas. An example comes from Apple. We often think about the Apple founder, but here, we're not looking at the founder, we’re looking at Tim Cook, the current CEO. We often think of that company as mavericks, as singular people who changed the world. But how did that day arrive that they could announce that they’d sold 700 million iPhones. They got there by persuading AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile - all of these companies - to agree to sell their phones. They had to persuade their competitors by striking the right deal. Yes, each of those four companies felt: “We have to sell iPhones if we want to make a profit.” But there was a lot of negotiation that went on behind the scene.

[slide 32]

Phil: Which brings me to the next point: we need people to persuade people. We definitely do. Let me give you the example of two self-made people: Alexander Graham Bell and Viola Desmond. To what extent were they really self-made? Let's just take Alexander Bell for a moment. We think of him as the person who invented the telephone. Well, he did a very crude version of this telephone, and he got the attention of one of the most famous scientists in the world: Joseph Henry, who was the first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. And when Joseph Henry saw the invention, he said to Bell: “You have the germ of a great invention. But you now have to do whatever it takes to make this happen.” And Bell responded very self-consciously: “I just don't have the technical expertise and the necessary knowledge to take this to the next step.” Well, Joseph Henry said two words to Alexander Graham Bell: “Get it.” That's right: if you don't have it, you get it. And those two words were powerful in persuading Alexander Graham Bell that he had to take the next step here. Incidentally, Bell was very grateful that he was rejected the first time he offered to sell his invention for $100,000. It was rejected, so that when Bell did eventually sell it – thanks to Joseph Henry’s wise counsel – he became a multimillionaire.

Another person we think of as self-made was Viola Desmond. She lived in Nova Scotia and, because of the color of her skin, she was not allowed to be in a certain section of the Roseland Theater. As a result, we think about her as a founder of the campaign for racial equality. In actuality, she went home and told her husband about it: how she was removed and arrested and all of that for trying to sit in a place that she didn’t have access to. Then her husband said: “Forget it. This is a fight that's just not worth fighting.” And she could have said, “Of course,” at that point, or “You're right.” But she went to her minister William Oliver and his wife Pearline, and they said: “This is a fight worth fighting for.” Now, interestingly, Desmond did lose her case. But she did get the support of her minister and the Nova Scotia Association for the Advancement of Colored People to organize and underwrite her legal defense. So, many people contributed toward her becoming the amazing symbol that she has become in Canadian history.

[slide 33]

Jeff: Yes, we do need people in order to persuade people. But what do you mean by communicating honestly?

Phil: When it comes to communicating honestly, I want to give you a bunch of tips because it encompasses so many things. Honesty, of course, is going to go a long way toward building your ethos - that Aristotelian ethos that we were talking about earlier. But when you’re initiating – whether it’s in a conversation or in correspondence – you’ve got to relate to your audience: how is it going to help them?

And if you’re responding to someone else, be sure to value their opinions. I love this quote by Steven Covey in Principle 5 of “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Know where they are coming from. The world existed long before you were here. So, try to keep that in mind. Seek first to understand and then to be understood.

[slide 34]

Jeff: I said that I would interrupt you four times today, Phil, and this is the third: our third attendance validation keyword. If you would like to earn CPD credit for today’s program, please note that our third keyword is “honestly.” If you are logged in to your own computer, a “prompt” should have opened up on your screen. And all you have to do is select the word, “honestly.” Just click on it. But, if you're watching this program in a group or if you're not logged into your own computer, then please, I'm going to ask you to write down these four validation keywords down, so that you can go online later and enter them. So, since you’ll have some choices, do yourself a favor: make a list. And include: “number three, honestly.” And after the webinar is over, I’ll remind you of the link you can go to in order to enter these four words and get your CPD credit.

[slide 35]

Phil: Okay, the second point here is, when initiating, get to your point immediately. There's no need to give me a lot of history and then get to your point. Get to the point, and you might want to include a benefit. You might want to say something like: “To increase operational efficiency, the group would benefit,” something like that. But also when you get comeback, answer the question directly. I think people above you in the organization – as well as most clients - do want direct answers. So, there’s no problem in saying to people: “Yes, and this is why” or “No, and this is why.” So, give them the direct answer, and then the backup later, as opposed to the other way around. It saves a lot of people trouble since everybody's getting hundreds of emails a day. The third point here is: sell benefits, not features. As the well-known sales expression goes: “Features tell, but benefits sell.” Also, when responding, respond to their needs.

[slide 36]

Phil: Let’s look at an example of that. If I wanted to sell you a new smart phone, that features-driven on the top of the slide is really weak. It's just numbers, numbers, numbers: “The Smarty Pants Phone Plus costs 480 bucks, 200 dollars less than its two major competitors. Usage time 48 hours. Standby time 24 days. Rear camera 21 pixels. 64G.” It’s just numbers. It's meaningless numbers.

I would prefer writing it in that second draft with the bullets extended, meaning “The Smarty Pants Phone Plus offers our associates seven advantages.” Bullet – “Affordable cost. At 480 dollars, it’s 200 dollars less than its two major competitors.” Bullet – “Extended battery life. 48 hours which is 12 hours faster or longer”, whatever. In other words, get the short version, getting to the point again and then backing it up. So, definitely look at how you would be benefits driven. Incidentally, look at the first word of each of those bullets – “Affordable, extended, sharper, greater, easy, exceptional, convenient.” Those are the types of benefits that you want to target.

[slide 37]

Phil: Use relevant examples in communicating honestly. Make them relate and also avoid logical fallacies. After this webinar, you might want to do a web search on logical fallacies. There are just so many of them. As an example of one: a hasty generalization or a jumping to conclusion. If I said something like: “This year we have had 5% more accidents in the company. Therefore, training the production staff will reverse this alarming trend.” That's jumping to a conclusion. You haven't told me why we’ve had this increase. It could have been about something not related at all to training people. So, you might to write “Since companywide accidents have increased by 5%, we should determine whether insufficient training is a contributing.” And that would increase the credibility, instead of always jumping to conclusions. And there are just so many more logical fallacies out there.

[slide 38]

Phil: Next, remember to use hard evidence when initiating discussion. And be sure to serve logic before style. In the end, though, remember this quote by Disraeli: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and” – something even worse than that - “statistics.” You can use statistics and mean anything. So, make sure that when you are using your logic that you're using it based on principles that build on your argument, and don't detract from your audience’s concerns.

[slide 39]

Phil: Number six is to quote trusted sources. The examples in these explosions that we have here are American journalists who lost a great deal of credibility: Jason Blair who completely fabricated stories for the New York Times and Dan Rather who probably jumped a little too quickly on a story and it cost him his job with CBS News. Many of you probably know the story of Canadian journalist Margaret Wente, who used sources that were either not credible or not complete. So, always quote trusted sources and ask for feedback.

[slide 40]

Phil: Point seven is to anticipate objections. This, of course, goes back to Roman times. When I say this, I really mean it. In ancient Roman times, people were taught to develop an argument with four discrete points: introduction; give the facts; divide the argument into discrete points; and give your proof. And the fifth one was refutation – refute your own argument. That sounds kind of crazy. Why would you want to refute your own argument? Because you want to accept that there is veracity to what your opponents are saying. So, you should anticipate objections, know what they are and, if you know they're going to come at you, accept them as being valid. Don't just say, “Yeah but.” Accept them as valid, and maybe offer a concession when responding: “Maybe instead of giving me the whole kit and caboodle, we can do this as a pilot project.” And then another point here: Open powerfully. Use some great sources of opening.

[slide 41]

Phil: In our final slides, I’m going to give you twenty ways to open powerfully. Or when responding, to bring it home. Here you see the first ten ways to open and close powerfully. But these aren’t only for openings and closings. They're also for transitioning from one point to another. And I'll never forget one that I saw in an article I read right after September 11th. The article, in The Atlantic monthly magazine, started with: “Get over thinking that America can be made safe from terrorism.” It was a very powerful opening. I wanted to read on about this.

Or you can make an imposing claim: “Do you know that 33% of our clients prefer item A over item B?” or “procedure A over procedure B.” So, make an imposing claim. There are just so many ways to do this.

[slide 42]

Phil: Let’s look at the final twenty ways to open and close powerfully. You’ll see examples of each of these in the best speeches hear and articles you read. For instance, the last one: find the common bond – in other words, just say what you and your audience have in common. After all, they don't always want to know what's in it for them. I know we hear that in some of those persuasion articles: “What's in it for me?” I don’t buy that. I think that’s only 50% of the battle. Your audience also wants to know what's in it for you. So, you should find that common bond.

[slide 43]

Jeff: Phil, let me interrupt you for the final time today, with our fourth attendance validation keyword. If you would like to earn CPD credit for today’s program, please note that our fourth keyword is “concessions.” If you are logged in to your own computer, a “prompt” should have opened up on your screen. And all you have to do is select the word, “concessions.” Just click on it. But, if you're watching this program in a group or if you're not logged into your own computer, then please, I've asked you to write down these four validation keywords down, so that you can go online later and enter them. Please add to your list: “number four, concessions.” And while you’re looking at this slide, you also see the link – about three-quarters down the slide – of where you’re going to go: adpcanada.smartpros.com. Yes, that’s the place to enter your attendance validation keywords. But’s it also where you can go to download a complete copy of today’s presentation, to ask questions of Dr. Phil Vassallo, to give us feedback, or to sign up for one of our future programs. While people are studying the slide, Phil, let me ask you: if our participants could take one thought away from today’s webinar, what would you like it to be?

Phil: I'd like to close what that last point: that we need to persist. I want you to think about what Francis Darwin - who was Charles Darwin’s son - said about science (but I think that this goes to any endeavor). He said: “The credit goes to the person who convinces the world, not to the person to whom the idea first occurs, not the person who finds a grain of new and previous quality. But to him who sows it, reaps it, grinds it and feeds the world on it.” So, it’s very, very important to persist - to know that influence takes time. Yes, as accountants, you do extremely important work. Yes, you've got the Logos. But please remember to use some of the other tools to increase your sphere of influence, which will make you a professional persuader yourself.

Jeff: That was Dr. Phil Vasallo, our expert on influence and persuade, whose time we really appreciate. I also want to thank Jamie Seegmiller and all of the people from ADP who sponsored this program and helped make it possible. On behalf of SmartPros and ADP, thanks for joining us today.