Communicate Key Behaviors (Influence and Change 3 of 10)
Posted by Tim on May 2, 2011
(1 of 10) Decrypting the “Impact Gene”
(2 of 10) Find the Behaviors that Matter
How Much Does Experience Matter?
Once we’ve identified the key behaviors that will accomplish the change we’re trying to influence, we need to communicate them (if a key behavior falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?). Our goal at this point is to get more people – or a targeted population – to start using these key behaviors.
Our first inclination is often to attempt verbal persuasion. We create the business case, find a few good statistics, create some solid logical arguments, write some compelling talking points, and practice our delivery until it’s perfectly polished.
And then nobody changes.
The truth is, verbal persuasion doesn’t usually get people to change their behavior.
The single most significant element that instigates change in people is experience. People change how they do things when they have an experience that tells them that (a) the new behaviors are worth the effort, and (b) the new behaviors are possible. This means that the aspiring influencer has two jobs. The first job is to ensure that people perceive themselves as capable of doing the key behaviors. The second job is to connect the dots between the desired key behaviors and the outcome that we value. Experience is the best tool for making this happen.
Personal experience has a strong influence on people’s belief that they are capable of doing something. Once they have successfully done it, they are likely to believe they can do it again. Whenever possible, master influencers try to create personal experiences in which the target population can see for themselves that the key behaviors are indeed possible, and worth the effort.
Personal experiences are powerful tools for influence, but they are not always practical or possible. When master influencers cannot create personal experiences for the target population, they draw on the next best thing: vicarious experience. When we see someone else successfully accomplish something, we are more likely to believe that we are also capable of doing it. This can be done through direct observation or, when direct observation is not an option, through a good story.
Telling a Compelling Story
Stories are a good way to create a vicarious experience when personal experience and direct observation are not possible. Whereas attempts at verbal persuasion often raise the listeners’ defenses, stories are powerful influence tools because they invite the listener in.
Good stories draw on listeners’ emotions. The protagonist is a believable character with whom they can identify, and listeners become active participants in the story. They start to care about the outcome of the story. They see how certain actions lead to certain outcomes, and vicariously experience putting those actions (aka “key behaviors”) into practice.
Influential storytellers are particularly good at three things. First, they save the punch line. They begin the story with a problem or question that draws the listener in. Our brains are wired to dislike unanswered questions and unsolved problems, so this creates a natural incentive to listen until we have heard the answer to the question, or the resolution to the problem. Second, influential storytellers clearly connect the dots between the desired key behaviors and the solution to the problem. They leave no question in the listener’s mind that enacting these key behaviors is the way to solve the problem. Third, influential storytellers make a clear connection between the story and the situation we face today. The listener should see how the key behaviors in the story will have a similar impact in his or her own situation today.
Influential storytellers have been successful when the listener:
Connects emotionally to the situation and characters in the story
Understands how the situation in the story is similar to his or her own circumstances
Sees a clear solution in the story
Understands the key behaviors necessary to enact the solution, both in the story and in his or her own situation
REMEMBER THIS about identifying and communicating key behaviors
Master influencers identify the key behaviors that will create the desired change. Once they have identified key behaviors, they create real and vicarious experiences to help the target population believe that (a) they are capable of enacting these key behaviors, and (b) it is worth it to enact these key behaviors.
