The
Power to Persuade Comes In 3's
by Mary Jane
Mapes
An architectural firm called on me asking for help with a presentation that one of the
principals was going to be giving to a group of 100 plus ophthalmologists in Boston. He
heard that I helped people prepare, design and deliver winning presentations and he
thought that perhaps I could help him.
We met and I looked over what he had. What he had was 35 single spaced type-written pages
of text...mostly detailed information on building specs, types of building materials, etc.
I asked, "How long is your presentation supposed to be?"
He said, "About a half hour." With 35 pages of technical information, he needed
to make some drastic changes.
I said, "Jim, if you want a good audience response, it's important that you prepare
an audience centered presentation. To help you do that, I'd like to ask you a few
questions. First, what do you know about your audience? Why are they asking an architech
to present at an ophthalmology conference?"
As he talked, I listened. At the time, insurance companies were just beginning to putting
a lid on what they were willing to pay for certain kinds of surgeries. Since
ophthalmologists made much of their income doing eye surgeries, they were now in a
position to have to do more surgeries if they wanted to maintain or increase their
profits. The focus of the conference was on improving office efficiency.
As an architech, he could design an office to maximize office efficiency from patient
check-in, to surgery room layout and flow, to recovery, to check-out.
I asked, "What else do you know about this group? Is there anything else that they
would be interested in knowing, considering the situation that they find themselves
facing?"
He responded, "Yes. They are people concerned with their image. Since many of their
patients are the elderly, they like to think of themselves as doctors who provide TLC.
Since the doctor is often times one of the few people that many of the elderly see in the
course of a week, the time that they spend with the patient is important. And some of the
opthalmologist fear that if they increase the number of surgeries done in a day, it will
effect their image negatively."
After several questions, I asked Jim (not his real name) a final question about his
intended audience, "How interested do you think this audience will be in building
specs, materials, square footage, etc.?"
"Not very. I guess that was more a concern of mine than it would be of theirs."
Jim was getting a clearer picture as to what was meant by the importance of preparing an
audience centered presentation.
My first questions dealt with the audience; my next line of questioning had to do with
results. I asked, "What is your objective in doing this presentation?"
"My objective is to tell them what they'd have to ...."
"No, no," I countered. "That's what you want to say. What do you want them
to do as a result of having heard your presentation?"
"Well, I want them to see me out as the architech of choice should they consider
building a new office or reconfiguring their existing space."
"How would you know if they planned to do that following your presentation?"
"They'd ask me a lot of questions. When people ask questions, I know they're
interested. If they're interested, one-on-one, I can sell them."
Jim now had a clear objective and a clearer idea as to what his audience needed. It was
now time to develop his Main Message...that one sentence that would, in a nutshell, say it
all.
When we finished writing the sentence, we knew we had a winner. Within one month of having
given his presentation he wrote to me the following:
"I'm on my way to visit a job site in Iowa...yes, an ophthalmologist. The Boston
lecture provided an opportunity greater than we perceived. We have visited seven clients
and foresee three physicians scheduling our services in the first quarter of next year.
Needless to say, Boston was a great success.
...Your ability to grasp an unfamiliar field, "architecture," and to apply your
own unique principles, enabled me to speak with confidence and success. Thank you for
helping...me put together our presentation. Your assistance was beyond our
expectations!"
That was several years ago...and they are still getting business with physicians who
attended that conference in Boston.
The power to persuade comes in threes: 1) know your audience, 2) identify a clear
objective, and 3) make sure your main message relates to your audience, accomplishes your
objective and let's people know what they can expect from your presentation. Do that, and
you, too, will be a winner!
©Copyright 1999-2006 Mary Jane Mapes All rights reserved.
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