Maybe you could even film yourself presenting so you see what your audience will see?

Good luck!

What do they mean?

People with a ‘self sort’ attend to their own needs first.  For example, if there were a birthday cake at a party, they would take the biggest piece before anyone else had a chance to do so.  In a team, they will often only agree to take on work that will serve their own needs/purpose.

People with the ‘others sort’ attend to look after others before they address their own requirements.  Sort by others people are often attracted to customer service roles.  They will tend to look after others, notice what their needs are, and put themself out for team members.  The disadvantage of constantly putting themselves out is a tendency to feel burnt out or even resentment toward the very people they are assisting.

Dealing with these two types

Manage ‘sort by self’ people by teaching them to become more aware and sensitive of others’ needs.  Encourage them to take the time to assess what other people require or desire.  Show them how good they could feel by putting themself ‘out’ a bit and by helping other people.  ‘Sort by self’ often think of ‘sort by others’ as ‘unassertive doormats’.  Manage this judgement by rewarding ‘teamwork’.

Manage the ‘sort by others’ by encouraging them to develop an understanding and sense of what they need in a situation.  Get them to assess and take control of their own needs particularly in a group.    They often think the ‘sort by self’ is selfish.  Manage this judgement by rewarding assertiveness.

Overall it is good to develop some flexibility on this continuum.

I know you know this, it’s not rocket science, so take the time to plan your meetings in advance, analyse your performance at the conclusion of every meeting and continuously strive to be an expert communicator who compels your audience to say ‘yes’ to you.

Good luck!

Tactics: Question their agreement and limit it to what you believe is within their capability, or divide an action into parts, each leading into the next and keep them to the timetable.

Once you are aware of these ‘unconscious’ patterns of influence you can use them to increase your power and reduce the likelihood that you will be manipulated by others.

I will cover the first three of the six influence patterns here:

1. Reciprocation

The moment we are given something the “law of reciprocity” takes over and compels us to want to return the favour with an action of our own. Free offers and promotional gifts are all examples of reciprocation at work.

Tactic: Counter reciprocation by being aware of it’s influence, and if returning the “favour” is not in line with your business outcomes – then don’t swallow the bait!

2. Commitment and Consistency

Once something is written down it becomes a kind of ‘law’.  By asking “universal” type questions that tend to provoke “yes” answers, such as “Are you interested in paying less tax?” you create a situation where it will be difficult to say no, or to go back on what you have already agreed to! Then, if it is written down it is even more difficult to say no!

Tactic: Counter this pattern by playing devils advocate and using caution, or answering yes with conditions eg. “Yes, I am interested in saving tax, but not if that means buying your services now”.

3.      Social Proof

This is like ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’’.  The influence exists where we believe that “if everyone else is doing/buying it, it must be good. Used positively, social proof can help win business – the testimonial or phone reference is a good way to use this pattern to your advantage. You can also use the social proof response as a gauge of market conditions for example: when there are lots of Chinese people in a Chinese restaurant!

Tactic: Counter this influence pattern by recognising how your individuality and personal outcomes shape your decision-making – not the crowd response.

One or all of the following strategies may help you:

1. Allocate them a task so they are busy.
2. Send the group to an activity – to redistribute the energy.
3. Use Satir’s ‘Leveller’ and redistribute the conversation across the group.
4. ‘Call the behaviour’ – speak with them prior to attending, or in a break and flatter them by asking for their help to stay ‘on track’.

Welcome to ‘How To Present’ Magazine (May 2012 edition) – we invite you to hold your curser over the magazine image until ‘View in full screen’ appears.

Some people are motivated by moving toward their desired values (receiving a carrot), whereas others are motivated by moving away from undesired values (avoiding a stick).  In general, we all have move toward and move away values, but research has shown that for some people one direction predominate.

It is unlikely that you will know which strategy to use for many of the people you are influencing, so the most effective strategy would be to include both in your language patterns as follows:

1. Talk about what you can do, will achieve and the bonuses/incentives inherent in your plan or idea.
2. Include what you can help them avoid, problems they can minimise and the things that won’t go wrong.  Emphasise how easy this plan will make their life.

When you use both strategies, you can be sure to ‘win-over’ both types of people in your audience.

“What a wonderful thing is the Tigger, for Tiggers are wonderful things!  Their hops are made out of rubber; their bottoms are made out of springs.  They’re bouncy, jouncy, flouncy, trouncy, fun, fun fun fun fun.  But the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I’m the only one.  Yes, I’m the only one.”

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.  A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked.  But if Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?”

“Betty Botter bought some butter but she said “this butter’s bitter.  If I put it in my batter it will make my batter bitter.  But a bit of better butter would make by batter better”  So she bought a bit of better butter than that bitter butter and she put it in her batter and her batter was not bitter.  So t’was better Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter.

Keep the lights on: Remember no one looks forward to a dim future!  So create an alert, bright atmosphere that encourages the audience to take in the information on your slides and keep the lights on.  You might need to change your slides if you can’t read them with the lights on.  I suggest a light background and dark text – which is easier on your audience’s eyes.

Have you ever been subjected to the classic sales pitch where the sales person told you all about themselves and how clever they are, instead of listening to you tell them what you need and why you need it? People are much more interested in solving their own pain, than in listening to you going on and on about your products and features and your impressive client list. So listen more that you talk and be sure that when you speak you say something that’s completely related to solving your client’s pain, frustration or challenge. That way you’ll be relevant, engaging and interesting.