How to Help Your Audience Make an Informed Decision

Sofema Online (SOL) www.sofemaonline.com considers the best practice to “ethically” help your audience make an informed decision.

Introduction

Mastering the art of speaking persuasively will help you achieve the outcomes you seek as well as motivate the audience to “buy-in” to your proposal or to take a specific action or follow your lead.

Our goal is to:

» Persuade ethically.

» Present a strong and truthful rationale to support our promotion.

» Avoid any disagreement which is founded on faulty reasoning.

» Ensure the inclusion of key facts to enable our audience to assess our proposal.

Decision making – 5 Key Steps

» What is the issue or problem? (There has to be a “want” which essentially becomes the reason we are trying to promote a decision.) This is an important first step and agreeing on the nature of the “want” is a critical first step.

» Do we have sufficient information (Data) related to the issue or problem? The more informed we are the more likely we will have a positive outcome.

» Analyze the data – list the solutions and choose the best one based on your understanding of the pros and cons.

» Develop an implementation plan to enable you to see through the decision you have made.

» Review and validate your decision to ensure it has achieved the desired goals (If not make any necessary corrections – Face up to the decisions made, if it has not worked do not live with it – change it!).

How to Persuade?

There are two primary routes to persuasion. The central route to persuasion uses facts and information to persuade potential consumers. The peripheral route uses positive association with cues such as beauty, fame, and positive emotions.

What is the objective of our persuasive communication?

» Strengthen audience commitment (to motivate).

» To weaken audience commitment (dissuade or demotivate).

Consider the following elements to motivate our audience:

» Lay out the case for the various options.

» Acknowledge all aspects of these options.

» Explain how your proposition carries more weight than other options.

» Bring into the stories examples which support your rational or desired outcome.

Summary - How to recognize and appeal to the audience’s needs?

» Our message is more likely to succeed when it is relevant to the audience.

» Always acknowledge reservations – use the two-sided argument approach.

» Always address the question “What’s in it for me?

» Demonstrate how our audience will benefit.

» Help the audience to feel the benefit they will gain (visualize).

Next Steps 

Are Leaders Born or Made?

Behavioural Theorists believe that people can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning, and observation. Leadership is a set of skills that can be learned by training, perception, practice, and experience over time. Leadership learning is a lifetime activity.

The Sofema Online Aviation Leadership and Management Skills Development Diploma brings together 15 separate Courses (each one is certificated) on completion of all 15 courses the student is awarded a hard copy diploma.

For additional details or if you have any questions, please email team@sassofia.com