Answering Three Questions is the Key to Influencing Others

April is another busy month for me with events in Las Vegas, Austin, Orlando, Billings, Orlando again and San Antonio.  The common theme for all six of these events is "influence."  A leader uses influence to coax higher levels of performance from their team; a sales professional uses influence to help their customers appreciate the value of their products and services; and an executive uses influence to gain a greater commitment to their priorities.  Even in our personal life, the ability to generate a compelling message is critical to our success.

Obviously, it is impossible to distill a three hour seminar on that topic to a newsletter article (for a more thorough exploration, I recommend this wonderful book called The Power of Understanding People), but here are some important considerations as it relates to adjusting your message to make it resonate more with the recipient.  Make sure your message addresses these three questions specific to each style:

Romantic

• "How will this make others feel better?"
• "Does this make me feel more appreciated?"
• "Will this unify us?"

Warrior

• "How will this make us perform better?"
• "How will we measure the impact of this?"
• "What is your plan for achieving the goal?"

Expert

• "How will this change the way we do things now?"
• "What evidence do you have that this will work?"
• "What is wrong with the way we do it now?"

Mastermind

• "How will this change the way we look in the future (in a good way)?"
• "What makes this idea unique and/or exciting?"
• "What will we learn from doing this no matter what happens?"