Brilliant Influence

CHAPTER 5

The

importance of

what you say

Y

ou may be tempted to believe that, with the right tech-

niques, you can influence anybody to do or believe

anything. Happily, this is not true. Substance matters

enormously: the rigour of your ideas, the quality of your prod-

ucts, the value of your proposals, or the implications of your

requests.

This chapter is about how to structure your argument to give it

the maximum impact. It includes:

 the importance of good evidence;

 how to hook the person or people you want to influence

with a compelling opening statement;

 how to order your argument in a persuasive sequence;

 how to complete your message with a powerful close.

Influence through reason

Human beings have a deep need for reason and purpose. This

is illustrated by the favourite question of small children: “Why?”

Most of us may grow out of asking this question every day (with

the exception of scientists), but it is still there in our minds.

When you link your request to a reason, you are more likely to

get a “yes” response.

90 brilliant influence

Get your content right

You must be prepared for your evidence to be analysed with

forensic precision. Not because it always will be but because it may

be. If it is, the smallest error can wholly undermine your credibility.

brilliant

example

Would you do a favour and let someone go ahead of you when you were

about to use a photocopier? Helen Langer, Arthur Blank and Benzion

Chanowitz did an experiment in 1978. They asked 120 students if they

could use a library photocopier first, just after the student had reached it.

The experimenter asked in three different ways:

1 “May I use the Xerox machine?”

Giving no reason.

2 “May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”

Giving no real reason.

3 “May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”

Giving a reason.

When the request was a small one – the experimenter had only five sheets

to copy – 9 out of 15 (60%) of the students asked obliged without hearing

a reason (Request number 1). With a reason (Request Number 3), 15 out

of 16 (94%) agreed. Here’s the surprise – with no real reason (Request

number 2), 14 out of 15 (93%) were prepared to oblige. The reason is

clearly not important; what was important was that there was a reason –

the students heard the word “because” and that was enough.

Is “because” sufficient in all cases? No. When the experimenter made a

bigger request, to copy 20 pages, only 6 out of 25 students (24%) obliged

with both of questions 1 and 2. With a real reason, however, 10 out of 24

students (42%) were prepared to be generous. So to agree to a significant

request, we need a significant reason.

The importance of what you say 91

Mark Antony’s principle

In a 100-page report, what the finance director is most likely

to remember is the error in line 6 of the table on page 37. This

error has the power to compromise the FD’s confidence in the

rest of the document, including your recommendations.

The Pareto principle

Vilfredo Pareto was an Italian economist at the start of the

twentieth century. He observed that 80% of the land in Italy

was owned by 20% of its population. Globally, the same pattern

is very much present today (see Figure 5.1). This has become

known as the 80–20 rule but there is nothing special about those

numbers.

What is generally true in many situations is that the majority

of the impact comes from a small number of key components.

When you want to influence some-

body, a dozen arguments are of little

value. The impact comes from one

or two compelling arguments.

The evil that men do lives after them,

The good is oft’ interred with their bones;

Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare

impact comes from

one or two compelling

arguments