What Is the Right Tone?

• Don't treat people as objects
• Don't talk at people -- talk to them
• When you patronize, you don't persuade

What is the Right Approach?

• You're showing appreciation for people when you approach a problem from the other side's angle.
• When people see you really care about something, you're convincing
• Be personal. Ask yourself:
  • What talent makes this person unique
  • What in the person's background is special.
  • Don't say, "I need your help." Say, "I need you."
• If you want to persuade, be polite.
• When you want it to go your way, give the other side leeway. The rules of persuasion are this: Insist on everything and you'll wind up with nothing. To be stubborn is sometimes stupid.

Watch Your Ego

• If you want to persuade, don't parade or pamper your ego.
• When it's others you want to convince, don't act like a prince or princess.
• The key to humility is humor-- a sense of humor about oneself.
• Take your work seriously, but not yourself. Lighten up and you're more likely to persuade.
• When you're persuading give the glory to the other guy. Don't "contradict" but instead say, "You may be right in some cases but in this situation it seems to me that ..."

Who Is the Audience?

• Since we can't with certainty know the sophistication of the audience, apply the principles that popular writer's use: write down to a seventh grade level. The idea is not to denigrate the reader's intelligence but to insure communication.
• People pay attention to how a person's assertions are communicated. They question the truth of another's statements, "Is this what happened or is it different from what the person is saying?"

How to Deliver Your Message

• Begin with a powerful statement.
• Use Pregnant Pauses. Stand there silently until the audience thinks you may have some speech impediment.
• Churchill knew that you may have two or three points in your talk, but the points have to come under one heading -- one theme. Don't sidetrack, stick to the theme.
• Avoid passives. Be conversational. Use contractions. Use personal words (we, you). Use short words.
• Draw a picture in the listeners mind. A way to think of word pictures is to use the following acronym (P-I-C-T-U-R-E-S) of categories and then think of experiences you've had that fit under them: Parents: for example, what did your father tell you when you went off to college?, Interests, Chores, Television, University, Recreation, Environment, Shopping.
• When describing something start at the edges and work to the center. So if you're describing an abstract idea, begin with the fringe points before you get to the core issues.
• Use analogies, "this is like a ... ." Analogies from the the animal world are particularly powerful.
• Word choice is important. Don't forget these key areas:
  • Contrast: rich-poor; spender-saver; old-young
  • Rhyme: "Let us have faith that right makes might ..."
  • Echo: the technique of repeating a word or phrase. Ex. — "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
  • Alliteration: "[A time when people] will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
  • Metaphor: "Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount."

Combine the verbs: bear, bring, come, get, give, make, put, reach, sit, stand, take, work with the adverbs: across, down, for, in, out, over, to, under, up with, without. Ex. — If we don't stand up to the competition, we'll no longer stand out as leaders of the market."