Moving People to Action: Emotion is necessary [Video]

The importance of emotion in moving people to take action.

 

This is a video from a recent seminar for the Barcelona Internet Startups Meetup group on the role of emotion in moving people to action.  This is a great group to meet entrepreneurs, VCs and techies living in Barcelona.

The third pillar of Aristotle's triad of Persuasion is Pathos.

Pathos is an appeal based on emotion.  Emotional connection with an audience can be accomplished in 2 ways:

• by story telling
• by passion in the delivery

Pitching: Get the first 10 words right

What are the first ten words of your next pitch, speech or presentation?

Participants of Wayra Week Barcelona 2012

I was at Wayra Week Barcelona this week working with 30 selected startup businesses to prepare their companies for growth and investment.  All were looking to raise a round of venture capital financing for their businesses.

I spent a lot of time going from group to group asking "what are the first 10 words of your pitch for tomorrow?"

I received a range of replies:

• "Huh.  Oh.  Ah.  Yeah.  My name is... and our business is ..."
• "We are a platform for connecting users to providers..."
• "We have a solution for the publishing industry..."
• "Hello.  Thanks.  I am very happy for this opportunity..."
• "Uhh.  Why?  Only ten words..."

These answers are lessons in putting audiences to sleep.

Lets get it clear.  Investors hear hundreds of pitches.   They know they are probably not going to invest in your business and want to confirm this assumption as quickly as possible.  They have years of experience in knowing when to switch off listening to the pitch and check their email on the blackberry, or plan their ski weekend.  Why let them tune out before you have finished your first 10 words?

What should the first 10 words achieve?

1. We are not here to waste your time
2. We are professionals (we prepare well and practice lots)
3. We are a serious business
4. We know what you are interested in
5. We know what criteria you will use to take this decision

The first 10 words are vitally important.  The first 10 words gets you attention for 30 seconds.  You then have 30 seconds to earn attention for the next 5 minutes.  If your first 10 words loses the audience, you will not get them back.

What are your first 10 words of your next pitch, speech or presentation?  

I think there are only 3 ways to start a pitch.  Interested?

Resources for Wayra Week Barcelona 20 Feb 2012

This is a resource page for the session at Wayra Week Barcelona on 20th February 2012.

Event Hashtag: #wwbcn
Organiser: @Wayra Wayra.org

Follow Today's Speakers (Bios here)

 @rfauria @chemaalonso @ferranadria @rhuguet @cuchullainn 

Preparing a Pitch

• The 7 elements of a Pitch to Investors
• How much should I practice? [video]

Improve your Speaking email course:  http://bit.ly/practicespeak


Video Lessons:

• 4 Steps to Great speaking
• 5 Aspects of a Powerful Voice

Posts on Entrepreneurship:

• Everything you need to know about Business
• The 6 Steps in a Great Sales Process
• Get Referrals. Nobody talks about Boring Businesses

Getting your emails read

• Write emails that engage - 6 Ways to Not Be Ignored
• Get your Email read - Writing good subject lines

On Business Models

• The 9 Elements of A Business Model (link to pdf download)

Great Organisations that Can Help you Develop as a person and a professional:

• Toastmasters 
• Entrepreneurs' Organisation
• Wayra
• 
  

Interview: Manel Baucells, Author of "Engineering Happiness"

Manel Baucells was the favourite Professor amongst students when I did my MBA at IESE Business School.  He taught Decision Analysis.  There are certain types of situation under which humans will take poor (rational) decisions.  We study this subject so that we can reduce the likelihood that we will take similar poor decisions under similar situations.  Examples of situations that cause poor decisions are sunk costs, loss aversion, prediction of low frequency events.

Manel's new book "Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life" has just arrived to my Kindle.  I asked him to answer a few questions about the book, and about how a Microsoft Excel geek could end up at the fluffy end of psychology...  writing about happiness ;-)

Interview with Manel Baucells

Engineering Happiness,
by Manel Baucells

What most surprised you in learning about happiness?
How much happiness depends on our attitudes, rather than on external circumstances.

What led you to write the book?
As professors, our audience are the students that attend our lectures and the colleagues that read our academic papers. There is a moment in our careers that we want to expand our audience, and publish a book for a broad audience. It is critical to choose a time that is not too early in one's career, and ideas are not yet mature; or too late. Rakesh and I felt that this is a good time in our careers to write a book of this characteristics.

Who will benefit from reading the book?
Any one interested in being happier, or readers of popular science books. I feel that the audience for non-fiction, research based books is expanding. This increase is due, no doubt, to the growing quality and relevance of the research done in the social sciences.

What are the 3 most damaging things people do that reduce happiness?
The fundamental starting point of the book is that happiness equals reality minus expectations. There are three key things one needs to understand:

• The first is that expectations shift. The moment one increases his or her living standards, one get adapted quite soon, and going back down is very painful. 
• The second is that our happiness is greatly influenced by how we compare with our peers, our comparison group. 
• The third is that happiness can be engineered by using a ``less to more'' approach. Always start low, and then increase. 

What 3 things have you changed in your own life since writing the book?
Managing expectations better, create less to more (crescendo) patterns, and engage in activities that accumulate.


The book is accessible for anyone interested in the latest science on the field of human happiness: Engineering Happiness: A New Approach for Building a Joyful Life.


Have you read the book?  Did you have Manel as a professor?  What are your thoughts about the concept of mathematically measuring and improving "happiness"?

Rhetorical Fallacies: Sliding down a Slippery Slope with Pigs

"I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it." George Bernard Shaw

Beware of Pigs

One tool of "pigs" in manipulative persuasion is the rhetorical fallacy.  A fallacy is a deliberate mis-use of logical argument.  You'll find them regularly in political, social and family "discussions".  Don't get drawn in to a debate centered on a fallacy.  Ignore the fallacy and re-connect with the argument.

Here are eight common rhetorical fallacies:

• Slippery slope - "If we let Europe regulate our banks, next we will all be speaking German". This fallacy connotates a small (reasonable) step with a much larger (unreasonable) outcome.
• Sweeping Generalization - "Smoking kills; therefore all smokers are suicidal". This generalizes one element of a decision to smoke in absence of the broader set of reasons for smoking.
• Hasty generalization - "Everyone I know likes chocolate; therefore everyone likes chocolate". My sample is not representative of the larger population.
• Straw man - "If we just open up our borders, every beggar, lazy and crazy will be here tomorrow."   This is a false argument that avoids the real issue.
• False choice - "You're either with us, or against us."  This statement presents 2 options when in reality 3 or more choices exist.  Another common example: "If you really loved me, you would..."
• Argument from authority - "Because I'm your father".  There is no logic involved.  This is not an argument.  
• Argument from force - "Give me the toy or my big brother will beat you up."  No argument, just the threat of force.  It can be subtle.  
• Ad hominem attacks - "Vote for me because the other guy is a liar."  A personal attack, ignoring the actual argument.

Beware the Pigs Inside

These are used by other people, but I sometimes find that some of my own inner reasoning falls into the fallacy structure.  As I reflect on my own thinking processes, I watch carefully for use of these fallacies.  My ego loves to come up with self-serving but false logic to prove my "rightness".

Have you spotted any fallacies today?

"You are not doing that right!"

When someone tells me that I am wrong, what do I learn?

"You are not doing that right!"

"How did you let this happen?"

Do I learn what is intended?

I don't think so.  I don't often know what is intended - that I should feel bad or guilty; or that I need to see the world in a different way, act in a different way?  However, what I really learn; being honest is something quite different.

What do I really learn when you tell me I am wrong?

I do often learn one of three things:

1. You are stupid
2. You are blind
3. It is no fun talking to you

Jake Lacaze tells a simple story of a time his mother didn't tell him he was wrong, but allowed him to learn from a situation.

I have regularly focused on my "rightness" in conversations; and in winning the battle of "rightness", I lost days of friendship.  

Marshall Goldsmith tells us to question "Is is worth it?" as I begin to get into a proof of how another is wrong.  I can learn to use the Japanese "Yes":  I hear you, I understand that you see it that way from your point of view; but I don't accept or deny the statement.  I don't enter into a battle for truth, only accept that 2 different people are guaranteed to have 2 different points of view.  

There is a story about blindfolded kids and an elephant that I remember.  I am sure you can google it if you haven't heard it.

If you think you are good at listening without judging try this 1 day listening challenge ;-)

So, do you think I am wrong?  Or the bigger question, if you did think so, how could you really engage with me in a way that might allow me to open up to the possibility?

The Same, but Different

Mark Twain says that as a young man he did not often agree with his father, so he left home.

Years later he returns and is amazed at how much smarter his father had become.

What changed?