Advocacy

1. Advocacy John Daly University of Texas (512) 471-1948 daly@mail.utexas.edu

2. Enhancingthe Clarity of Your Messages Organize Your Message for Impact A. Know your goal and purpose B. Drop what is unimportant C. Chunk what remains D. Structure your information for memorability - Primacy/recency - When each works Primacy Effect Recency Effect Sign ethics statements at start

3. Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages Be Redundant A. Redundancy makes you more interesting B. Redundancy improves memorability - always offer two examples of a concept - beware of seductive details - offer visual and concrete concepts - follow the tell-show-do-respond method KickStarter projects with videos succeed far more than those without videos 50% vs. 30% Images make things “truthier”; use graphs & images with uninvolved and people low in numbers skills, statistics with involved

4. Enhancingthe Clarity of Your Messages Focus on Your Listener’s Schema • A schema is a category system people have for organizing information • Schemas help people remember information

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7. The Elevator Problem The manager of a large office building has been receiving an increasing number of complaints about the building’s elevator service, particularly during rush hours. Several of the long term tenants in the building have threatened to move out unless the service is improved. In response, the manager recently inquired into the possibility of adding one or two elevators to the building. Although it would be feasible, the only elevator company in the area has a six month backlog of orders. As an assistant to the manager, you were asked to come up with a plan to get two new elevators installed within three months. You must present the plan at the next staff meeting. Please circle one problem statement 1. To get two elevators within three months 5. To keep upset tenants from moving 2. To improve elevator service in the building 6. To keep the offices fully rented 3. To get more people out of the building faster 7. To keep the manager happy with me 4. To keep the tenants in the building happy 8. To keep my job List several possible solutions for the problem statement you’ve chosen 1._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ this exercise was devised by CRA

8. What causes crime? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages Schemas aid people in understanding - The problem statement you choose shapes the solutions you generate - always make sure there is agreement about what the problem is - when no solution seems to work, change the statement of the problem Create decision agendas fight to define the problem--whoever wins the problem, determines the solutions

10. Enhancing the Clarity of Your Messages Use schemas to enhance your effectiveness 1. You can adapt your message to your listener’s schema 2. You can create a new schema for your listener

11. Creating and Maintaining Trust “Character may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion.” - Aristotle Reliability (consistency) Consistency in messages & standards Honesty (keep promises) No Lies or false feedback; “fess” up early Faith (Good will) Trust Vulnerability (Open) Engaging in behaviors desired by other but not by self; no misplaced benevolence; trusting others; perspective-taking; “take-care” of others; no blame Competency (Knows) Trust is about predictability Consistent business performance; Dealing effectively with problems

12. Building Competency Perceptions • Always cite sources • Cite your own competence (e.g., knowledge, background, occupation)…you or introduction.. Record of accomplishment • extraordinary accomplishments • esoteric accomplishments • Appear knowledgeable; be prepared more than others; details matter • Even turkeys fly in hurricanes…how do you perform in the tough time • Seek out crises • Be known for multiple competencies • Big picture thinking • Keep competent company • Effortful-effortless principle

13. Engage in perspective taking: Different people may see the same event or issue differently. People don’t say things they know to be wrong

14. Developing Perspective Taking Skills Seek out “interests” that underlie “positions” What? Why?

15. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Forge Partnerships Building Close Relationships Through Stories - Our lives revolve around stories - We think narratively - We learn many of our values via stories - We create and share bonds through stories - Stories are an especially effective way of communicating your ideas - People often “get it” through stories

16. The grammar of a story Obstacles Encountered Lesson Learned Main Characters Characters’ Goals Setting Resolution Successful Narrative Lesson that matches values interesting and fun; what do they look like, what do they sound like Event-Action-Suspense-Resolution

17. Keys for effective narrative: • Has a point; What do you want your listener to feel, believe, and remember from your story? • Told quickly • People need to sense you care about it • Authentic: Stories need to match who you are • Inclusive—others need to grasp idea and feelings • Suspense—something unexpected happens • Vivid details matter • Validate basic values • Is personal

18. Questions to asks to discover a story • What are some principles that matter to you? Why? Where did you learn them and their importance? • What really bothers you—people, events, ideas. • Think, “…for example….” ---ground them in specifics • What are some scenes from your past that were important pivotal events for you? Describe them in detail, including circumstances and characters. • How have your views of those scenes changed? How do the scenes still affect your life? • What has surprised you? Caught your attention? Why?

19. If you cannot tell stories, collect interesting “factoids” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20. Why Now? Strengths: What are our strengths that make it possible to pitch this idea? What makes this idea especially good? Weaknesses: What weaknesses exist in our environment that mandate this idea? Opportunities: What opportunities exist, right now, that make this the right time to pitch this idea? Threats: What is wrong with the status quo? What external threats mandate we adopt this idea? What are our vulnerabilities? Why now? What are the advantages of the idea? What does this idea do well? What are the positive changes facing us? What are the favorable trends? Strengths Opportunities match Internal External convert convert Weaknesses (constraints) Threats (vulnerability) What factors are threatening us? What could “kill” us? What could be improved? What is done poorly? Minimize/avoid Minimize/avoid

21. Threats Entry of foreign competition Introduction of new substitutes Resource shortage New regulations Product life cycle in decline Changing customer needs/tastes Rival firms adopt new strategies Increased regulation Recession New technology Demographics shifts Foreign trade barriers Poor performance of ally firm Opportunities • Rapid market growth • Rival firms are complacent • Changing customer needs/tastes • Opening of foreign markets • Mishap of rival firm • New product uses • Economic boom • Deregulation • New technology • Demographic shifts • Other firms seeking alliances • High brand switching • Sales decline for a substitute • New distribution methods

22. Create A Need Have A Plan Show Benefits What Happens If We Don’t Adopt

23. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Seek a Competitive Advantage Know the answer to WIIFT

24. Match Your Proposal to Decision-Makers’ Needs and Wants • Organizational Reputation • Financial • Efficiency • Individual Status • Relationship Enhancement • Productivity • Safety/Security • Appearing Effective or Creative • Pleasing Customers

25. Preparing to Persuade What Are The Likely Objections?

26. Preparing to Persuade Handling Objections & Questions • Over-prepare • Be the master of the follow-up response • Listen carefully (are you listening or just waiting to talk?) • Use every concern as an opportunity to further your case • Turn negatives into positive • Why no? What would it take for you to say yes? • What don’t you want to be asked? Write out the answers to those • Stay on message • Treat each as a valid concern • Clarify rather than argue

27. Features are different from benefits Because of _______ you can _________ which means ________ (feature) (function) (benefit)

28. And What Would This Mean? Bring Home the Point!!!!

29. Building Advocacy Skills People make decisions in biased ways.  Understanding those biases will aid in you in advocating your ideas

30. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Understand Biases The availability heuristic - People emphasize vivid, most available information The anchoring bias - People reference anchors they have for information Judges were asked to roll dice between reading the documents in a case and making their sentencing judgments. Those who rolled a one gave lower sentences than those who rolled a six. Restaurants will add some overpriced wines lower down on the menu to the ones at the top of the menu seem reasonable

34. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Understand Biases Nudging - Create settings, events that “make” people engage in different behaviors without feeling forced

35. Opt-in Versus Opt-out for Organ Donation Countries with opt-out systems have 25-30% higher donation rates than countries with opt-in systems. Among 17 European countries there is a 16.3% increase in donation when donation is the default. 12% 99%

36. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Understand Biases Escalation & Entrapment - People can get trapped into positions they don’t want to take Overcoming: Separate proposer from decision-maker The norming bias - People don’t want to appear deviant, especially in uncertain situations If you tell people what percentage of their neighbors has already paid their taxes, you are more likely to get late filers to pay than if you nag them in another way The likelihood that teenagers will become addicted to cigarettes increases with every smoking scene they see in movies

37. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Influence Opinions Balance Theory - People prefer consistency among their beliefs - When people believe there are inconsistencies among their beliefs they will try to restore consistency by making a change

38. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Influence Opinions “Lite” Beer ? + John + Famous Athletes

39. In 2010, sales of Lego's Taj Mahal kit rose 663% after soccer superstar David Beckham told fans in an internet chat that he had recently built the model, one of Lego's most challenging and expensive ($300), in a hotel room in Italy. Lego makes figurines representing Beckham and his wife, Victoria Celebrities appear in 20%-25% of TV ads in the U.S., 57% in South Korea, and 85% in Japan.

40. Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Influence Opinions “God” Term + + Your Listener Your Idea ?

41. Building Advocacy Skills Building Advocacy Skills Effective Advocates Influence Opinions Elaboration Likelihood Theory Two Routes to Persuasion • Central route: Attitude change that results from a person's careful consideration of information that reflects what that person feels are true merits of a particular attitudinal issue. Issue relevant thinking based on cognitive response [Positive thoughts-negative thoughts=degree of attitude change] - supportive cognitive responses yield attitude change • antagonistic cognitive responses preclude attitude change • balanced cognitive responding which leads to no alteration of attitude

42. The Place of Involvement—Central Route When people are involved, what persuades them? • high quality evidence • logical arguments • compelling statistics • comprehensibility of message • distractions How do you increase involvement? • create personal relevancy • create a sense of responsibility • create suspicion about motives and/or credibility of advocate • use rhetorical questions to prompt thinking • make a counter-attitudinal request

43. The Place of Involvement-Peripheral Route When people are not involved, what persuades them? • liking for advocate • credibility • attraction bias (what is good looking must be good) • numerous arguments (sheer quantity) • length means strength • perceived consensus • labels • Images and graphs (vs. statistics with involved)

44. Moods Affect Persuasion People in happy mood decrease their attention to argument strength Heuristic and global processing of information; reliance of general knowledge; less working memory available Positive mood Negative mood Effortful processing, careful, analytical, systemic, and detail-oriented Affect as Information Model: Moods provide people with conscious feedback about on-going non-conscious appraisals; positive moods signal things are safe and benign and thus careful processing is not important; negative moods signal a problem leading to a need to engage in careful and systematic processing Fighting the mood effect: Highlight the transient causes of the mood--Make the mood irrelevant to the task

45. Well Fed Judges Are Nicer Source: Danziger et al. Proc of Nat Acad of Sci, Mar-Apr, 2011

46. Perceived Confidence Perceived Competence “What convinces is conviction” Lyndon Johnson

47. Language intensity: The degree to which your language choices vary from neutrality. Perceptions of confidence are associated with greater language intensity. My idea is: Okay Good Great Issue Low Moderate High The new project has __________ potential Lots of His skills are _______ Adequate

48. Range of opportunity Too much Where most of us are Judgment Confidence

49. Strong qualifiers: Qualifiers can weaken or strengthen your statements A marker of confidence is the use of strong qualifiers “I think this idea might be one we maybe should consider.” The new plan is one I think we might explore. It has some features that could possibly make it somewhat successful. Apparently, there are a few features that could, under some circumstances, be helpful. But, it will depend upon how much it costs. It isn’t really that expensive so we should probably adopt it.

50. Lexical diversity: The amount of variation in your word choice Perceptions of confidence are associated with greater lexical diversity Firm -- Organization -- Company -- Business Plan -- Proposal -- Idea -- Concept Problem Talkative Clear