How to Sell Your Story to Broader Audience

1. How to Sell Your Story to Broader Audience Durhane Wong-Rieger, PhD Consumer Advocare Network

2. Two kinds of PR Messages • Content Messages: Give Information • “Evidence-based” information • Given or Endorsed by Expert • Effective if perceived as logical, accurate • “Two all beef patties, special sauce, and a sesame bun.” • Emotional Messages: Create Impact • Evokes emotional response • Delivered by those affected • Effective if personally relevant to receiver • “I’m loving it.” Selling Your Story

3. There Is No Such Audience as “General Public” • Who is your Target Audience? • What do you need them to do as a result of hearing your message? • What “message” will convince them something needs to be done? • What “impact” does message need to make to compell action? Remember: • Peanut Butter Theory of Public Relations: • “The wider you spread it, the thinner it gets.” Selling Your Story

4. Start with Strategic Plan Selling Your Story

5. Right Message to Right Audience At Right Time • “We try harder.” PR Campaign = part of strategic plan • "Soon there will be 2 kinds of people. Those who use computers, and those who use Apples.” Right message depends on who is buying • “You’re in good hands”: Good PR builds relationships • “Did somebody say McDonalds?” Best PR may occur when you least expect it Selling Your Story

6. KEY INFLUENCE FACTORS Selling Your Story

7. Credibility: Do I Believe You? • Credibility is in the eyes of the beholder • Credibility based on: • Expertise • Trustworthiness • Goodwill (cares about other) • Credibility depends on situation and context (no one is believable all the time) Selling Your Story

8. Credibility Rule (Trust trumps substance) • If the person is credible, the substance of the message is less important • Credibility based on feelings of trust, sincerity, likeability • Content is information, logically processed • Credibility is emotional (trust, like) and has indirect impact • Limit to rule: if person is highly involved and message is highly relevant Selling Your Story

9. How to Increase Your CQ (Credibility Quotient) • Be prepared (know your subject mater) • Cite evidence and sources for position • Cite own or sources’ qualifications and expertise on topic • Build trust; be honest and sincere • Display goodwill (desire to help) Selling Your Story

10. How to Communicate Credibility • Use language and style which fit audience • Communicate with conviction (be assertive; avoid hesitancies) • Emphasize similarity to audience (“You can believe me because I’m just like you/”) • Involve audience; make your message relevant so they’ll pay attention to content • Borrow credibility; get endorsement from someone trusted by audience (especially if seemingly unsolicited) Selling Your Story

11. Know What Your Audience Already Believes • Everyone has an starating point “anchor judgment” and zone of influence (range of opinions that could be influenced) • Everyone has an anchor, or preferred opinion about a topic • Zone of influence = latitude of acceptance = range of opinions that are somewhat close to own • If too different, will reject • If somewhat similar, will assimilate to own position (and therefore feel no need to change own) Selling Your Story

12. Capitalize On Audience Characteristics • Cultural characteristics (individualistic or group orientation) • Anxiety, self-esteem, ego-involvement, authoritarianism (dogmatism) • Audience expectations of communicator and risks of “violating” expectations Selling Your Story

13. Structuring and Ordering Persuasive messages • Hard sell, Explicit conclusion (Tell what to believe) vs. Soft sell, Implicit (let audience draw own conclusions) • Explicit: • Straightforward message but people may resent being told • If lack knowledge or motivation, drect message more effective • Implicit • Valued because engaged but may draw wrong conclusion • If personally relevant, then implicit more effective • If already knowledgeable Selling Your Story

14. Structuring Messages • Quantity versus quality • Quantity: many weak messages more persuasive if audience not involved • Quality: few strong messages more effective if audience scrutinizing (central route) • Mere and repeated exposure makes messages more likable, acceptable but only if messages were personally relevant (paid attention to by receiver, central route) Selling Your Story

15. Structuring Messages • Primacy versus recency effects • If motivated, will pay attention to most recent (last) information; consolidate as go along • If unmotivated, will be most persuaded by first information (not pay attention to later) • Two-sided messages more persuasive • If two-sided were refutational (undesirable presented, then arguments presented against undesirable side) • Presenters perceived as more credible Selling Your Story

16. Motivational appeals • Logical or emotional mainly in eyes of receiver (prior beliefs, mood) • Compliance increases with reason given and size of request • When small request, reason not that important • When large request, reason (even if only semblance of reason), increases compliance • Fear or anxiety: greater fear, greater persuasion (under some circumstances) • Danger control (solution to situation) more effective than fear control (dealing with emotion) • Perceived efficacy: appeal to action effective if receiver perceives effective response and feels capable of carrying out response • So, use fear with workable, practical action Selling Your Story

17. Motivational Appeals • Appeal to pity and guilt: Jerry Lewis Telethon • Used in fundraising; if remove the pity or guilt (victim) factor, may not be able to succeed • Caution: if feel you have wronged other, may want to avoid further interaction; save face • If “stigma” was perceived as “uncontrollable” (disability) more effective than controllable (obesity) Selling Your Story

18. Motivational Appeals • Humorous: not change behaviour but can be useful adjunct • Capture attention with humor or joke • Distraction: divert from content of message and ability to scrutinize • Increase liking for presenter • Related to appeal • May or my not increase credibility Selling Your Story