Fearless Change: from presentation to persuasion

1. Fearless Change:from presentation to persuasion Mary Lynn Manns manns@unca.edu www.cs.unca.edu/~manns Toastmasters District 37 Fall Conference      November 2009

3. What are your challenges in leading change?

6. Attempting to persuade with…. Force treats the symptoms rather than the underlying causes Laws, directives, policies, etc. do not create a fundamental change in thinking and behaving

7. Attempting to persuade with…. Fear works in the short term • Too frightening to contemplate • People use coping mechanisms • “Preventive innovations” have a low rate of adoption

8. Attempting to persuade with…. Facts provide knowledge knowledge – persuasion– decision – implementation – confirmation The mental activity at… … knowledge is cognitive (knowing) … persuasion is affective (feeling)

9. Is there another ‘F’ wordthat can createa fundamental change in thinking and behaving?

10. Feelings… • Behavior change happens mostly by speaking to a people’s feelings.(John Kotter) • People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but not forget how you made them feel.(Maya Angelou) • Our emotions drive our decisions and then we use logic and reason to justify our decisions.

11. Hummmm, I’m not sure I believe this

12. knowledge–persuasion– decision – implementation – confirmation

13. Knowledge:communicate information • Stress the core of your message • Elevator Speech • Just Enough • Concentrate on the possibilities • Small problems Step by Step; propose a strategy • Tackle preconceived notions • Myth Buster • Capture attention • Wake-up Call • Keep your message visible and frequent • In Your Space

14. Persuasion:transform information into action • Create an Emotional Connection • Match your idea to needs • Personal Touch • Use stories rather than statistics • Allow people to imagine the future • Imagine That!

15. Persuasion:transform information into action • Recognize what people are losing • Shoulder to Cry On • Address the fear • Fear Less • Build ownership • Group Identity • Express sincere thanks • Just Say Thanks

16. Making an Emotional Connection Inspire people to feel something. You want them to care enough to act. Other ways you can do this?...

17. Take-aways… • Facts, Fear, Force do not sustain action • Facts are the first step – provide awareness • Fear can be rationalized & dismissed • Force treats symptoms but does not fundamentally change behavior • Persuasion calls for an appeal to emotion rather than to logic • Help your audience feel something– inspire them to act.

18. Leading change is hard, but… You miss 100% of the shotsyou never take.

19. Fearless Change:from presentation to persuasion Mary Lynn Manns manns@unca.edu www.cs.unca.edu/~manns www.fearlesschangepatterns.com