For those of you who are not interested in the topic of persuasion, please click here. Otherwise, here you go courtesy of The Carnegie Success Connection Tip of the Week and their High Impact Presentations seminar. I’m hoping that by posting this that I will remember to come back and look at this again and again as I continue to learn the gentle art and skill of negotiations. I may be brokering arms deals after all this.
This is the e-mail I received back in April that I stumbled upon “coincidentally” today while looking for something else, which is, of course, my favorite way to find something. It begins with a reminder and plays on my last post. Cheers!
“Experience teaches only the teachable.”
- Aldous Huxley
Dear Angela:
The use of evidence is an essential part of an effective presentation. A question often in the mind of audience members, albeit one that may seldom be expressed, is, “Why should I believe you?”
It is not the audience’s responsibility to be convinced, rather, it is responsibility of the presenter to convince the audience. The greatest tool with which we might do this is the evidence we’ve discovered that made us believers in the first place.
This list provides a great model for the successful delivery of any such information that may help sell your case and conviction:
Demonstrations
Examples
Facts
Exhibits
Analogies
Testimonials
Statistics
If you are fascinated by (or are needing more information on) this topic, as I am, I heard a wonderful presentation a couple of years ago by master negotiator Herb Cohen. I have yet to read his book Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much. I do, however, think it’s time to take it off the shelf and give it a good read. Right after I dust it.
Here’s to win-win!
p.s. I hope that if Herb stumbles on this blog that he gives me some kickback for any book sales. 
Just a request, since we’re negotiating, right? Note to self: hock Diesel’s book at first opportunity.
p.p.s. For those of you wondering how the roller coaster thing worked out, it was okay. Just okay. I saw a train in the park and got entirely too depressed and all in all wish we hadn’t gone without LJ. It just wasn’t the same, and while I had a couple of moments of living in the moment, it was pretty much a bust. I did learn, however, that trips with only one kid aren’t nearly as fun as trips with both, so I can use that for future ass-melding to the couch on the weekends when we don’t have both. Just keeping it real.
