How something is presented has an effect on how it is received.
“No duh.” Right? We’re marketers here. Our job is presenting things to create an effect.
No wait, keep reading … Hear me out. We should be using these super persuasion powers of ours to help our companies be more innovative. So many innovative ideas get quashed early—never making it off the whiteboard. Not because the ideas are bad, but because of the way they were presented.
Psychologists have found that the more assertively you express an idea, the more likely it is the person hearing it will resist it.
Experiments were conducted in which an idea was presented to someone in one of two ways: either as a proposal or as a suggestion. As a proposal, the idea was given as a statement: “What you should do is … ” As a suggestion, the same idea was expressed as a question or reflection: “I wonder if … ?”
When an idea was proposed, almost half of the recipients received it skeptically and challenged the idea. (Sound familiar?)
When the same idea was suggested, only 1 out of five recipients stated difficulties. Telling people what to do can make them defensive, push back, and shut ideas down. Putting forward a suggestion makes it impersonal—allowing the idea to be adopted in the mind, instead of forced.
As the graphic shows, if you suggest ideas they are more likely to be adopted and developed than if you propose them.
When presenting new ideas—especially in situations where you expect others to be defensive avoid phrases that begin with:
- What you should do is …
- I think you ought to …
- The best idea would be to …
- If I were you I would …
Instead, put your ideas forward as suggestions. Take out references to “you.” Try these:
- I wonder if it would be possible to …
- Has anyone ever thought of …
- I don’t suppose we could …
- What if it were …
That same persuasion we use to woo customers should also be considered when we’re trying to develop innovative ideas within our organizations. Next time you have a “crazy idea that just might work,” don’t propose, suggest it.
(I learned this technique from the the book Out Of The Box: 101 Ideas For Thinking Creatively by Rob Eastaway. The study was mentioned in the book Improve Your People Skills by Peter Honey.)
Tags: brainstorming, Innovation, new+ideas, resistance
Hi Paul,
From an innovation perspective, I agree with you. At the same time, I’m often leery of advising people to couch their ideas with “maybes.” The reason is one of gender & perception. Too often women (especially early in their careers) tend to suggest rather than proposing while their male counterparts are more forceful in standing behind their ideas. Guess who tends to get the attention, the plum assignments, and the quicker upward career trajectory?
Of course, as with everything, the context is key. Interesting post — and good food for thought.
Happy Friday,
Daria
Paul, your post made me think about the ways I present my ideas. I usually get excited and passionate, and try to use words such as, “You may want to consider…” or if-then statements.
Daria makes a good point about women. As confident, strong women, we still have to watch ourselves that we don’t intimidate both men and women. That’s why I add humor to the mix. It helps to break down barriers.
Excellent food for thought. Thanks.
Paul…Thanks…Good Post
As someone who has always been in front of a great many people, I have discovered a Key phrase which has always worked well for me – Attraction not Promotion.
People will pay attention if they find something attractive in the Marketing Message – something that relates to them. This is not to suggest “Confidence” or “Passion” should be excluded from any message – on the contrary – but too much of either one makes the message appear like “Preaching” – something most people do not like in any way, shape or form.
Does all of this sound like Psychology? My experience has shown – Marketing is often a euphemism for Psychology.
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