Bite-Sized Training

Sell Your Idea!

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

Sell Your Idea!

Bite-Sized Training
This e-book is published by:

Mind Tools Ltd.

Copyright Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012. All rights

reserved.

Version 1.3

This e-book is protected by international

copyright law. You may use it only in
accordance with the terms of the license
agreement between your organization and Mind
Tools. If you have any queries, please contact
us at
http://www.mindtools.com/rs/LicensedBSTs.

Cover image iStockphoto/ermingut

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 2

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

Contents

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 4

2. Its All Just Rhetoric Until You Make It Real .................................................................................. 5

3. Reinforce Your Credibility.............................................................................................................. 6

4. Examine Your Audience ................................................................................................................ 8

5. What Is The Context Of Your Message? ..................................................................................... 10

6. Can I Have Your Attention, Please? ............................................................................................ 13

7. Story Time .................................................................................................................................. 16

8. Key Learning Points .................................................................................................................... 19

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 3


1. Introduction
How do you make your idea stick?
Selling your ideas to your boss, your teammates,
and your clients is critical to your success. If you
cant win their approval when it matters most, you
are going to hit brick walls in your career.
Being a salesperson is not a skill that comes
naturally to most of us. It feels awkward and
intimidating to put yourself on the line and pitch
an idea. You have to be really confident and you
also have to know what youre doing.
A good idea often isnt enough. You have to be
able to connect the idea to your audience what
do they need and want? How will your idea help
them get there?
Note, the pitch isnt about you. Sure, getting the
approval or decision you seek will help you meet
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
your needs too. However, your audience is really
only concerned with themselves. If you can tap
into the classic Whats in it for me? reaction,
youre well on your way.
This Bite-Sized Training session is designed to
help your audience see whats in it for them in a
way that is respectful and dignified. No
manipulation or tricks, just solid techniques to use
when you need to influence a decision. Well
cover:
Using the rhetorical triangle to craft
credible messages.
Applying the AIDA approach for maximum
impact.
Telling stories to connect with your
audience.
4

2. Its all Just Rhetoric Until You Make it Real
When you go to sell your idea, you need to be
persuasive. For most of us thats not a skill we
can just bring out on the spot. Formulating a solid
position requires thinking about what you want to
say and how you want to say it.
Fortunately, theres a handy tool to help us do
that: The Rhetorical Triangle is a great way to
gather your thoughts and present your position in
the best possible manner.
The Rhetorical Triangle
In a rhetorical triangle, there are three aspects of
an argument that you need to consider:
You.
Your audience.
The context.
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
These three factors frame the persuasiveness of
your argument. To sell your idea effectively you
need to consider all of them.
Lets use this example to work through the rest of
this module:
Youre a department manager. You have come
up with a plan to rearrange your staff that will use
each of their talents better. This will require a
wage evaluation for each staff member, and
some raises will almost certainly come out of it.
The companys financial resources are being
stretched thin by a recent acquisition; however,
you believe the improvement in productivity will
more than offset the financial cost of the
rearrangement.
5
 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

3. Reinforce Your Credibility

The first of the three factors you need to consider
is the impact you have on the message.
Managers and business people are naturally
skeptical. If theyre successful, theyll be well
practiced in spotting people who are seeking to
mislead them, or at least who arent authentic.
If this is the audience youre trying to persuade,
then youll need to let them know why they should
trust your opinion. More than this, theyll be trying
to second-guess your motives in making your
proposal. Some of the assumptions they make
will be right, but some may be wrong, so its worth
thinking about what they may assume, and
dealing with these assumptions.
This is why you need to establish your credibly
with your audience, and communicate who you
are as a person in a positive way. Some
questions you can ask about your credibility are
shown in the first column of the table below. The
second column shows the responses you might
give to these questions for our example situation.

What might people assume about you They might assume that Im just another manager only
when they first meet you? interested in the bottom line.
What motives will people expect you to They might assume that I want to get more work out of
have? them, that Im seeking to make job cuts, or that all I want
to do is make life easier for myself.
What motives do you need to What do you believe about the relationship among
communicate? motivation, productivity, and the task a person is
assigned?
What expertise and experience do you How long have you been a manager? What other
have that would lead people to trust you? department rearranging have you done?

Action: Think of an idea that you want to sell now Record your thoughts on the table on the next
or in the near future (or if youre struggling, use page.
the example on the previous page). Ask yourself
what you need to reveal to ensure that your
audience believes your message is genuine and
credible, and not tainted with an ulterior motive.

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 6

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

Why Should Your Audience Listen to You?

What assumptions will people make, and how will you deal with these?

What motives will people expect you to have, and what motives do you need to explain?

What expertise and experience do you need to communicate?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 7

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

4. Examine Your Audience

Next, you need to think about the audience
members themselves. You need to consider how
your message will affect them, and how you can
engage with them on an emotional level. By
understanding what motivates your audience, you
can uncover what it is about your idea that will
appeal most to them.
Really effective idea selling goes beyond the
features and benefits argument and gets to the
deep, emotional payoffs. What does that mean?
Lets look at it in terms of our example: instead of
simply saying that rearranging these jobs will
improve motivation and productivity, you take that
to the next level and articulate how the
reorganization will help people in your audience
get a bonus, get a promotion, look good in some
way, or get more satisfaction from their jobs. Ask
yourself the questions in the table below. Reflect
on the answers we have given for our example,
included in the second column.

Who are the members of my audience? My boss who has to approve the department
reorganization proposal.
What do they expect? He expects a concise summary, details, and a link to the
bottom line.
How will my idea benefit them? What Performance will improve and the increase in
performance goals will it help them meet? productivity will be reflected in increased sales.
Why are they interested? My bosss performance is linked to organization profits;
therefore anything that improves performance should
interest him.
What emotion can I appeal to, to connect Perhaps an enthusiastic presentation will help him feel
with them? the new energy the department will have after the
restructuring.

Action: Continue your rhetorical triangle able to convince them that your idea will have a
exploration. Discover all you can about your positive impact them, and record your answers in
audience and their motivations. You want to be the table below.

Who Are Your Audience and What Motivates Them?

Who are the members of my audience?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 8

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

What do they expect?

How will my idea benefit them, directly and at a deep, emotional level?

What emotional connection can I forge with them?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 9

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

5. What Is The Context Of Your Message?

This is the part of your presentation where you
explain your idea and provide supporting
information to bolster your claims. Your audience
needs to understand what you are saying and
believe that your message is true.
To do this effectively you need to examine the
context of your message. We have done this for
our example in the table below.
Tip:
An important consideration is the link between your
idea and the impact it will have on other
departments within your organization. When
devising potential ideas and choosing how to
present them, try to foresee what the objections
will be, and then use these to improve the idea.
Much like the disconnect between departments
made famous in Dilbert cartoons, you want to
make sure that what you are selling to the
marketing department will actually fly with the
engineers!

What circumstances led you to this idea Morale has been decreasing, as has productivity. A change
or argument? is needed to stop the downward slide.
What supporting evidence do you Productivity stats have shown a clear decline. There is a
have? What is the priority of your marked increase in absenteeism. Work that has to be
arguments? redone is increasing, and customer complaints have
increased substantially.
What are the counter-arguments? Do you show adequate appreciation? Have you tried
alternative motivation programs? Is it a workload issue?
How do you address each of these? Continued efforts in general appreciation and specific
programs to motivate have not been successful. I have
consulted with HR department for other resources. I have
implemented weekly one-on-ones to discuss issues related
to stress, conflict, and workload. The message I get is that
people are dissatisfied with the work they are doing and
need a change.

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 10

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

Action: Now, fill in the details in the table below, supporting evidence for your position.
about the context of your idea and provide

Put Your Idea in Context

What circumstances lead you to this idea or argument?

What supporting evidence do you have for it? List in order of priority.

What counterarguments could be made?

How do you address these counterarguments?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 11


Presenting your idea persuasively is not easy. By
applying the principles of rhetoric to your initial
planning, you can significantly increase the
success of your communication.
The better you are at presenting your ideas, the
more ideas you will pitch successfully. You will
gain a reputation for having great ideas and you
wont have as tough a time with the selling
aspect. Conversely, if you fail to reach your boss
and connect his needs to your request, you will
make it harder and harder to sell any of your
ideas. Take the time to examine your idea really
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
thoroughly and prepare what you will say before
you head in to talk.
Tip:
To learn more about the Rhetorical Triangle read
our article here.
Action: Review your notes, and extract the
messages you need to build into your
presentation.
12

6. Can I Have Your Attention, Please?
Now that youve thought about the elements that
you need in order to communicate a credible
message, you need to find words that will actually
sell your idea. Advertisers know that simply
presenting the information isnt enough; you need
a hook or something that inspires people to agree
with you and do what you want.
To set up a persuasive pitch or presentation, the
acronym AIEDA (traditionally this is AIDA, but
marketing-aware people need the extra E -
evidence!) is used to remind you of the elements
you need to consider. They are:
Attention (or Attract)
Use powerful words to catch attention and
inspire people to want to learn more.
Put your recommendation up front. This
way your boss knows what to expect and
can listen for the arguments as you go
along.
Morale is low and so is productivity. We
need a shake-up! I want to reorganize my
department so that people get real
satisfaction from their jobs, and work hard
as a result.
Interest
Put relevant information up front.
Briefly summarize the background
There is an increase in absenteeism and
medical leaves. Our department is
suffering from a lack of motivation. My
staff are telling me that they are deeply
bored with their jobs.
Evidence
Provide hard data to cast out skepticism
and doubt.
Assess the financial impact.
Develop a timetable where possible.
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
Studies show that matching employees
skills and interests with their work results
in performance gains. When people are
unmotivated they typically use any excuse
to skip work and they cause disruption
with the team. These things are
happening absenteeism has increased
15 percent in the last 2 months. Ive had
double the complaints from other
departments who use our output for their
own use. My plan to reorganize is based
on a careful examination of each
employees strengths. This reorganization
taken place over the next 4 months will
result in a much stronger team.
Desire
Appeal to personal needs and wants
(emotional benefits).
What are the consequences of not
accepting your idea?
We can make an impact on the bottom
line if we find a way to re-energize this
team. I want to be able to help you meet
your production goals. We can still
salvage the year if we do this
reorganization now.
Action
The action you want the person to take.
Can you please authorize the budget
increase needed to make this work?
Action: Think again about the idea you are
working on, or the example we gave at the start of
this module. Make notes for your AIDA approach
using the table on the next page. By doing this
you will reinforce the idea in your own mind and it
will help prepare you for your pitch.
13
 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

AIDA

What Powerful Action Words and Phrases Can You Use?

How Will You Build Interest?

What Evidence Can You Offer to Support This Interest?

How Can You Speak to Your Audiences Desire?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 14

 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

How Will You Convince Them To Take Action?

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 15


7. Story Time
When you are convinced you have a rock solid
idea and you have worked out how to describe it
and exactly why your audience should accept it
and take action, there is one element left. You
need to make a strong experiential connection.
You want your audience to really grasp why your
proposal makes sense.
If your audience could experience what you are
experiencing, they could better understand your
motivations, your rational, and your convictions.
But because its not practical to have them come
and work beside you for a while, you can use the
next best thing: a story.
A story is basically a proxy for a personal
experience. It helps you communicate by keeping
an audiences attention and helping them see
what you and your team experience without
actually having to do so themselves.
We tend to get very caught up in rational and
objective thinking and forget that decisions are
not made in a logical vacuum. Emotions and
subjectivity are always involved. Stories help you
link your rational arguments, the ones you
developed above, to the personal side of the
equation.
To tell an effective story there are a few things
you need to keep in mind. They are:
Be authentic your audience is highly
attuned to manipulation and will turn off
the minute they sense it. They can also
discern when you are exaggerating,
stretching the truth, or when you dont
believe what you are saying.
Appeal to the five senses create a
picture that awakens as many as possible
of sight, sound, hearing, touch, and taste.
Remember, though, that stories
supplement rational arguments; they dont
replace them.
Keep your story to three minutes or less
you need to capture attention and provide
details quickly and interestingly.
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
Practice your delivery you mustnt sound
rehearsed, however, you need to be
confident as well.
Have more than one story to rely on not
everything will appeal to all audiences.
Diversify your risk by having some back-
ups.
You can inject a story almost anywhere to
emphasize a point. However there are some key
places where a story really helps to sell your idea:
As an Introduction
The first thing your audience is looking at is your
credibility. Telling a story that shows them you are
a good person is much more effective than simply
telling them they should believe in you and trust
you.
Share mistakes showing a flaw is a
great icebreaker.
Talk about your experience building a
team shows you are in this to work
together
Share your struggles this relieves
suspicion and helps them see you dont
have a hidden agenda.
To Set Your Vision
Your idea is based on your hope for the future.
When you create a vision story, you let the
audience in on your deeper reasons for wanting
this idea to go through. You help them see how
your idea will impact the future even if that means
short-term sacrifice.
To Define Your Values
Its one thing to say you have integrity or that you
value dedication and honesty. Its quite another to
explain what you mean by these value-laden
words. What does integrity mean to you exactly?
Does it mean doing what you are told? Or does it
mean doing what you believe is right?
16

What about dedication? Is the person who works
for the same company for 30 years, hating every
minute of it and doing a mediocre job, more or
less dedicated than the person who changes
careers six times and gives 100 percent to each
of her employers?
By telling a story that demonstrates your values in
action, you allow the audience to understand
where you are coming from. They can then
determine how well your values fit with their own
and that of the organization.
My Introduction Story
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
Tip:
For a full discussion of using stories to sell ideas,
see our article on Business Story-Telling.
Action: Create your own introduction, vision, and
value stories using the boxes below. Remember
to be real and try to paint as full a picture as you
can. The objective is to have the audience feel
like they are part of your experience. Use the five
senses and create a robust scene that the
audience can really connect with.
17
 Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools

My Vision Story

My Values Story

Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012 18


8. Key Learning Points
Selling an idea is about connecting with your
audience. You need to look at both rational as
well as emotional ways to do this.
The Rhetorical Triangle provides a great
framework for developing your arguments and
creating a strategic approach.
Using AIDA you can then bring shape and form to
your ideas by creating the language you will use
to make your pitch or presentation.
Finally, story-telling is a great way to link your
facts and figures with the emotions and
Mind Tools Ltd, 2007-2012
Sell Your Idea! Bite-Sized TrainingTM | Mind Tools
experiences of the audience. This puts them in
your position and helps build trust as well as
understanding.
Whether you are selling proposals to clients or
pitching changes to your boss, you need to have
a solid understanding of how to best formulate
your arguments. Using these three tools will help
you develop really sellable arguments. This will
help you win over your audience and build your
reputation as a person who has really great ideas
that should be taken seriously.
19