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Sharon Ferrier

How knowing your audience can make you more persuasive.

In order to persuade, we need to understand ourselves and others.

Last month I introduced you to DISC and discussed how understanding yourself and others can make you more persuasive. If you need a refresher, please review my last article.

In this month’s newsletter we’ll look at how you can tailor your presentation to best influence the type of audience you have. It is useful to first make an assessment of your audience.

Let’s say, for example, that you are speaking to a group of engineers. Ask yourself: In general, are they likely to be task oriented or people oriented? More introverted or extroverted?

In my experience engineers tend to be more task oriented and introverted which puts them in the ‘C’ category. What about sales people? You’ll usually find they fall into the ‘I’ group – extroverted and people oriented.

Different behavioural styles require different approaches.

Here are the four different personalities styles and how you can best appeal to them.

D – Dominance

Direct & assertive

Get to the point – NOW!

Waffle at your own risk. You will find a higher incidence of D style personalities in senior management/CEO level. Because of this I developed the ‘Persuasive Executive Summary’ workshop to provide people with the skills to design a presentation to appeal to the D’s. When presenting to this group you want to come across as confident and assertive. Start your presentation boldly with your recommendation and then follow with the supporting data and conclude again by summarising your recommendations with conviction.

I – Influence

Outgoing and talkative

The I’s LOVE to chat.

I had a client who I was coaching recently who was presenting to an audience of 150 sales people. She was planning to lecture to them for three hours delivering vast amounts of technical information.

Disengagement and  boredom would have quickly set in. Instead I suggested she treat her presentation as more of a workshop. Limit the information to the bits that were relevant to them and allow the group plenty of time to discuss, review and process before moving on.

S – Steadiness

Easy going & amiable

S=Stability. Don’t rock the boat.

An audience made up of predominantly S’s can be a real problem when your objective is to get them involved and contributing well. If you’re an extrovert like me, the more you challenge and push them, the more they close down.

There are a couple of things you can do to win this group over:

1. Don’t put them on the spot. If you want them to contribute, then give them warning. On the meeting agenda let them know that you want them to bring ideas on this subject to discuss.
2. Put them in small groups. S’s don’t like being the centre of attention. They will be more comfortable discussing their ideas in a group of five than having to speak up in front of a group of 40.

And if you are an extrovert, you may want to consider tempering your style, give them the time and space they need to shine.

C – Compliance

Precise and analytical

This group loooooooves detail!

Depending on your presentation objective you may not be able to include the level of detail they require, but there are two things you can do:

1. Brainstorm your topic well to uncover all the curly questions as they will want to know the answers.
2. Include more detail and your contact information in your handout as they will read it and want to contact you later.

I was using an iceberg analogy recently and said 10% of the iceberg floats above the water…. a geophysicist interrupted me with a correction; I was wrong he said, “12.8% of the iceberg floats above the water… and then of course you need to consider the iceberg’s density..”

I rest my case.

A little advice:

DISC is a great starting point as it can help you target your message and create rapport quickly. Just keep in mind though, that these are generalisations and every person is unique and their life experience will alter their perception of your message.

Just because you are an ‘S’ or ‘D’ doesn’t mean you can’t function effectively in other quadrants. We all have the ability to stretch and change…

DISC Advanced

To really understand your strengths and weaknesses, DISC Advanced is the way to go.

DISC Advanced provides you with far greater detail and a 20 page report with a SWOT analysis and recommendations for working with your strengths.

As an Accredited DISC Advanced facilitator I can help you and your team uncover the benefits of self understanding.

Knowing me, knowing you…

In order to persuade, we need to understand ourselves and others.

Persuasion is not about being pushy. Persuasion is about looking at the problem from the other person’s perspective and then explaining your own views in order to influence their decisions.

If you want to be persuasive you need to be able to understand yourself and your reactions as well as understand other people’s perceptions. The DISC model groups four common behavioural patterns found universally in all people on earth. This simple four quadrant model is used to articulate the common ways that all human beings tend to act and communicate. 

Here are the four different personalities and their characteristics.

D – Dominance

Direct & assertive

People who are high in the D quadrant tend to be task oriented and extroverted. They may be described as ambitious, driven, decisive, competitive, strong-willed, pioneering and aggressive. 

I – Influence

Outgoing and talkative

People who score high on the I scale are more outgoing, extroverted and people oriented. They can be described as sociable, demonstrative, trusting, enthusiastic, persuasive, talkative and impulsive.

S – Steadiness

Easy going & amiable

People who score high on the S scale are more introverted and people oriented. The may be described as relaxed, non-demonstrative, stable, passive, patient, consistent and predictable.

C – Compliance

Precise and analytical

People who are high on the C scale have high attention to detail. They can be described as careful, cautious, neat, accurate, firm, systematic and diplomatic.  

A little advice:

By now you probably have an idea of which quadrant you align with. But before you self diagnose may I suggest that you take a simple online test to give you more of an objective view.

Many years ago when I first read about DISC, I assumed that I was an ‘I’ profile. It was only after an extensive DISC profile test that it became clear that I was a ‘D’.

I wish I had known this information before, as it explains why I feel frustration at ‘all talk and no action’ meetings as well as my dislike of structure and routine.

 

DISC Advanced

To really understand your strengths and weaknesses, DISC Advanced is the way to go. 

DISC Advanced provides you with far greater detail and a 20 page report with a SWOT analysis and recommendations for working with your strengths.

As an Accredited DISC Advanced facilitator I can help you and your team uncover the benefits of self understanding.

DISC Facilitation now available

I’m now a DISC Advanced Facilitator. I chose to be accredited in DISC because of its ease of use in the workplace.

Here are some of the benefits of DISC:

The DISC ADVANCED® Profile
A profile tool for measuring the person’s behavioural style.

The profile provides the following information:

• Behavioural style overview
• Attributes describing the person
• Communication style
• Learning style
• How the person responds to supervision
• How the person prefers to make decisions
• What motivates the person
• What the person fears
• Strengths and weaknesses
• Work style tendencies
• What type of work environment the person prefers
• How the person appears under stress and what they need
• Conflict behaviours

The report also has an advanced “application” section providing an array of “what now” tools and tips including:

• Tips for others on how to communicate with the subject
• Strategies to reduce conflict and increase harmony
• Action Plan – worksheets, which enable the subject to create desired change
• An overview of the various styles
• How to identify another person’s behavioural style
• How to adapt to the various styles
• How to communicate with the various styles
• Identifying tension among the styles
• Tension among the styles worksheet
• Communication plans with the various styles

What are some of the applications?

Some of the most common applications for DISC ADVANCED® profiles in organisations worldwide are:

• Leadership Development
• Organisational Development
• Team Building
• Communication and Interaction skills training
• Sales Training
• Recruitment
• Internal Promotion Selection/Development
• Succession Planning
• Customer Service Training
• Coaching
• Conflict Resolution

and of course……………

Simply getting the best from your most expensive resource – People.

The DISC ADVANCED® Profile is very easy to use. Unlike other “personality tests”, it is designed specifically for the workplace.

The DISC ADVANCED® Profile is a useful tool not only for the individual him/herself, but for everyone communicating with that person. Its main purpose is to increase understanding of human behaviour; our own and others.

If you or your team would like more information about DISC, please contact me for an obligation free chat over a cup of coffee. sharon@persuasivepresentations.com.au