Say it So They Want to Hear More

You can feel the tension in the compressed smiles, quick nods and blunt questions at an annual Morgan Stanley Global Healthcare conference. Schedules are packed as the high-stakes finance crowd gathers to hear 20-minute rapid-fire talks by CEOs of start-ups and public companies who seek funding or favorable stock analysts’ reports.

Presenters spoke quickly, using complex medical and financial terms.

In contrast, my client, the CEO of a new biotech company strolled on stage, looking warmly around the room as he rolled up his suit sleeve. Then he rolled up his shirtsleeve. He raised his bare forearm, pointing at a patch on it. “When patients put on our medical patch they will feel the pain-relieving effects faster than the latest Porsche can go from zero to 90,” he said, rapidly sweeping his arm from left to right as he finished his sentence.

He involved them by:

• First showing warmth, then competence, the counter-intuitive sequence that boosts trust

• Using motion to attract and hold attention

• Making his body a “billboard” for his message, with the sweeping arm gesture to reinforce the core point of speed.

• Starting with specific details, rather than general conclusions. The specific detail proves the general conclusion — not the reverse — yet we are more likely to begin with generalizations and answer questions the same way.

He made a comparison to something that was familiar and desirable for that audience, at that time,

By linking the speed of the medication’s effect to a Porsche’s acceleration, he was evoking the “Compared to what?” conversational cue. We are wired to draw connections between things, even where there aren’t any.

If your “Compared to what?” connection grabs people’s attention, you have set the context in which people will view it and decide upon it, just as a general chooses terrain favorable to winning a battle.

Here are three more tips for becoming more frequently quoted and attracting support, sales or other kind of involvement you desire:.

1. Use a familiar slogan in a fresh way: After a company has spent millions to make a slogan familiar, skew it in a new direction for your intended meaning. Piggybacking on the famous “Got milk?” slogan, the Redwood Hospital in Northern California launched a billboard campaign to seek blood donations with this appeal: “Got blood?”

My friend, Paul Geffner, once owned a chicken take-out joint in San Francisco called Poultry in Motion.

2. Startle with specifics: “Ten times as much funding is devoted to research on the prevention of male baldness as malaria, a disease that kills more than 1 million people each year,” said Bill Gates on the need for creative capitalism to serve more people.

And venture capitalist John Doerr, who has invested in green technology, likes to say, “We can bail out the economy — we cannot bail out the environment.”

In a TV commercial for outdoor gear maker REI, we see the backs of two women who are sitting atop a peak, taking in the scenery at night, when the announcer intones, “October 28th. Jenny Kruger finds out that even the finest four-star restaurant is no match for one with 4 million stars.”

3. Add a dash of dry humor: A Cuban, after apologizing because he could not offer his guests anything to eat, explained the consequences of Castro’s Revolution: “The three successes were education, healthcare and sports. Three failures were breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

Now, more than ever, your capacity to create indelible messages is vital. More than money, smarts, social standing, or attractiveness, in this increasingly complex yet connected world, being most frequently quoted can keep you or your brand top-of-mind.

When asked how he managed to write such gripping horror novels, Stephen King once responded, “I cut out the boring stuff,” and so can you. As a journalist, I slogged through more interviews than I care to recall, in which smart newsmakers would often drown in their own generalizations and jargon, despite being desperate to make a point across.

Don’t make that mistake.

Despite all the articles advising us to tell stories, we have many more situations where we need a vivid, relevant opening vignette or simply a comment that pulls others into wanting to hear more.

Interestingness, like a cork tossed in the water, inevitably bobs up to the top of our attention.

Hint: Whoever most vividly characterizes a situation determines how others see it, talk about it, and act on it.

Please share, by commenting here, one of your favorite tips for pulling others in to hear more about your idea, product, cause or other topic.