Grab Their Attention
In the movie, "The Player" during a scene at a Hollywood studio executive meeting Mr. Levy shows Reeve, the central character, how to pitch a potential movie story. Levy holds out a newspaper, saying, " Here, read a headline, any headline." Reeve responds : "Um . . .'Immigrants Protest Budget Cuts in Literacy Program.'" Levy: "Human spirit overcoming economic adversity. Sounds like Horatio Alger in
and the barrio. You put in Jimmy Smits, you got a sexy 'Stand and Deliver.' Next?" Robert Kosberg, a Hollywood producer convinced a studio to make the 1993 pets
-gone-wrong movie "Man's Best Friend." His pitch was "Jaws on Paws". How quickly can you attract someone's attention and interest?
See the power of spare, specific details over speed and volume of speech? The stories we tell about each other ? and the people with whom we want to share
our stories are where we create meaning and friendships. As you speak vividly
about your experiences with others you make those stories more meaningful and
memorable for them to recall and repeat. You become a more central part of their lives. Here's some ways to talk and write so other repeat what you say ? with pride and
joy. Each are easy to practice. 1. Be brief. If your characterization is sufficiently short then you can repeat it, as an aside or
reminder throughout a conversation. Others are more likely to remember and
repeat it. Here's some ways to be pithy: A. Use a familiar word in a new way and you might even capture a trend:
Example: Futurist, Faith Popcorm, predicted five years ago that people would want
to be "cocooning" in their home. B. Be catchy, using one or more of these devices: ? Alliteration: "Peak performance" and "high tech/high touch." ? Rhyme: "Jaws on Paws" ? Repetition: "First things first", Steve Covey's advice. ? Puns: Tongue Fu!, title of book by Sam Horn. C. Employ an unexpected turns of phrase: To connect with people upon first
meeting, I suggest "going slow to go fast." 2. Make favorable comparisons with familiar objects When people in your work world are immersed in their jargon, your remarks can
stand out when you make a comparison with a well-liked product, person or
situation from outside your profession or industry. Example: At the high stakes Quist H & Q Healthcare conference, venture capitalists
hear 20-minutes talks by CEOs of start-ups and public companies who seek funding
or favorable stock analysts' reporters. The tension is high and the schedule is
packed. Most presenters speak fast, using a mix of highly technical scientific and
finance language. The speaker from bio-tech company, Amgen, walked past the
podium to the center of the stage, pulled up one suit and shirt sleeve to bare his
raised forearm. He opened his talk, saying, " You will feel the effects of this medical
patch faster than it takes a Porsche to go from zero to 90. " 3. Hijack a familiar slogan to use in a new way. After a company has spent millions to make a slick slogan well-known, twist it in a
new direction for your intended meaning.
Example: Redwood Hospital in Northern California used this billboard variation of
the popualr milk slogan to ask for blood donations: "Got blood?" 4. Anchor your suggestion in a relevent story
To pull people into hearing and remembering your view, set it up with a brief
anecdote. Example: What if you wanted to suggest that people were looking at a problem
from the wrong perspective? Consider offering this story first: There is an old joke
in Soviet Russia about a guard at the factory gate who at the end of every day saw a
worker walking out with a wheelbarrow full of straw. Everyday he thoroughly
searched the contents of the wheelbarrow, but never found anything but straw. One
day he asked the worker: "What do you gain by taking home all that straw?" "The
wheelbarrows." 5. Bungle your translation to bring humor If you are with a worldly group, offer your variation of a well-known expression in a
foreign language. Change a single letter and provide a definition for the new
expression.
Share these rules and your expression with your colleagues and ask for their
contribution. New York magazine held such a contest in 2001. Here's some of the
winning contributions: HARLEZ-VOUS FRANCAIS: Can you drive a French motorcycle?
IDIOS AMIGOS: We're wild and crazy guys!
RESPONDEZ S'IL VOUS PLAID: Honk if you're Scottish.
POSH MORTEM: Death styles of the rich and famous.
ALOHA OY: Love; greetings; farewell; from such a pain you would never know.
VISA LA FRANCE: Don't leave your chateau without it.
VENI, VIDI, VELCRO: I came, I saw, I stuck around.
ZITGEIST: The Clearasil doesn't quite cover it up. 6. Veil the truth in humor So much of life is fast-paced and tense. Consider opening a meeting with mock-
serious inspiration or admonition, then grinning. You'll find true life, Dilbert-like
examples everywhere that you can keep for your dry humored use. Here are some of my favorites, gathered by Accountemps one year: "What I need is a list of specific unknown problems we will encounter." (Lykes Lines Shipping) "This project is so important, we can't let things that are more
important interfere with it." (Advertising/Marketing manager, United Parcel Service) 'We know that communication is a problem, but the company is not going to
discuss it with the employees." (Switching supervisor, AT&T Long Lines Division) 7. Encapsulate a Situation
Offer a vignette that captures an emotion Example: In late 2002 a book by Jenny Lee will be released, entitled: I Do. I Did,
Now What?: One Woman's Musings on Married Life, which the agent characterized
thusly (after getting our attention): "a rant that (almost despite itself) ends up as a
celebration of marriage." Financial analyst, Alan Parisse shared this perhaps apocryphal newspaper
advertisement with me: "For sale. Infant shoes. Never used." Kare Anderson is the author of LikeABILITY (see Grand Store at
http://www.SayitBetter.com), Make Yourself Memorable and SmartPartnering. A popular
speaker on SmartPartnering and on how to be more frequently-quoted to become
your kind of customers' top- of-mind choice, she also publishs the SayitBetter
newsletter, with 32,000 subscribers in 28 countries
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