We live in an age of technological advancement where our primary mode of communication is nonverbal. Email is the bane of our lives.

We share our daily activities for good or ill on Facebook, we express our thoughts and opinions on Twitter and open a window into our lives by listing photos on Instagram or Pinterest. We can now allow others literally to look through our eyes and in real time experience our life as we live it on Facebook’s Instant Video.

YouTube enables us to speak to a wider audience and share our knowledge, offer our help and explain in greater depth our offering.

Eventually robots with take over the mundane tasks of our lives and hopefully we will be free to pursue creative and life enriching activities.

Perhaps we will live in a world where, as in Star Trek, we will be fitted with universal translators so that we can instantly understand what is being said to us in a myriad of languages.

In fact that ability is already with us to translate the written word. Using programmes such as

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/translator or https://www.babelfish.com/

BUT – Where is the human interaction? How can we prevent our words being misinterpreted, our actions misjudged and our best intentions left open to abuse?

It has been said that ‘no deal has ever been done without a conversation’ so today more than ever we need to be able to communicate our intentions, aspirations and ideas through the medium of speech.

My belief is that the pendulum is swinging back and that face to face communication is becoming more and more important.

Much of my current coaching activity is focused on enabling executive, sales teams and business owners to convey their message verbally 1-2-1 or to larger groups. In network meetings, at conferences and company events the importance making eye contact with your ‘audience’ is essential.

The fall back mechanism in these situations is to use Power Point. This is almost like writing a visual email. There are better way to present.

The keys to creating a business winning presentation, pitch or video on your website are the 3 E’s. A framework for the delivery of your ideas.

The 3 E’s – ENGAGE – ENLIGHTEN – EXCITE

More detailed evaluation of this process can be found on the blog

In addition CONGRUENCY is the key – What you say, how you say it, and how you look when you say it are the psychological triggers that ensures ‘buy in’ for what you are saying.

I am in the process of completing the writing of my book the working title for which is

The M.O.S.C.O.W. Method – How to Sell Without Selling

As part of the research for the book I have analysed the speeches of the great orators of our time.

Some of the videos are quite long but the content and the lessons learnt are worth the time spent.

COULD YOU ‘SELL’ GOD TO MILLIONS?

The above is the video of a benediction given by Dr. Joseph Lowery at the inauguration of Barack Obama. I was amazed at how 2 million Americans of many colours, creeds and backgrounds came together in the freezing Washington air to bear witness to this historic event?

For me Dr Lowery an elderly pastor captured the mood and emotion of the occasion. It was not only the content of his presentation that captured my imagination but also the style of his delivery.

He started very haltingly but then his voice gained strength as did the power and poetry of his words. The following extract for me encapsulates the cleverness of his discourse.

“….we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around… when yellow will be mellow… when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right.”

2 million people then in a single joyous voice joined with him to chant Amen, Amen, Amen. How many of the countless millions watching throughout the world caught up in the moment joined with him in the Amens

Also in the speech were many cleverly crafted biblical references “when tanks will be beaten into tractors” (swords in to ploughshares) and noteworthy phrases that embraced all “when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree” but in these few words of colour he painted a picture of disadvantage, discrimination and repression that had been suffered for decades.

What are the lessons we can learn from this speech to ‘sell’ to our ‘audience’? How can we introduce arguments and proposition to influence others? The answer: –

We need to capture people’s hearts before we cannot capture their minds.

This oration is an impressive demonstration of what creates power, impact and influence in verbal and nonverbal communication.

Over the next few weeks I will be illustrating my findings and hope that they offer some insights into how you can present your products, services, projects or ideas.

The M.O.S.C.O.W. method will be available to pre-order shortly.