Full Article and audio available at:  Knowledge@Wharton

In this age of artificial intelligence, globalization, automation — the one skill that can separate you not only from the technology that we create but from your peers is mastering the ancient art of persuasion. Combining words and ideas to ignite people’s imagination. – Carmine Gallo

Did you know that Aristotle had a three-part formula for persuasion? Did you know that almost all the great speeches in history use these three parts? So what are these three things…

“The brain does not pay attention to boring things.” That is why people like TED talks because they have visual presentation. It’s not all text and bullet points. In fact, bullet points are not allowed on a TED stage. They are based in narrative and story and compelling visuals. 

In order for me to persuade you to change your mind, I need to do three things. I need to have ethos, which is credibility and character. I need to have what Aristotle called Logos, which is a logical structure to my argument. In business, that means the data or the evidence to back up your argument. But the key is that you cannot persuade another person to change their mind without pathos, which is emotion. Everything about human nature — from the stock market to where we invest to how we vote — is based on our emotional narratives that we tell each other as groups and within individuals.

 “The great persuaders have an unfair competitive advantage.” When you pitch an idea, it’s still an idea, so 90% of what we’re communicating is an expectation of what we hope to achieve. We have to bring you into our vision. Today more than ever, entrepreneurs and business leaders need to be able to excite people about a vision and bring people into that journey. That’s a skill that sets people apart.
 
The art of persuasion, combining words and ideas to move people to action, is not a soft skill in today’s global environment. It’s fundamental to your success.

Everything above is from the edited transcript of the interview with Carmine Gallo that you can find at this link to Knowledge@Wharton.  You can likely learn even more in his recent book Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great (which I have not read, yet). I am sharing here because I thought it was excellent interview with a good message, and because we all benefit when we present better…

Wish you the best,
Douglas Diemel