Reading Notes For:
Address Fear through Frames
As we discussed earlier, the sequence of your presentation matters. Think in terms of the three P‘s—Predict, Preempt, Prevent. Often the tendency is for the presenter to ignore the fear of their audience.
Before ever delivering the message, address the fear, preempt the risks before they come up in thought or discussion. Reframe the negative and take a deeper look.
The best communicators and leaders don’t ignore the risks or negative information. They prepare their audiences for them, and they address them head on so they can move past them.
If someone learns about you from an article you wrote, a speech you presented, or even the mention of your name in a video or online, those frames contribute to solidifying your ethos. Conversely, if you’ve been recently disparaged on social media or became overly intoxicated at a company gathering, that hurts your ethos and sets you up in a negative frame.
Your Origin Story
A very powerful framing device is your origin story. It answers two big questions—how you arrived at where you are today and why you love serving the customers you serve. This is the frame that draws in your audience, creates credibility, and builds trust. It does not, however, build influence. That comes later.
The origin story—the frame—sets the context for you to deliver your value proposition or core message.
Using the three P‘s —Predict, Preempt, Prevent—we can predict that price will come up as a question or objection at some point unless the seller “claims the frame” and preempts or prevents that response. The influence objective is to shift the frame and conversation away from price and over to quality.