Looking for a great way to freshen up your presentation arguments? Use the news. Every day there are stories in the media with high drama to them: success, tragedy, victory, triumph, defeat, heroism. With a little creative thinking, you’ll find many ways to use them to drive home your point. Here’s an example.
You couldn’t miss the news last week reminding us that five years ago, after a flock of geese knocked out his plane’s engines, Captain Sully Sullenberger landed US Airways Flight 1549 with 155 passengers aboard safely on the Hudson River. That amazing feat became known as the Miracle on the Hudson. When asked how he managed to stay calm and land the plane successfully, one of the things he said was, “It’s what we practice for.”
This event and his response are rich, rich, rich with sales and persuasion metaphor possibilities. For example, following a reference to the news, you could use the Miracle on the Hudson
To persuade a doubting Thomas We can land this IT problem on the river successfully just like Sullenberger did. This is how we will do it…
To position your services competitively When Captain Sullenberger was asked how he managed to land a jet on the Hudson River, he said “It’s what we practice for.” We have over X years of “practice,” of working in this field, more than any firm in our industry, and are ready for anything that comes along.
To create urgency to take action We need to get rid of the geese before they hit our engines or we may not be able to survive. That’s why we need…
To rally a team to a cause Until he did it, no one would have thought you could land a plane on the Hudson River and have all 155 passengers survive, but with clear thinking and years of practice, that is exactly what Captain Sullenberger did. Today, no one thinks that we can grow to number one in our industry, but with our new strategy, and the combined years of experience we have put in place, that is exactly what we intend to do. And we need your help…
Never Run on “Empty”
Keep your communications fresh with timely metaphors and analogies. This week the nation celebrates Martin Luther King. How can you use this news to make your points more vivid, more, persuasive, and more memorable?
Anne Miller