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You're listening to the Nonprofit Power Podcast.
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In today's episode, we reveal why your carefully prepared information may be failing to engage decision makers.
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So stay tuned.
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If you want to have real and powerful influence over the money and policy decisions that impact your organization and the people you serve, then you're in the right place.
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I'm Kath Patrick and I've helped dozens of progressive nonprofit leaders take their organizations to new and higher levels of impact and success by building powerful influence with the decision makers that matter.
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It is possible to get a critical mass of the money and policy decision makers in your world to be as invested in your success as you are.
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To have them seeking you out as an equal partner.
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And to have them Bringing opportunities and resources to you.
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This podcast will help you do just that.
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Welcome to the Nonprofit Power Podcast.
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Hey everybody.
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Thank you so much for tuning into another episode of the Nonprofit Power Podcast.
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I'm your host, Kath Patrick.
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I'm so glad you're here for today's episode.
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Tell me if this sounds familiar.
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You've identified what you want from a decision maker and you're ready to make your case.
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You got your facts all lined up.
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Your logic flow is great.
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You got it all lined up in a slide deck.
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Your infographics are brilliant.
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And then you lay it all out for the decision maker.
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And it falls flat.
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They don't buy what you're selling.
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They don't engage.
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Maybe they don't even fully pay attention to your whole pitch.
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And you're left wondering what the heck happened.
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I gave them every piece of information they need to make the right decision.
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The facts are all there.
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The logic is all there.
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How come they're not getting it?
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If anything like this has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating it is.
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And it's easy to think that the problem is the decision maker.
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But the reality is, it's very likely that your messaging strategy is flawed.
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That you skipped some critical steps in the engagement process.
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And it's very possible that your informational materials are missing some key content.
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The good news is you can fix all of that.
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When you want to influence a decision maker to take a particular action, it's definitely important to have good information and to be prepared to share it.
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But over relying on that and expecting otherwise excellent tools like infographics and one-pagers and slide decks to do the job of engaging decision makers, is a recipe for disappointment.
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It's so important to understand that these tools are not functional as standalone pieces.
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They are pretty much worthless without context and without relationship.
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Simply providing information doesn't get you very far.
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In fact, information alone rarely persuades anybody of anything.
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It has to be wrapped in context and connection.
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It has to be part of a larger strategic relationship building and engagement process.
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If you just give information to someone you're assuming a lot.
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You're assuming that they're going to understand it.
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That they're going to value it.
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Absorb it.
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And then integrate it into their thinking about the topic at hand.
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None of that is going to happen if there's any friction whatsoever.
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And friction can be all kinds of things.
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It can be that they don't know you well enough yet.
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And so they don't necessarily trust whatever information you're handing them.
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It could be that they have some beliefs that run counter to what your information is telling them.
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In which case they will simply filter out your information cause it doesn't agree with what they think is true.
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It could be they're distracted and not really paying attention because their mind is somewhere else.
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It could be they're just not that interested and they don't see why they should care.
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If you've got any of that kind of friction going on, your informational stuff is simply not going to penetrate.
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So first, you got to do some other things.
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You've got to do the intensive work of building know, like, and trust and cultivating an individual relationship with the decision maker.
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There is no way around it.
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You must develop that relationship.
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And we've talked about that endlessly in many episodes of the podcast, so I know you know this.
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Even when you have the relationship.
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If you go in with an information focused pitch, you will likely find that it doesn't land.
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So it's about more than the relationship.
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But if you don't have the relationship, the chances are they're not even going to listen to you in the first place.
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So from a messaging standpoint, you have to create the context and connection from which you want them to receive and integrate your information.
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This is the part about why should they care?
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How is this relevant to them?
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How is this relevant to the stuff they're concerned about?
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There has to be context.
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There has to be connection.
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There has to be a reason for them to care.
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Do not present your key information until you have connected and made them care.
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This is one of the biggest mistakes I see happen a lot.
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And some of the drivers for it are that people get nervous.
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They want to make sure they get all their stuff in while they have the decision makers attention.
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But even that theory is fundamentally flawed because the way you get their attention is you hook them around something that they already care about.
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And then you tie your stuff to that.
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So to achieve this, you want to structure your messaging to give context and make them care, and to be easily integrated into their existing thinking.
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And that requires using what you know about what they already care about, and how they think about the problem you're addressing.
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So that includes questions like, do they agree that the problem you address is a serious problem?
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Or do they not really understand the impact that the problem has on the people in the community, on their constituents, on their customers, depending on which kind of a decision maker you're dealing with.
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Do they even see the problem you're addressing as something that is serious and needs to be dealt with?
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If not, you need to focus on that.
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If they feel like yes, it's a problem, but there are other problems that are more significant.
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Then you want to understand what those other problems are that they think are more significant.
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And figure out what connects those and what brings your problem into the realm of significance for them.
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If this decision maker tends to look at things from a cost analysis perspective, then you want to bring to them a conversation about the problem and the cost of it not being solved.
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So you would frame the problem primarily in terms of the cost that it incurs to whichever arena they're dealing with.
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Whether it's a societal cost, whether it's a government cost, whether it's a company cost.
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It depends on the context, but there's always a cost associated with not solving a problem or with solving it only halfway.
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And you need them to understand that.
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So you would probably come at the conversation from that angle.
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So all of this is designed to use what you know about how they think about the problem, and what they already care about.
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And bring those together and create context for the problem that you solve so that they are motivated to be interested in solving it.
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Then they want to hear about your solution.
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Then they want to hear about whatever it is you want them to do to become a co problem-solver around this.
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There's a distinction between information and context.
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Context isn't purely information.
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It's not purely factual.
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This is this.
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That is that.
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Here's how this thing works.
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Although that is part of it.
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And a lot of what I've just been talking about is really about framing.
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It's about inviting the decision maker to think about the problem in a particular way.
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And to give them hooks to help them see the problem in a different light, in a light that shows them how the things that they already care about are actually closely aligned with the problem you're talking about and the solution you're proposing.
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Only when you have engaged them in this way and gotten them on board with the concept that, yeah, this is a problem.
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It's a problem that needs solving.
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For whatever reasons are aligned with what they care about.
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Then you can share with them supporting information, facts, data.
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Your logic flow, your logic model of how this gets addressed.
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But you can't talk about your proposed solution until you've got their agreement that the problem is actually a problem.
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And that is the step that most often gets skipped.
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So let's presume you've now done that.
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And now you're ready to share some more of the information.
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The comparative facts, the analysis, the data, the outcomes.
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All the things that now, because they have agreed that the problem is important and needs solving, and that they are invested in helping to solve the problem, you can bring forward your information and your analysis and your data about how best to solve it.
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And what the impact will be when it is solved.
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Which again, you're going to frame in terms that align with what the decision maker cares about.
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So framing is critical throughout this process.
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If you frame your information in terms of what you think is important.
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It may or may not land at all with a decision maker who thinks that other things are important.
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But there's almost always a way to frame your information in a context that aligns with what the decision maker cares about.
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So in addition to all that, from a very practical standpoint, one of the key questions to know the answer to is how does this decision maker prefer to receive information?
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Once you get to that point.
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And there are scenarios in which a slide deck is totally the answer.
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And maybe even a slide deck in a specific format or structure, or containing specific types of information.
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An example of that would be a decision maker who's used to receiving a lot of sales presentations, if you're in a contracting scenario.
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And they're accustomed to receiving a lot of sales presentations that are done in a particular formula.
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And in that sort of a case you generally want to fit in with that formula.
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But also be prepared to be a little bit disruptive.
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So that you capture their attention and engage their brain and their emotions.
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You want to be enough like the other presentations that they don't say to themselves, what is this person even doing here?
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But you want to include some surprises.
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You want to include some ways of bringing the information to their attention and engaging them with the information that forces them to actually engage their brain and think.
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And ideally also engages their emotions in some way.
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And always remember that surprise is an emotion.
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So when I say engage their emotions, it doesn't just mean, does it make them happy or does it make them sad?
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Does it make them excited or does it make them bored?
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Although those are relevant.
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But it's also if you can share something that's surprising, that goes against maybe the conventional thinking.
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Or that is a piece of information that you suspect they don't know, and that might cause them to think about things differently.
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But honestly, most of the time it's not going to be that situation.
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With most types of decision makers, other than contracting, if you're having a one-on-one conversation with a decision maker I would not use a slide deck.
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You might use a slide deck if you're speaking to a group of decision makers.
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But even then, we're going to have to talk, and we'll do this in a little minute, we're going to have to talk about how you do that so that it is actually effective and supports your engagement strategy.
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And doesn't cause them to tune out.
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Okay.
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So the same applies with infographics and one pagers, those sorts of things.
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Now those are often used with policymakers and their staff.
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And particularly in those settings where you maybe are only going to have 15 minutes for a meeting.
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You want to make sure that you have a great leave behind that captures your key points.
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So one pagers and infographics can be great for that.
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But understand that all of these information delivery tools are an opportunity to provide something concise and tangible for a decision-maker that serves as a reminder to them.
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It's an anchor for them to be able to look at and say, oh yeah, I remember that.
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Yes.
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But please understand that no informational tool is going to be persuasive.
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You're going to have to do the persuasion through your engagement and your framing and how you're talking with them and having a two way interaction.
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That's where persuasion and engagement happen.
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It does not happen with one way information flow.
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That is not persuasive.
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It may be informative, but it's not persuasive.
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So these information delivery tools.
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Their purpose is as a reminder to the decision maker about what they found persuasive when they were talking with you.
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And it can also be a reminder about where they can anchor their support for the thing that you've been asking them to do.
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There may be something in your information, a piece of data or a piece of research that they can say to themselves, ah, yeah, I'm going to need to use that.
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That's going to be important.
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That will be something that I can use to explain my decision to support this thing, to invest in this thing.
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So let's talk for a minute specifically about slide decks.
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This has got to be the most misused tool out there.
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There are so many mistakes that get made with slide decks that I see all the time.
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And honestly, it's kind of rare to see one being used to actually support persuasive messaging.
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So these mistakes take multiple forms.
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There's the presentation where the slides contain mostly words.
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And then the person reads the slides to us.
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Please, never do that.
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It is the fastest way to get your audience to completely zone out and not take in a single thing that you're trying to communicate to them.
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Another mistake is a series of slides that are just text.
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Overcrowded slides, whether crowded with text or images and graphics.
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Complex charts and graphs that have to be studied intently in order to understand what they're conveying.
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Your slides should reinforce your key points.
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They should not be your whole message.
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You want to use them intermittently.
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And turn them off when you're engaging the audience.
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Again, you're not going to be using this with a single decision maker, except in a very unusual contracting situation.
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So if it's a group of people, turn the slides off when you're engaging them.
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And then pull up a slide to reinforce what you just said.
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Or if you want to walk people through a slide, you go ahead and put that up as you're talking.
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But you, first of all, whatever you're saying is not written on the slide.
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And you're using your voice to give life to whatever the image on the slide is saying.
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So maybe it's a chart.
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Maybe it's a graph.
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Maybe it's a side-by-side comparison of two things represented graphically in some way.
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And so you're giving life to this as you talk about it.
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You're framing it.
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You are meeting decision makers where they are and inviting them to come along with you into understanding the problem in a new way.
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And you're using those images to do that.
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And if you're doing this virtually, set it up so that you are always visible to the audience.
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You be the talking head in a small square when you want them to focus on a slide.
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And then put yourself on full screen when you're providing additional context and engaging people.
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And getting them into conversation.
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Now how you structure the messaging within the slide deck also matters.
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And this applies to the other tools as well, infographics and one pagers.
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How you're structuring the information is very important.
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And here's the thing.
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The tendency is always, cause this is what we were taught in school, is to build a logical case.
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As you would do in a thesis.
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Where you're walking through all of your arguments.
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And then at the very end, you get to the conclusion, which is the thing that they need to do.
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That is so not helpful in strategic communication.
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And it is certainly not helpful in persuasive communication.
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Remember that the first thing you have to do in any strategic or persuasive communication is to make the person care.
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To make the audience care.
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If they're not invested in some aspect of what you're going to talk about, whether they're invested in the problem or the experience of the people who have the problem.
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Or the experience of society as a result of the problem.
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Or the impact on the company if you're talking to somebody who's in a business setting.
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But they have to have a reason to care.
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They have to have an understanding of why it matters to them.
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And if you structure your delivery with all your facts and figures up front.
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As you build your case.
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And you give your problem statement without giving them context for why they should care about the problem.
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They're not even going to take in most of the rest of what you say.
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And I just see this happen so many times.
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If there's one thing I can get you to do that will change your results.
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It's to make them care before you keep talking.
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Don't launch into your information stuff until you know you've got them engaged.
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Make them connect to some piece of what you have to say.
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Because otherwise everything else is just noise.
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So when you're structuring your informational materials, You have facts and stuff you want to deliver.
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I get that.
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And that's important.
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But when you're doing that, you want to build in the context and the engagement right into those materials.
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Which you will then reinforce in conversation.
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So first and foremost lead with why they should care.
00:19:17.859 --> 00:19:24.925
And that's a combination of framing the problem in terms that align with what they care about.
00:19:25.529 --> 00:19:33.242
And then posing a glimpse, a sneak preview, into what it would look like if that problem were solved.
00:19:34.026 --> 00:19:36.115
So let's say they care about costs.
00:19:36.532 --> 00:19:38.089
Which a lot of decision makers do.
00:19:38.563 --> 00:19:41.942
So they may be aware that the problem you solve is a problem.
00:19:42.542 --> 00:19:48.903
But they may not be at all aware of the costs of failing to solve the problem, the cost of keeping things as they are.
00:19:49.405 --> 00:19:51.865
With the problem either unsolved or partially solved.
00:19:52.675 --> 00:19:59.915
So the first thing you want to do for an audience that cares about cost, is to lead with how much the unsolved problem is costing.
00:20:00.423 --> 00:20:03.945
And you frame that in whatever terms are appropriate for the thing that you're talking about.
00:20:04.726 --> 00:20:11.163
And then you give them a quick glimpse into what it would look like if the problem were solved using your solution.
00:20:11.609 --> 00:20:13.619
Again, framed in terms of costs.
00:20:14.269 --> 00:20:19.465
So if the problem, unsolved, is costing$10 million a year.
00:20:19.756 --> 00:20:25.175
And the problem solved with your solution cuts that cost by 75%.
00:20:25.746 --> 00:20:26.556
That's important.
00:20:27.066 --> 00:20:28.145
That gets their attention.
00:20:28.296 --> 00:20:30.846
That makes them sit up and say, wait, what?
00:20:31.576 --> 00:20:33.046
How would you, how can you do that?
00:20:33.645 --> 00:20:34.846
I want to know more.
00:20:35.806 --> 00:20:37.726
As opposed to what we typically do.
00:20:38.296 --> 00:20:40.869
Which is to lay out all the pieces of the problem.
00:20:41.292 --> 00:20:42.913
And one of the pieces is the cost.
00:20:43.349 --> 00:20:50.192
And then eventually, three-quarters of the way into the conversation we get to,"and the solution would save you this." No.
00:20:50.702 --> 00:20:52.742
You might do that in a grant proposal.
00:20:53.113 --> 00:20:56.633
None of what I'm talking about is related to grant proposals.
00:20:56.903 --> 00:21:00.232
Those are a whole other animal, the way you approach those is very different.
00:21:01.069 --> 00:21:08.016
But when you're talking with a money or policy decision maker, this is how you do your strategic persuasive communication.
00:21:08.742 --> 00:21:12.313
Frame the problem in a way that is resonant for them.
00:21:12.930 --> 00:21:15.863
Attach some concrete imagery to it.
00:21:16.365 --> 00:21:18.972
And cost is easy, cause that's very concrete, right?
00:21:19.450 --> 00:21:23.653
But you can attach concrete imagery to the people who experience the problem.
00:21:23.712 --> 00:21:27.083
You can describe what their life is like and what limitations it's imposing on them.
00:21:27.532 --> 00:21:33.690
You can describe the problems that it's creating for the community, for society, for businesses, whatever.
00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:35.750
You can bring it to life.
00:21:35.750 --> 00:21:40.250
And provide context for whatever thing it is that the decision maker cares the most about.
00:21:40.853 --> 00:21:46.163
You just need to be prepared to bring all aspects of the problem to life in any given moment.
00:21:46.893 --> 00:21:52.673
But you should not have any trouble doing that because you work and live with these problems every single day.
00:21:52.702 --> 00:21:55.673
You live and breathe all the aspects of this problem.
00:21:56.123 --> 00:21:57.863
So you already have all you need.
00:21:58.643 --> 00:22:04.432
It's just a matter of rearranging the order so that you are causing engagement from the very beginning.
00:22:05.303 --> 00:22:07.522
So you lead with why they would care.
00:22:08.185 --> 00:22:09.986
You say what the problem is.
00:22:10.256 --> 00:22:11.726
You help them understand it.
00:22:12.542 --> 00:22:15.692
If they're a person who doesn't think that the problem is a problem.
00:22:16.096 --> 00:22:17.086
You got to start there.
00:22:17.546 --> 00:22:20.665
So you help them understand why the problem actually is a problem.
00:22:21.296 --> 00:22:23.726
And frame that in a context that they will care about.
00:22:24.195 --> 00:22:25.395
And why it would matter to them.
00:22:26.546 --> 00:22:30.816
In your informational stuff, whatever tools you're using.
00:22:31.185 --> 00:22:38.236
You want to be using attention getting headers that speak to the thing that the audience is worried about.
00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:41.306
And there should be a header for every major point.
00:22:42.076 --> 00:22:46.726
A lot of times, folks are trying so hard to get so much information in there.
00:22:47.086 --> 00:22:50.230
That things can get overcrowded and difficult to read.
00:22:50.792 --> 00:22:53.942
And one of the ways you can solve that is with attention getting headers.
00:22:53.942 --> 00:22:56.292
But those headers should be hooks.
00:22:56.885 --> 00:22:59.736
They should be things that make a person say, wait, what?
00:23:00.029 --> 00:23:00.690
Really?
00:23:00.930 --> 00:23:03.809
You mean to say that that is the case?
00:23:04.049 --> 00:23:05.190
I didn't know that.
00:23:05.430 --> 00:23:06.359
That's important.
00:23:06.420 --> 00:23:07.410
That matters.
00:23:08.105 --> 00:23:12.365
If it's not going to elicit that reaction, then your header is not strong enough.
00:23:13.185 --> 00:23:18.589
And again, You tune those headers into the things that your decision-maker is likely to care about.
00:23:18.890 --> 00:23:25.819
Now you're not necessarily going to create a different infographic for every single decision maker who cares about every different thing.
00:23:26.009 --> 00:23:29.009
You're going to pick the things that decision makers tend to care about.
00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.613
We're going to have one header that talks about the impact on the person and their family.
00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:38.539
We're going to have one header that talks about the impact on the community or society.
00:23:38.923 --> 00:23:42.042
We're going to have one header that talks about impact on cost.
00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:43.200
At a minimum.
00:23:43.905 --> 00:23:45.615
And then you're going to highlight those.
00:23:45.930 --> 00:23:56.769
So that you can elevate any one of them and expand on any one of them, depending on what happens to hook the decision maker that you're in conversation with at that moment.
00:23:57.670 --> 00:24:12.486
And then in addition, your informational pieces, tools, need to deliver something concise that shows how your solution is totally responsive to that problem that's being highlighted.
00:24:12.905 --> 00:24:15.516
That worry that the decision maker has.
00:24:16.395 --> 00:24:22.972
Now that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to talk about your organization in the infographic.
00:24:23.502 --> 00:24:24.012
You might.
00:24:24.042 --> 00:24:27.782
It depends on what your ask is and what the focus of the conversation is.
00:24:27.903 --> 00:24:36.478
But it's more likely going to say that when your solution is applied, this is how it solves each of those aspects of the problem.
00:24:37.057 --> 00:24:42.375
How it affects the individual, how it affects society or the community, how it affects the costs, and whatever else.
00:24:43.045 --> 00:24:45.748
Those are the three ones that are always relevant.
00:24:45.897 --> 00:24:50.188
And then there may be others depending on what you're working on, and you know what those are.
00:24:51.201 --> 00:24:53.451
The way you tie it together is two things.
00:24:53.917 --> 00:24:58.251
You show the impact of the solution of each of the aspects of the problem.
00:24:58.917 --> 00:25:05.365
And then you bring it back to, one more time, the consequences of leaving things as they are.
00:25:05.897 --> 00:25:07.978
Of not bringing about this solution.
00:25:08.597 --> 00:25:12.498
Either of not investing in it or not implementing it fully, whatever your ask is.
00:25:13.137 --> 00:25:18.424
You may have a policy ask where you need to make the policy more hospitable to your solution.
00:25:18.949 --> 00:25:22.439
Or you may need to have an investment in your solution.
00:25:22.528 --> 00:25:23.729
Whatever it is you're asking for.
00:25:24.494 --> 00:25:27.704
You're showing how the solution fixes all the aspects of the problem.
00:25:27.734 --> 00:25:35.255
And then you're saying,"and remember the cost of doing nothing is," and then you lay out the cost.
00:25:35.638 --> 00:25:37.588
Which is probably already there in your infographic.
00:25:38.038 --> 00:25:39.328
You're just bringing it back to them.
00:25:40.048 --> 00:25:50.252
So the keys here are to remember the following: That all your informational tools are just reminders and anchors.
00:25:50.846 --> 00:25:54.266
They are not persuasive in and of themselves.
00:25:54.445 --> 00:25:55.226
They never will be.
00:25:55.808 --> 00:25:58.516
People are not persuaded by arguments.
00:25:58.516 --> 00:26:01.808
They are persuaded by being engaged.
00:26:02.409 --> 00:26:07.863
And being assisted to see how the thing at hand is relevant to them.
00:26:08.603 --> 00:26:11.724
And giving them a way to become invested in it.
00:26:12.111 --> 00:26:16.867
And inspiring an emotion that causes them to want to pay attention and become invested in it.
00:26:17.625 --> 00:26:19.214
Facts and figures will not do that.
00:26:20.048 --> 00:26:25.141
So remember that your informational tools are tools, but they are very limited tools.
00:26:26.040 --> 00:26:27.240
You need to have good ones.
00:26:27.871 --> 00:26:30.451
Because there are a lot less helpful if they're not good quality.
00:26:30.540 --> 00:26:30.901
Right.
00:26:31.171 --> 00:26:38.990
I do want you to have your informational tools be good looking and be structured in a way that makes them maximally helpful.
00:26:39.980 --> 00:26:43.105
But understand that they have limited use.
00:26:43.565 --> 00:26:45.214
They're a specialty tool.
00:26:45.964 --> 00:26:55.285
They live inside your strategic relationship building and your strategic engagement and messaging ecosystem and strategy.
00:26:56.221 --> 00:26:59.461
Always, always, you engage first.
00:27:00.005 --> 00:27:01.744
Then you provide information.
00:27:02.535 --> 00:27:05.414
You don't lead with your informations.
00:27:05.865 --> 00:27:08.234
You lead with why they should care.
00:27:09.315 --> 00:27:11.595
And it's not about why they should care from your perspective.
00:27:11.625 --> 00:27:13.724
It's about why they should care from their perspective.
00:27:14.204 --> 00:27:18.525
You show them the problem in a context that resonates for them.
00:27:19.454 --> 00:27:31.917
And then you give them the facts and figures and data and whatever else you've got that helps give them anchors for how your solution makes sense and how your solution gets them to the thing that they want.
00:27:32.730 --> 00:27:38.760
And then you structure your informational tools to support your engagement strategy.
00:27:39.335 --> 00:27:42.919
They're supporting actors in your engagement drama here.
00:27:43.877 --> 00:27:51.505
So here's the thing that I recommend that you do to integrate this into your strategic engagement practice with your decision-makers.
00:27:52.214 --> 00:27:54.765
Before you look at your information tools again.
00:27:55.625 --> 00:28:04.625
First, sketch out the type of decision-maker, the individual decision maker, the group of decision-makers that you're looking to engage on a specific thing.
00:28:05.367 --> 00:28:07.978
Clarify the specific action you want them to take.
00:28:08.428 --> 00:28:11.894
And what you know about their perspective on the problem that you solve.
00:28:12.494 --> 00:28:14.055
How do they see that problem?
00:28:14.444 --> 00:28:15.375
From what lens?
00:28:16.137 --> 00:28:19.557
And then sketch out what would my engagement strategy be?
00:28:19.557 --> 00:28:24.221
How would I talk to them about this problem that would make them say, whoa.
00:28:24.221 --> 00:28:26.020
That's a really serious problem.
00:28:26.535 --> 00:28:34.005
If the consequences of this problem, of things staying the same, are as significant as you've just laid out, then I care.
00:28:34.125 --> 00:28:36.404
Then this matters to me because that is a big deal.
00:28:37.211 --> 00:28:41.530
Whichever the aspects of the problem are that are going to engage that decision maker, lay that out.
00:28:42.500 --> 00:28:47.471
And then go back and look at your informational tools that you've created.
00:28:48.201 --> 00:28:51.131
And do a reverse analysis and say, does this get us there?
00:28:51.550 --> 00:28:56.290
Does this help us take that decision maker through that realization?
00:28:56.984 --> 00:29:09.171
And then give them anchors and hooks to reinforce their new understanding of how consequential this problem is and how vital it is that our solution be implemented fully.
00:29:10.228 --> 00:29:17.097
And then once you've got a structure to do that, Then, you can frame your specific ask in the context of that.
00:29:17.758 --> 00:29:21.958
So that's why there needs to be X, Y, Z level of investment.
00:29:22.444 --> 00:29:27.971
Because to implement the solution at the level that produces this kind of an impact, this is what it costs.
00:29:28.421 --> 00:29:33.340
But remember that it's still going to be a net savings or at least cost neutral.
00:29:33.988 --> 00:29:36.347
And we're not going to have the problem anymore.
00:29:37.070 --> 00:29:50.671
Or if it's a policy ask, then you frame it in terms of the consequences of making the policy change, and how that will cause the problem to get solved more effectively and why that will matter, in terms that the decision maker values.
00:29:51.471 --> 00:29:55.811
But you got to ground all of this in your strategic engagement framework.
00:29:56.365 --> 00:29:57.984
So get clear on that first.
00:29:58.392 --> 00:30:03.372
And then go back and say, okay, do my materials help to take them there or not?
00:30:03.898 --> 00:30:06.179
And then tweak them until they align.
00:30:07.115 --> 00:30:14.788
Once you do that you're going to find that not only will decision makers stay more engaged throughout your conversation with them.
00:30:15.239 --> 00:30:24.659
But they will actually pay attention to your informational materials because they're registering how that's helping them understand.
00:30:25.328 --> 00:30:27.969
It's creating aha moments for them.
00:30:28.648 --> 00:30:30.878
But you got to analyze it from their angle.
00:30:31.479 --> 00:30:37.954
Because obviously the materials you've already created, in your mind those are all aha moments, right?
00:30:37.954 --> 00:30:39.454
This is everything you need to know.
00:30:39.585 --> 00:30:40.394
Here's my case.
00:30:40.394 --> 00:30:41.325
You should support it.
00:30:42.108 --> 00:30:45.499
But you now understand why that's probably not going to work.
00:30:46.068 --> 00:30:53.568
And I want you to be able to reframe your stuff so that it really does go to work for you and help you make your case.
00:30:54.263 --> 00:30:55.463
.Let me know how it goes.
00:30:55.913 --> 00:31:00.844
I'd love to hear about how you fine tuned your informational tools using these principles.
00:31:01.431 --> 00:31:10.040
You can connect with me on LinkedIn at the Nonprofit Power podcast or on the podcast website at Nonprofit Power Podcast dot com.
00:31:10.656 --> 00:31:11.557
Thanks for listening.
00:31:11.946 --> 00:31:15.547
And I'll see you in the next episode right here on the Nonprofit Power Podcast.
