Page 116 - DENG401_Advance Communication Skills

Unit 5: Improving Informal Communication

Notes
Figure 5.3: Examples of persuasive messages

Establish credibility: Overcome objections:
“Other agencies have used these team- “I know you are busy this week,
building techniques to improve but the meeting could help you
company morale.” work more productively.”

Make specific, reasonable request: Cite benefits:
“Can you meet for one hour and bring “The meeting is designed to share
one suggestion for improving ideas about making Quest a more
company communications with you?” satisfying place to work.”

Table 5.1: Persuasion techniques do’s and don’ts

Caselet How to Communicate with busy people

Imagine that you need to inform a group of very busy processing clerks that on top of
their work they all have to learn a new system in which to process their data, and that
there is nothing in it for them. Imagine telling them this in a seminar and you can hear the
groans screaming out at you before you've begun to speak. It is inevitable that a workforce
with reduced morale would result in a tailing off of productivity as well as individuals
looking to move to different companies. Implementing a new system is never easy. But it
doesn't have to be like that!
Find out what will please the audience. Firstly, write down your specified objective (in
this example, how you will use the overall benefits of the new system to ensure that these
will lead to an upbeat mood in the audience by convincing them that, despite their extra
workload, this really is very good news for them). The prospect of additional work should
not be allowed to dwell in the minds of audiences; while you point out that there will be
Contd...

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