Do you ever wonder why people do not understand what you are saying? Why the people you speak to do not move in the direction that is clearly best for them? Why your children seemingly ignore your wishes? One problem could be that you are not wearing your “audience goggles.”
Ok, so maybe you can’t go to Walmart and buy a pair of audience goggles. However, realizing the need to see things through the eyes of the people you are communicating to is important. It does not matter whether you are a marketer looking for a consumer or a mother teaching your child.
As cheesy as it may be, 99.9% of the people you meet listen to their favorite radio station “Wii fm” (What’s In It For Me?). It does not always mean that they are being selfish, it is just the way humans are wired. We are born with the instinct to think of ourselves first.
Very often we try to communicate reasons why we want people to do things. In actuality we end up telling people why WE want them to do it. The best way to communicate effectively is to tell them why THEY will want to do it. I can tell my five-year old boy all day long that I want him to clean his room because I’m tired of looking at the mess, but that won’t really work. He ultimately does not care what I am tire of. What he really needs to hear is that HE should want to clean his room because once he is finished, we can go outside and play football.
Many businesses have the same problem. A photographer may tell people he takes pictures. While that is true, is that why his client hires him? No, they hire him because they want to remember that particular event their whole lives, and be able to pass those memories on to future generations.
Anytime you are trying to convey a message to someone, try to look through the eyes of the person you are trying to reach.