Your organization has a unique voice. However, it’s not enough simply to be unique if you can’t communicate well. In a saturated market, it’s essential that you present your ideas effectively and persuasively. Otherwise, you’ll be swept under the waves of the growing market.

We were inspired to write this post upon listening to The EntreLeadership Podcast by Ramsey Solutions; specifically, Episode “#284: The No. 1 Skill You Need Now.” This consisted of an interview with Carmine Gallo, someone who has studied the communication of brilliant people around the world. We recommend that you check out his books, especially Talk Like TED and Five Stars. Both are available online and in print.

Persuasion is Best

A lot of people think of communication as a “soft skill,” that is, a skill that does not need to be learned (like common sense). However, communication, storytelling, and persuasion don’t come naturally, even though they are fundamental to today’s work environment.

Peer-reviewed research says that 30% of the U.S. economy is fueled by “persuasion:” jobs that utilize public speaking, presentation, etc. Gallo says that “ideas don’t sell themselves,” but rather, they are sold through persuasion. You might have the greatest product ever, but if you can’t explain it very well, it won’t succeed.

Video excels at marketing your product or service because it presents extremely well. In an engaging, simple manner, video persuades through some form of storytelling, the most effective ways to introduce ideas. It is absolutely essential to master the art of persuasion if you want to really bring value to your product.

Emotion and Story

Humans have told stories for all of time. Books, movies, and video games are popular precisely because they tell stories. Stories work because they’re based in emotion, rather than logic. Even if you have brilliant rational arguments for something, you will fail to convince people if you cannot connect with them emotionally.


People like Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill stand out because they communicated their ideas persuasively and emotionally. They laid out the logic of their argument, but used relevant analogies and metaphors to connect with their audience. Expressing ideas in this way has become much more important now than ever before.

Public Communication in the Modern Workforce

94% of hiring managers say that an employee with strong communication skills has a better chance of being promoted than an employee with more experience, but weak communication. In fact, those with strong communication skills become irreplaceable to a given company, since “nobody else can communicate as well” as him or her. Using persuasion to tell a story or cast a vision is highly valued.

According to Warren Buffet, great skill in public speaking can raise your value to a company by 50% instantly. Short, simple language is the best way to do so.

If you want to reach a wide range of people, especially those who are not familiar with your product, write with grade-level vocab and sentence structure.

Practice

It’s hard to communicate well. Therefore, you must spend time speaking through stories, simply and persuasively. If you get better at this, you will speak most effectively to your audience.

Why not do this visually?