Rebels at Work

Chapter 5. Communicating Your Ideas

Now that you understand what’s important to the organization, have developed good relationships, and have earned credibility, you’re ready to take an important next step: presenting your ideas.

Most of us talk about our ideas with passion and enthusiasm, which are essential for getting people’s attention. In addition to this positive energy, there are a handful of communications fundamentals to master so that people understand your idea, consider its merits, and lend their support.

Here are some important elements to keep in mind when you are communicating your ideas:^[3]

Show what’s at stake.

To get people’s attention, frame your idea in terms of what people care about. Show how the idea relates to what they want.

Paint a picture of what could be.

Emotions get people to consider an idea and influence decisions. Paint a picture of how your idea creates a better situation. Expose the gap between how things work today and how they could work. Make the status quo unappealing.

Show that the idea can work.

Highlight what it will take to be successful and where the greatest risks lie. Show the milestones along the way. This demonstrates that you’ve done your homework and thought through the risks, uncertainties, and practicalities. People support ideas that they think can work.

Be positive and pithy.

Show enthusiasm, but don’t get so carried away talking that you fail to listen for others’ thoughts and ideas. Keep it short.

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