“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.”
– Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist

The short words are best, and the old words are the best of all.”
–Winston Churchill

Today, I will conclude our Lessons from “Yes!” series with three final truths from the book:

“Resistant children who easily find excuses not to do their homework or tidy their room are more likely to be persuaded if they’re first asked to take a small step in that direction.   As long as they feel they’ve said yes to the first small request voluntarily—rather than through coercion—the psychological momentum should propel them toward scholastic awards and cleaner living quarters in which to place those awards.”

“The labeling technique involves assigning a trait, attitude, or other label to a person, and then making a request of that person consistent with that label …you can use the technique to remind clients that their decision to deal with your organization shows their confidence in your company and in you, and that you appreciate and will continue to justify that confidence.”

“Asking, “Will you please call if you have to cancel?,” led to a no-show rate that dropped from 30 percent to 10 percent. If the caller then adds, “We’ll mark you down as a ‘yes’ and I’ll let the others know as well,” the commitment has three components that potentially cement that potential voter’s commitment: The commitment becomes voluntary, active, and publicly declared to others.”

Take these lessons from “Yes!” and apply them to your preaching, your communication and your church sign-up processes…you will be more persuasive!

To purchase the book “Yes!” from Amazon.com click here. I highly recommend you get it, study it and make the changes it suggests.

Have a great Friday!

Nelson

On Tuesday, I shared with you what I’ve been learning from “Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.” Here are some more lessons:

• Research shows that those who tend to come in on time should be praised for their behavior (as opposed to chiding those who are late). Make sure people know just how much punctuality is appreciated.
• People have a natural tendency to do what most other people are doing, even when the behavior is socially undesirable.
• When lots of choices are made available, consumers often find the decision making process frustrating – perhaps due to the burden of having to differentiate so many options from one another in an attempt to choose the best one. When the Head & Shoulders company reduced its number of popular shampoo products from twenty-six to “only” fifteen, it quickly experienced a 10 percent increase in sales. (Are we offering our church members too many ways to grow instead of focusing on the most impactful few?)
• When you have to share a message that may bring fear or uncertainty, pair the fear-inducing message with a clear, specific, easy-to-follow plan….perhaps Roosevelt’s assertion should be amended to say “the only thing we have to fear is fear by itself.”

Some final thoughts from “Yes!“ tomorrow!

Nelson

Recently our strategic team at The Journey finished studying the book “Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive” by by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, Robert B. Cialdini.  Between now and Friday, I want to share with you some of my key lessons from the book.

I believe that we must learn to better help people say ‘yes’ to the most important things in life.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes/lessons:

There are six universal principles of social influence –

1. Reciprocation (we feel obligated to return favors performed for us),
   
2. Authority (we look to experts to show us the way),
   
3. Commitment/consistency (we want to act consistently with our commitments and values),
   
4. Scarcity (the less available the resource, the more we want it),
   
5. Liking (the more we like people, the more we want to say yes to them),
   
6. Social proof (we look to what others do to guide our behavior).

…the power of the principle of social proof: When people are uncertain about a course of action, they tend to look outside themselves and to other people around them to guide their decisions and actions.

More from ‘Yes’ on Thursday.  I highly recommend you read and study this book with your team.  You can pick it up at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Tomorrow, watch for the final installment of the series “Slack=Lack.”

Nelson

SYSTEM #1: THE WEEKEND SERVICE SYSTEM

Let’s start this Wednesday series “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” by looking from the outside in – meaning we’ll work from the systems that are most obvious/ directly influence your people to the ones that are meant more to keep you and your team on track. We’ll jump in with the Weekend Service System…

Also known as the Worship Planning System, the Weekend Service System is what helps you plan, implement and evaluate your weekend service(s). You know that your weekend service is the front door to your church. The way you plan, implement and evaluate your music, preaching, transitions, offering, etc. is key. This is game day… the day you need to be at your best… the day you need to be totally reliant on God… the day you need to have some assurance that things are going to go just like they should so that people will have the best possible opportunity to encounter God. If you slack in prepping for your weekend service(s), the lack will be obvious. So think about it:

When was the last time you watched a “game tape” (a tape of a recent service)?

How have you been evaluating each service to make sure the next one is even better?

When was the last time you really communicated with your worship leader?

If you don’t pay close attention to the details of your worship service, it will atrophy. Yep, that’s just another way of saying that if you slack there will be lack.

I challenge you to spend this week digging into your Weekend Service System. Think about how you can make your service better. Evaluate everything. Give attention to the areas you’ve been neglecting. The worst thing you can do is let your service run on auto-pilot. God is always up to something new. Make sure you are in a position to magnify whatever that is!

We’ll pick up with a new system next Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of the blog between now and then… and if you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report by clicking here.

Nelson

P.S. – For more information on planning weekend services that will have maximum impact, check out this resource.

“By all means, show don’t tell . . . reveal your personality . . . be the message rather than narrating it, but above all, be authentic.” – Dr. Frank Luntz, author, Words that Work

“A great line isn’t spoken, it is delivered.” – Jack Klugman, actor

Is it possible to replace the word ‘line’ with the word ‘sermon’ in the quote from Klugman above? Just wondering… Have a great Saturday!

Nelson

Happy Independence day to everyone here in the US! Today, I wrap up my four part communication series based on the excellent book Words that Work by Frank Luntz with this selection where Luntz quotes the famous novelist George Orwell.

George Orwell language rules:
1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Not a bad list for those of us who work on ‘sermons’ each week!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts. Again, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Dr. Luntz’ book. You can order it here through Amazon.com.

Nelson

On Tuesday, I started a series of lessons from the book Words that Work by Frank Luntz by giving you his first four rules of communication. Here are rules five through nine:

Rule Five…Novelty: Offer Something New
Words that work often involve a new definition of an old idea. (In preaching the goal is not to have a ‘new idea’ but to share the ‘old ideas’ in new ways.) There’s a simple test to determine whether or not your message has met this rule. If it generates an “I didn’t know that” response, you have succeeded.

Rule Six…Sound and Texture Matter
Says (Aaron) Sorkin: “The greatest speech of all time is ‘I Have a Dream.’ You read the speech and it’s perfect. Listen to the speech, it gets more perfect. The way as the speech moved on, the phrase ‘I have a dream’ stopped being the beginning of each stanza and began being the end, ‘That one day, we will be judged not by the color of our skin, by the content of our character, I have a dream.’ That’s what jazz musicians do. They take a phrase and they move it. It was phenomenal delivery.”

Rule Eight…Visualize
The word: imagine. Whether it’s the car of your dreams or the candidate of your choice, the word imagine is perhaps the single most powerful communication tool because it allows individuals to picture whatever personal vision is in their hearts and minds.

Rule Nine…Ask a Question
“Is it live, or is it Memorex?” “Where do you want to go today?” (Microsoft) “Can you hear me now?” (Verizon Wireless) “Got Milk?” In his work, (Tony) Schwartz found that people reacted best to language and messages that were participatory—allowing the receiver to interact with the message and the messenger.

Rule Ten…Provide Context and Explain Relevance
You have to give people the “why” of a message before you tell them the “therefore” and the “so that.”
Some people call this framing.

This is no doubt the best book on communication that I’ve read in the last year. How about you? What’s the best communication book have you read lately? Feel free to share your comments below.

Nelson

Here are some more insights on communication from the book Words that Work by Frank Luntz… Take a look at a few of my favorite quotes from the book:

“It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.”

“The key to successful communication is to take the imaginative leap of stuffing yourself right into your listener’s shoes to know what they are thinking and feeling in the deepest recesses of their mind and heart.”

“Words that work, whether fiction or reality, not only explain but also motivate. They cause you to think as well as act.”

And I’ll conclude today’s post with this quote from the book by former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan:

“Your style should never be taller than you are.”

Nelson