Persuading a Technical Audience
If you’re in the healthcare, pharma, biotech, or IT industries, chances are you’ve had to convince a technical professional… someone who is a scientist or an engineer or a doctor …to do something to reach your goal. And chances are you tried giving them the facts, only to be disappointed when they don’t take the action you want to take?
This audience is particularly analytical and rational and use evidence to make decisions. But it takes a lot more than data and or evidence to get them to change a behavior, especially one in your favor.
So, what are you going to do?
The answer to this… can generate Catalytic Results!
There are three simple steps to get a technical audience to take an action. And it all begins with a little spark.
People who study science or medicine or engineering are insatiably curious. And certain observations stimulate that curiosity. If they have an emotional reaction when they’re in that curiosity mode?
Boom. There’s a burst of creativity.
So here’s your chance to give them a provocative point of view and pair it with a behavioral lever that will trigger an emotion.
But tending to their curiosity is only the spark. To advance them on their decision journey, we need to add a little intellectual fuel. Which brings us to step two: Let them learn on their own. Here’s where we let technical professionals arrive at a hypothesis and provide information that they can use to educate themselves.
It’s key to remember that they’re not looking for the answer… yet. They’re looking for the best way to find the answer. So use this opportunity to establish some well-structured evidence so they can make their own hypothesis.
One thing not to do at this stage? Provide them with the answer or make an attempt to convince them. This will only heighten their skepticism and you can say “goodbye” to any chance at persuading them.
Which brings us to our final step: Make the evidence evident.
Now your audience is ready to validate their own hypothesis. Give them the evidence and a safe environment to let them simulate what’ll happen if they do act.
Then, and only then, will technical professionals take action.
Humans are beautifully complex. And our actions are governed by certain patterns. Understanding these patterns, and you can inspire people to action to create Catalytic Results.
Learn more about our methodologies and expertise here.
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