Who is the most important person in the room when you’re trying to persuade someone? Is it yourself? Or is it the person you are trying to persuade? According to Dan Schnur, who we met a couple of weeks ago, you are the second most important person in any conversation—the most important person is the person you are talking to. You can try to convince someone by telling them about yourself, and of course, your own interests are important. But you’d probably be much more effective by appealing to that person’s specific emotions, interests, and needs, not your own.
I’d like to add another dimension to this paradigm. You are important. The person you are trying to convince is important. But everyone else present is just as important. But if you’re not trying to convince those people, why should they matter to you? Let’s take campaign fundraising as an example. Say that you’re trying to get a big money donor to make a large contribution to your political campaign. You can give a brilliant speech—you can address all of this donor’s needs and interests perfectly, and you can explain your policy platform eloquently and your own biography in a way that makes you relatable and interesting. But if everyone in the room looks tired, disinterested, and unenthusiastic, then that donor is going to be much less likely to contribute to your campaign. They’re likely to think consciously or subconsciously, “Other people aren’t excited about this candidate, so why should I be?” On the other hand, if everyone in the room is energized, cheering and clapping for you, and rushing to donate, then your big money donor target will likely follow suit. Thus, as important as your own interests and the interests of the person you are trying to convince are, the feeling in the room is just as important.
This lesson of the “feeling in the room” is a notion that Godfrey Plata briefly mentioned, but that I want to expand upon, using the lessons I’ve learned from my experience in theatrical production, dance, and performance. So how do you create an energetic and excited feeling in the room?
First of all, the energy has to feel natural. I’ve been to dance productions where the cheering is constant. And while I appreciate the energy, cheering nonstop is unsustainable, and it feels unnatural. I’ve been to dance performances where the cheering was out of place—people would cheer at relatively calm moments instead of the most hype and visually spectacular portions of the performance. Again, it feels unnatural, and it turns the energy from something that amplifies the performance to something that takes away from the performance.
Second, the audience has to actively participate in the creation and continuation of this energy. Going back to the donor example, instead of having the typical audience of other donors, you could just fill the audience with people you paid to clap at everything you say. But then what’s the point? Your persuasion would be built upon a lie. It’s much better, in my opinion, to have a couple of people in the audience who will start the applause at just the important moments, to sort of “break the ice” and lead the way for others to match that energy. People want to cheer. They just don’t want to be the one starting it, and they definitely don’t want to be the only person cheering. Having a couple of people who are designated to do that job can make the audience comfortable enough to cheer. And in my experience, the audience will do the rest. Thanks to that little push, they will be more inclined to cheer with those around them, and they will be more likely to start cheering. And when part of the audience has a high level of energy, it will naturally encourage the rest of the audience to follow suit—including your donor.
The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not reflect the views or positions of CAUSE or the CAUSE network.
Written by Coby Nguyen, Leadership Academy 2023 Intern.
The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a nine-week, paid, internship program that prepares college undergraduates to lead and advocate for the Asian Pacific Islander community on their campuses and beyond.