How to Become More Compelling at Selling Your Perspective at Work

I’m going to start this blog post with my own cautionary tale of poor storytelling while interviewing for my first job many years ago. I was fortunate that the business school from my undergraduate days (Indiana University) had a strong recruiting organization that partnered with companies looking to hire recent graduates for entry level positions. As a senior, I was able to search for positions and companies that were interesting to me, submit my resume and if the company liked what they saw, they would add me to the on-campus interview schedule.

One position that partly piqued my interest was a publishing company based in Evansville, Indiana. I made the cut and was slated for an in-person interview. I had done preliminary research on the company — at least to be able to answer some basic questions — and was eager to learn more about the marketing aspect of the position and share my interests and skills from school and summer jobs.

The truth though is that I did not have a compelling story for myself that was different from what was listed on my resume. That fact came abundantly clear when the interviewer said to me:

“I’ve seen your resume and like your overall experience. Tell me more about what makes you uniquely qualified for this position and why you are excited about it.”

The reality is that I did not have a good answer and therefore I took a word salad deep dive into phrases like “love working on teams,” “bring a hard-working ethic to everything I do,” and “enjoy solving problems and looking for creative solutions.” How boring and non-specific! All of these phrases could be said (and likely were said) by every candidate in the interview process. There was nothing unique about me for this position and no reason that I could provide that made me stand out from the crowd. Not surprisingly, I didn’t receive a call back for any further interview steps.

Lessons Learned

This example of “what not to do” is unfortunately quite common in business meetings. When presenting, too often people try to make their case fall into a similar word salad trap of generic phrases and rationale or a whirl of just data points.

So how do you break out of this mold and become more compelling at selling your perspective at work?

The simple answer is that there are common elements that make the work story or business case stronger and more compelling. Here are the five factors that will make your story stand out and how these factors apply to the vague and personal responses above:

#1 – Capturing initial attention (in a positive and potentially unexpected way)

This requires some background preparation and rehearsing. The recommendation is to think about how you normally would start out a presentation or business case…then purposefully don’t use that approach. For example, if you are a facts/figures person and like to jump into data right away, start instead by providing an application example of what your vision is for the final result. Or, start off by asking the audience a question.

TIP: Changing your approach sounds simple and perhaps trivial, but just shifting your focus and grabbing attention will help better your odds for making your case.

#2 – Creating connection (emotional or personal appeal)

Yes, the scenario is a work meeting. However, don’t lose sight that your audience is made up of people with feelings, ideas, and perspectives as well. Make sure that as you are explaining your perspective that you think about the audience and what they care about — and try to connect with them on a personal level.

TIP: This connection could come in the form of making them laugh to break the ice, reminding them of a past success that they all were part of, etc. Just don’t ignore the opportunity to bring people to your side before diving into the details.

#3 – Showcasing your experiences (in a meaningful way)

The question I advise people to address in a business discussion or presentation is to put yourself in the shoes of your audience and think of them saying out loud, “why should I listen to you?” The answer could be as simple as inserting a statement like “When looking at this data, I’m finding a few differences from the other 100+ analysis instances that I’ve done in the past few years.”

TIP: Emphasizing your experience is not about bragging. It’s a reminder to people that your perspective in this analysis has credibility. There is a delicate balance between credibility and boasting, so do be careful here.

#4 – Being memorable (long after the conversation is over)

There are two places where it is ideal to be memorable. The first is grabbing attention at the beginning of your pitch. The second logical place is to end on a strong note. Too many presentations end with final data points and then a standard “Questions” slide.

A better approach is to use the end of your time to do a quick summary of some of your highlights that you want the audience to remember, and then ask the participants some pointed questions about what they’ve just heard.

TIP: The questions (and the answers) give you immediate feedback on what the room (virtual or physical) is thinking. In addition, those powerful questions can also make your case/perspective and the topic itself stand out from all of the other business decisions and information that is coming at your audience that day. Wrap up on a wow note!!

#5 – See What Others Are Doing

Finally, think about your current office environment. Who during meetings is capturing attention, and why? Take some time to observe those who stand out and are compelling, and see which of the elements above they are using (whether they know it or not), and look for other ways successful colleagues are gaining buy-in.

TIP: While you don’t want to mimic someone’s content directly, applying a similar delivery style, story arc, or experience example can help to improve your own story.

Next Steps

In the business world, facts and figures often rule. So, when questions are asked of you or it is time to make a case for something at work, try to apply these principles to make your interaction and responses more personal and more compelling.