Fear motivates. Should you use it?

I am away on leave this week, so writing this email early to follow up on last week's discussion about story arcs and storytelling. Pop back and check your inbox for that note if you have not yet read it.

Scott Adams in Win Bigly unpacks persuasion at a masterful level, so I thought I'd share some insights to help you.

Storytelling Insight #2 – Intriguingly, he suggests that all three of the three most powerful persuasion levers are, or have the potential to be, fear-based.

1. The top motivator is a big fear. This suggests that if we want our decision-makers to move, we need to find a way to scare them into it. Naturally, this needs to be done carefully!
2. The next most-effective motivator can be positive: belonging. This can be tricky to navigate in relation to stakeholder management and group think. How to add value to the conversation without following the herd and, equally, not being kicked out of it?
3. The third most-effective motivator reverts to fear, but in a smaller scale. My hunch is that smaller fears are easier to use at work. However, as with anything: not too often or you dilute the effect.

The trick will be to get the tone just right. Going too far may come off as false and so become ineffective.

I hope that helps. More next week.

Kind regards,
Davina

PS – Clarity Hub members received a similar message, but with more specific ‘how to' detail for each point. Join now if you want more, the first month is free.

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