The other day I facilitated a board retreat with one of my favorite advocacy groups. During introductions, I asked each person to share something that would make their eyes roll during the retreat (so I’d know what to avoid and others would know what to expect). Several members said, “My eyes roll any time we do something touchy-feely.” I gulped, knowing later in the day we’d have a storytelling exercise about their personal journeys to join the board, which was guaranteed to be a little touchy-feely.
An aversion to emotion is no bueno when it comes to being persuasive.
Take three minutes to learn why humans can’t make decisions devoid of emotion.
Use emotion to persuade people…like donors, volunteers, or voters. If they don’t feel anything, they can’t make decisions. They’ll stall. They’ll walk away. They won’t be able to decide to support your cause. Make them feel something. And the easiest way to package an emotion is in a story.
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