Belief, consistency and the moving target of truth

You can change how they think. Start by changing how you think.

We’d see each other occasionally at the gym, when our schedules coincided. We’d nod, and exchange the briefest of greetings. Then, I’d head off to work out alone, doing pretty much the same thing I always do, the ultimate creature of habit. And so would he. But in his case, he wouldn’t be alone. He had a personal trainer, to guide his every move, select the weights, devise complex manoeuvres, and survey his progress with a beady eye. To the casual observer, it all looked, sounded and felt highly scientific. Of course it did. Just look at the terminology: core stability, resistance, muscle confusion, carbo loading, split routines, cross-training, isotonic and so on. It sounded impressive, so it had to work. Except it didn’t, as a returning casual observer might have observed. After two years – yes, count ’em – he had made virtually no progress. He still had the telltale contours of middle-aged spread, the moobs and that jowly look. Clearly, it wasn’t working. Actually, that’s not quite right. Clearly it was. “I can’t believe the progress I’ve made,” he told me on one of the rare occasions we actually fell into sustained conversation. Neither could I, though I suspected not for the same reasons. “I feel stronger, fitter and leaner. Totally transformed,” he said with a big, beaming smile. “Maybe you should try it,” he continued, giving me a slightly superior, assessing look. “Maybe,” I said non-committally, and quickly moved away. Now here’s the thing: he really, truly believed it. In fact, he was so convinced that I almost wondered if I’d missed something. As he headed to the free-weights area, I looked a bit more closely, but could see no real change, let alone any improvement.

Really, truly, madly

There are few things in this life that we’re certain about, and mostly, they’re physical. Water is wet, fire burns, and if you let something go, it’ll drop to the ground, thanks to gravity. Other things are less clear: carbs or proteins, Labour or Conservative, left or right, Pepsi or Coke, Mac or PC, stripes or hoops. And even when take a position, we don’t act consistently. Lots of people believe that air travel damages the ozone layer and causes global warming. But does that mean they cancel their foreign holiday? Of course not – that £20 ticket to Malaga is just too good to pass up. We all know that excessive noise can damage our hearing. Our iPods, mobiles and MP3 players tell us ad nauseam not to pump up the volume. And yet we do – how else can we drown out the ambient noise of traffic, chatter and other people’s music? Too much alcohol is bad for us, and yet we still have a couple of glasses (or more) of that Aussie chardonnay every evening. But that’s OK: if we have a pint glass of water before we go to bed, and go to that step class tomorrow, we’ll work it out of our system, right? If you say so.

Mind games

We don’t really know what goes on in people’s heads. Let’s face it: we often don’t know what goes on in our own, so why should our powers of perception and absolute certainty extend to others? The downside is that your clients, prospects and readers are unpredictable, fickle and changeable. The upside is that they’re unpredictable, fickle and changeable. Which is where you come in. Because you, we, they, don’t really have an unshakeable, unchanging and permanent view. It can be subtly altered and influenced. Subtly, I said. That’s the key that’ll help you unlock the door to persuasion. Gently convince people of your point of view, and you’ll win them over. Ambush them and you won’t see their heels for dust. And to help you on your way, here are some pointers:

Tell a story to illustrate your argument. Even though you’ve carefully chosen the story, it seems to carry more weight, as it looks like independent verification.
Don’t make far-fetched or vague claims. You want to be persuasive but believable, so what you say needs to at least appear achievable and realistic.
Use humour – preferably at your own expense. Nothing breaks the ice and opens the way like a joke that’s aimed at you. It shows humanity and humility, and holds out a hand to connect with your audience.
Come at your subject obliquely. Don’t go stomping in there with your hobnailed boots and trample their beliefs underfoot. Instead, choose a less obvious angle, and use that as a way in.
Be diplomatic. Just the other day, somebody said to me, “I don’t agree with you, but I completely respect your point of view”. Yes, it was clichéd and unoriginal. But instead of reaching for the proverbial bucket (be still, my cynical heart) I actually broke out into broad smile. Now that took me by surprise.

Truth is a moving target, and once we’ve made up our minds, we like to (a) stick to our decision (b) find reasons to reinforce it and (c) think we’ve weighed up the pros and cons, and reached a balanced conclusion. When you’re trying to change somebody’s beliefs – and all marketing, sales and communication is doing exactly that – you need to tread lightly. Some beliefs, however, are unshakeable. As my gym buddy waddled his way to the bench press, he stopped to look at himself in the mirror. Money well spent, he was obviously thinking, as he admired his finely honed physique. Can’t argue with that.

Kevin Ideas, Marketing.