Have you ever been asked to sign a petition in a grocery store parking lot (I mean, before our pandemic environment)? I rarely sign them. Usually it’s because the petitioner is skipping a number of stages and going directly to the “Take Action” stage. If I don’t know what they’re talking about or why it matters to me, I can’t commit to taking action.

Whenever you’re communicating with anyone – if you’re giving a presentation, if you’re in a client meeting, if you’re in a high-stakes discussion – whenever you’re trying to influence someone else to take action, they’re asking themselves two questions internally. And if you can proactively answer those questions as you’re talking to them you’ll be much more effective in influencing them.

Those two questions are:

SO WHAT?
NOW WHAT? 

Don’t assume your audience knows what you’re talking about or why it matters to them. You need to quickly, and concisely, point out the value to them. Establish a good foundation. Build facts and examples upon that foundation to clearly outline why the issue is important to them. That will answer their “So what?” question.

You also can’t assume your audience knows what action you’d like them to take. Once you’ve explained why the issue is important, clearly explain what actions you’d like from them. If you can lay out these actions in quick, simple steps that’s even better.

So the next time you’re preparing for a communication, a meeting or a presentation, think about your structure. When you apply a solid structure that answers “So what?” and “Now what?”, you’ll make it simpler for them, and you’ll be much more effective at influencing your audience.