© Copyright 2004                               Psychological Persuasion for FINANCIAL SEMINARS Why Financial Seminars are terrible and what to do about it! Part One by Michael Lovas (This article is taken from Michael's workshop: Psychological Persuasion for Financial Seminars.) Question: My business model includes seminars. My job is to deliver the program and set appointments. I have a good program, but my appointments are low. What can I do to increase my success? Lovas: This is a question I hear nearly every day. The truth is, seminars in our industry stink with a capital "S". The speakers over-rate their ability to communicate, so they bore their audiences. They audiences never build any rapport with the speakers, so trust is never developed. The seminar program is based on content rather than how people learn, so the audience misses the point. This is what the Marines refer to as a SNAFU: Situation Normal, All Fu&#@% UP! Because helping advisors do better with seminars is such a vital part of my business, I'm going to give you some Top Secret information. I'm serious; very few people in our industry have ever been exposed to this body of knowledge. It's a little deep, so please read three times. Consider why people might attend your seminar. They are interested in the topic. And, they might become interested in you. They are scared or concerned about their financial security. They might begin to trust you for solutions. All you have to do is communicate with them in the Right way. Build some rapport, prove your credibility, and connect with their subconscious. After coaching hundreds of advisors, I know that approximately 2% know anything about building rapport, and zero know anything about connecting with someone else's mind. For an industry rich in Analytical types, this is one area in which the vast majority of advisors is embarrassingly ignorant. In the last 25 years, the world has discovered some extremely effective psychological tools that you're probably not using. If you're in management, and don't know how to use and teach these skills, you could be preparing your advisors for a mediocre career. If you're doing seminars and you don't know how to use these tools, you are probably sabotaging your success! If you deliver a lot of face-to-face presentations, and are not using these advanced psychological tools, you're pushing money off the table. The good news. You can learn how to use these tools, now. And, when you learn to use them, you will gain more influence, you will build rapport and trust more quickly and easily. And, of course, you will set more appointments. First, you first need to know how other people require information to be delivered. You must learn how to present your information so it transmits the biggest impact to the largest number of people. Otherwise, the opposite happens - you bore the largest number of people! Consider why most people might attend your seminar, yet decide not to schedule a meeting with you. The main reason is that they got bored during the program. That would be a result of: 1. Your failure to deliver your information in their learning style. Most advisors talk too much and show too little. Duh. Since most people are visual, you're sending them into a state of auditory overload. (If you knew how to work with hypnosis, this could be an advantage, but that's another lesson for another day.) 2. Your failure to keep the attention on you. If you're using a flashy PowerPoint program, you're probably forcing your audience to focus on the slides, instead of you. Sorry, that doesn't do much to link you with solutions. The more they watch the slides, the more they ignore you. 3. Your failure to satisfy their need to know why your message was relevant. If you talk about the Internal Revenue Code, you're delivering material from your perspective. The audience doesn't care about you (yet). 4. Your failure to engage their need for interactivity. Research in advertising over many years continues to prove that "events" which include involvement are more successful. Why then, do the vast majority of seminar speakers fill the role of talking head, rather than game show host? Which one would you pay more attention to? In this article you will begin to see how to avoid those problems and improve your success with seminars. Is this you? 1. You walk to the middle of the front of the room. 2. Thank the audience for coming. 3. Tell them where the bathrooms are. 4. Begin delivering your program. 5. From there, you move around a little, but mainly, you stay in the same spot. What's wrong with that? After all, you're in the middle where everyone can see you. The audience has already associated that spot with the bathrooms! The tool that would solve the "bathroom problem," and cause audiences to trust you more easily, is called "stage anchoring." It's based on Bernice McCarthy Learning Style theory and Michael Grinder's Group Dynamics. The research discovered that different types of people need different questions answered at different times. That's their learning style. Essentially, they are looking for the following. Why: 25% of women and 19.4% of men need to know why they should pay attention. What: 27.5% of women and 37.5% of men need to know what the concept is. How: 14.5% of women and 23.5% of men need to know how your material works. What If: 32.7% of women and 19.6% of men need to know what is possible for their future. One of the most interesting and unobvious lessons in those numbers relates directly to our industry. If you have ever taken a Personality Type test and learned that Analytical is one of the two highest Types for you - you're in danger of sabotaging your own seminars and even your sales presentations. Because so many of you are Analytical, you automatically fall into the "how" category. By default, you want to deliver the "how" information, thus immediately losing three-quarters of your audience. How is that good for the health of your business? Can you eliminate that problem? Yes. Simply follow these steps: Step One. Deliver your information to answer the specific questions listed above. Do that and you'll appeal to the most people in the way they prefer to learn. You'll reach most of them; bond with most of them; and, you'll start to set more appointments. Step Two. Watch for next month's article. Step Three. Get Coaching in Psychology! If you've read this far, you deserve a treat. Send me an email, and I'll give you a free fifteen minute coaching session on how to "read" your prospects and audience members. References: Psychological Persuasion for Financial Seminars workshop, Michael Lovas Face Values, Michael Lovas Seminars, The Emotional Dynamic, Frank Maselli Time Line Therapy, Tad James and Wyatt Woodsmall Michael Lovas is the creator of "Credibility-focused Psychological Marketing and Selling." As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP), Michael teaches advisors the psychological secrets necessary to improve seminars and face-to-face presentations. Michael is the author of two books on using psychology to improve business: Beyond Wave Marketing (the bible of psychological marketing) and the new book/disk set Face Values (the bible of "reading" people without their knowing it). A former comic, Michael also delivers many very entertaining seminars and keynote presentations in the US and Canada. Michael Lovas 10718 Morning Glory Dr. Dallas, TX 75229 michael@aboutpeople.com www.credibilitymarketing.com (214) 366-0919