So many times I have set with senior executives that had the best of intentions and still the message they sent was not received the way they would expect or was not received at all. Although the reasons for this phenomenon vary, at it’s core there is always the same concept and that is the subliminal message.
Imagine a leader stands on a stage delivering a well-crafted speech on unity. Imagine him/her standing behind a stand while delivering the talk. What would you say is the subliminal message? Chances are that the message would not be received because the subliminal message would be that the leader is not part of the group.
Now imagine that same leader moving amongst the people while delivering the speech. Or imagine that one voted representative of each team joins him/her on stage and the leader shows specific interest in each before starting the speech. Can you see the powerful subliminal message?
The advertising world has realised the power of planning a message starting from the subliminal outcome that they would like to achieve. I have often wondered how much more powerful we would communicate if we would do the same.
How does this work practically? I am preparing a message for an upcoming conference and I would like to use this insight I gained to craft my message in such a way that there are specific outcomes. So, let’s get to work.
My outcomes are:
1. I would like to have the participants searching for opportunities in which I would be crucial to their business.
2. I would want the participants to tell others about me.
3. I want people to walk away convinced that I have changed their lives permanently.
So, my talk is already done what will I add to send the above subliminal message. Below I will break down some options that I have and some of them I would do others would have ethical challenges for me and therefore I will not do them. Let’s consider each point separately:
1. I would like to have the participants searching for opportunities in which I would be crucial to their business.
• I could start my talk with everyone closing their eyes and imagining the worst challenge they have in life or business. I could ask them to imagine what it feels like when this challenge is removed. When the exercise is done I could ask some people to mention how they felt when they had the challenge removed. I could then express the hope that they will find the tools in my talk to deal with that thing. Even without my efforts they will subconsciously search for solutions in my talk.
• I would suggest that searching for problems everywhere but connecting these problems with an expert in that field might.
• I can mention the story of Peter that heard what I said and connected the dots and with my help and has transformed the business. They will then desire to be like peter and start searching for ways I could help them be the hero also.
After reading the above ask yourself which one of the 3 options do you think I will do?
Can you see the can instead of would or could send a subliminal message about my intent? Have you ever suggested something, and others heard you committing to do it? Might it be that your tenses played a role in this outcome?
2. I would want the participants to tell others about me.
• I know the story of John that heard of a solution and decided not to share the information because he was fearful. John’s friend then suffered great loss because of the lack of insight. This story could be used to indicate a complete other principle, but in a subliminal way the story would prompt people to look for the opportunity to share to prevent that they are also to blame for someone’s demise just as John was to be blamed.
• I could end with the call to share the insight since it is free and could change someone’s life. His was used in a powerful way in Amy Cuddy’s TED talk.
• I could suggest that we all send something on social media and thereby creating a behaviour that I would want participants to repeat.
3. I want people to walk away convinced that I have changed their lives permanently.
• Asking participants to write down and commit to do something different and tell someone in the room that they will do this.
• Talking about the importance of capacity growth and the acknowledgement of growth when it is experienced.
• Find quotes that indicate that permanent change comes with commitment to it.
If I add the above I would be able to send the subliminal messages I intended. Now, if the content of my talk is not great my subliminal messages might achieve the opposite of what I intend. Therefore, the planning of the subliminal message may not erode the intentional message.