marketing is how to transfer emotion

A very wise man and mentor, Steve Davis, once taught me that the key to marketing is not what you say, but how well you can transfer emotion to your audience.
Subtlety

It’s an extremely hard concept to master because it’s subtle. There is no instruction manual on how to transfer emotion. This is bad news for over-analytical types that want the exact formula for success, and good news for creative types that know how to tap into other people’s emotions.

Considering that marketing is a part of everything you do, from getting a date to getting a job to asking your parents (or boss) for money; you would serve yourself well to understand and learn to implement this concept.

Why do you think that top actors are among the wealthiest in our society? They have mastered the concept of transferring emotion from the screen to you in your seat.

If you’ve ever heard Steve on his radio show, you understand that he is the master of transferring emotion. He is passionate about helping others succeed and he is able to get that across over the radio waves.
Digging Deeper

Steve taught me this concept about a year ago, and since then I have been working on it weekly in my role as a presenter and mentor. Over the last 3 months, I’ve submersed myself even deeper through the process of training my business partner, Shauwn, to present.

It has been a fascinating experience to watch his growth as a presenter from an outside perspective. We have learned without a doubt that Steve was right. Shauwn (or I for that matter) could say the exact same thing on two different nights, but the results might vary drastically based on how well he transferred his passion on the subject to the audience.

Sometimes it even seems like he could say almost anything as long as he transferred the emotion well enough.
The “Ah-Ha” Moment

A few weeks ago, I sat in as Shauwn gave his presentation. I could see in his eye that something had changed. The information was the same (making the same mistakes in the material.. damn you Shauwn!), but the delivery was very different. I found myself looking up and leaning forward in my chair, where before I had the tendency to mentally wander.

It ended up being his best night up to that point. Interestingly enough, he didn’t quite understand why. He told me that he actually felt like he had given a worse presentation that in previous nights. No…., I told him, It’s not the presentation that mattered, it was your transference of emotion. It was there!

I find it fascinating that the difference was so subtle that it was hard for him to put his finger on, but the audience could sense it.
How To Transfer Emotion

You may not be a public speaker like Steve, Shauwn, and I; but the concept still applies to you. Anytime you want something that someone else has, such as money, attention, acknowledgment, etc; you market yourself to get it. To be effective, it’s important to transfer the emotion of urgency, desire, sympathy, or whatever feeling is necessary to get them to take action.

Transferring emotion to another human being takes a delicate balance of passion, communication skills, and empathy.
Passion

To transfer an emotion to someone else, you first have to strongly have the emotion yourself… but how do I tell you to how have an emotion?

Feelings are funny, subtle things… especially for men. Maybe that’s why women tend to be better communicators.

If you don’t have passion for what you are selling, writing, asking for, etc; you are not going to be successful. Your audience can sense your feelings for the subject matter. If you are weak in this area, it’s possible that you are suppressing your emotions (a lot of us men), or maybe it hasn’t been properly marketed to you yet.

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