Time and time again we meet people on our workshops that have spent lots of time and energy building their business case. They have stacked up the numbers and convinced themselves that it works. The numbers speak for themselves — it’s a no-brainer. But somehow they just don’t quite cut it. There is nothing wrong with getting the numbers right, but expecting them to do all the work is often a recipe for problems. Cecilia Falbe and her colleagues studied this and found that reliance on rational persuasion, at best, achieves compliance rather than commitment. To get commitment, or rather enthusiastic buy-in, you need to combine the numbers with what they called an inspirational appeal. These appeals talk directly to the target’s emotions. They resonate with their values and get them excited. The combination approach according to Falbe, and also in our experience, makes for a highly effective strategy when influencing people. It seems that numbers are not very exciting. Only when the numbers connect to the emotions do things get interesting. Read More