T he

Pers uas i o n
Foundatio n F or m ul a ™

FASTEST PATH TO A PERSUASIVE,

EASY-TO-REMEMBER STORY…
TAILORED FOR YOUR MOST IMPORTANT AUDIENCES
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1 What makes your product or service

special? (“Product elements”)

Going forward, we’ll just call this your “product,” even if you sell a service or
training. This step is a list , not an essay. And it will feed the next steps, not go
directly into your website or proposal. So don’t worry about getting the wording
right. For now, it only has to make sense to you. Examples include: fastest or
least expensive or most-complete feature set, easiest to learn, easiest to deploy,
full data encryption, saves money in the short or long term, award winning, saves
users time, works the way users expect, uses less electricity, more durable, used
by 6 of the 10 largest companies in your industry, raving testimonials from
ecstatic customers, or simple enough for small firms and also deep enough for
large firms.
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2 What makes your company special—

beyond your product or service?
(“Company elements”)

This is also a list not an essay. The list of things beyond your product that make you
and your company special. Since you probably spend most of your time thinking
about your product, this may be harder at first. But for many people, it’s the reason
to buy. Examples include: small company allowing personalized service, large
support team with the capacity to solve any problem, women or minority owned,
brand new company (or 30 years old!), based locally to understand local needs,
deep knowledge in the target market, founders and/or management who lived
the life and understand the problems of target customers, winner of “Best
Company to Work For,” or ISO 9000 quality certification.
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3 Who is your audience?

For your first time, start with your one, most-important audience. The more
specific you can be about the type of person, company, region, company size,
etc., the more tailored and more persuasive your final message will be. Saying
“everyone with money” is a guaranteed way to end up with a message that
connects with no one. It’s OK to have more than one audience, but be selective.
Every audience you list gets their own tailored story. So more audiences means
more work. Eventually, you’ll follow this process for all your critical audiences.
And when the stakes are high enough, you might even do this for a single person
— like planning for a meeting with your most important prospect of the quarter.
Most people find 3-5 target audiences are enough to cover everyone without
confusing themselves or their team.
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4 What does your audience

say they need —
their “explicit” desires?

What does your audience say to you matters most? Once again, this is a list,
not an essay. Get the easy ones out of the way first, for example: less expensive
or higher quality. Now put yourself in their shoes and complete their wish list.
Perhaps it includes: easy to learn, efficient to use, broad and deep feature set,
free updates, data safety, fits industry standards, excellent phone or chat support,
works on mobile device. It can also include specific outcomes, like weight loss,
less time on boring tasks, better visibility into the business, ability to run the
business with fewer people. Don’t guess. If you don’t know for sure, ask. If you’re
interested, we have proven approaches to how and when to ask also.
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5 What are your audience’s

unspoken needs —
their “implicit” desires?

Sometimes the things a customer or other audience doesn’t feel comfortable

saying out loud can be the most important to their decision. This is a list of
things a customer might never say … or will only tell you after you’ve worked with
them for weeks or months … or even years. Examples include: ensuring my own
job security, getting a promotion, earning or keeping the respect of my peers or
friends, becoming an influencer or thought leader, getting my boss to trust me
more or stop micromanaging me, robust community of users, fear of making the
wrong decision, fear of looking foolish or naïve in the eyes of their peers or boss.
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6 Pull from #4 and #5 your

audience’s top desires,
including their most important.

This list includes only the most important 5-6 items from across both the
explicit, spoken desires (#4) and the implicit, unspoken desires (#5). These are
the most important desires to your customer, not to you. If possible, circle or
highlight the #1 most important desire because that will eventually lead your
story. But don’t beat yourself up if you’re not sure. You can always A/B test
different openings later.
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7 Draw lines from each top desire to

the element in your product or
company list that satisfies that desire.

Draw lines from the left to the right below to connect the top audience desires to
attributes of your product or company that satisfy those desires. I realize you can
probably do this in your head, but really do it in writing. Sometimes two, three, or
even more attributes will work together to satisfy the desire. That’s great and we’ll
use it later. Keep in mind the link between the desire and the attribute might be
simple and direct … or not so direct. For example, a direct link might be a line from
an explicit desire for “excellent product support,” to your product element of “free
phone-based support 7 days a week.” But a less direct link might be a line from
an implicit “fear of making the wrong decision” to all three of “Try before you buy
program,” “30-day return policy,” and “>30 testimonials from ecstatic long-term
customers.”

Top Audience Desires What Makes Your Product or Co Special?

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8 Set aside all product or company

elements with no lines
connecting them (“Orphan Elements”)

This is the step you probably won’t like! For the purposes of your initial story,
eliminate all the elements that aren’t directly supporting an audience desire.
This can be hard! Some of these elements may be your favorites — perhaps
even things you’ve designed yourself. Don’t worry. Removing them from your
initial story doesn’t mean they aren’t real. It doesn’t mean you should take
them out of your product. It just means they don’t directly satisfy the most
important, high-priority desires of your audience. So they haven’t earned a
place in your top-level story! Just to keep all your work together, write below
the product or company elements you find the hardest to remove from your
story. If they are important to you, they may be more important to your audience
than you realize … as you learn more, you may add them back.
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9 Pulling it together —
Your 15 second “Elevator Pitch”

You now have all your ingredients for an easy-to-remember persuasive

story able to go from 15 seconds to 5 minutes or more. Your first line is your
relaxed, conversational 15-second “Elevator Pitch.” It is all about value — your
audience’s #1 desire and how you satisfy it. Remember: if you’re not sure which
desire is #1, that’s ok. Just do this step for all the top contenders and see what
gets people in your audience excited. You’re NOT wasting time because you’ll
use them all before we’re done (see the next step for how). For example, you
might say, “Marathon runners wearing our shoes get faster times because our
sole keeps their legs fresher.” Or “Camping families can start campfires in less
than 2 minutes even on cold, wet nights with our weatherproof, self-igniting
fuel sticks.” Remember, this should feel natural, conversational, authentic …
and take only about 15 seconds.
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10 Pulling it together —
Your 1-minute “Full Intro Pitch”

Your 1-minute “Full Intro” expands your Elevator Pitch by highlighting how you
satisfy the next 4-5 desires. The easiest way to think about this? Pretend
each desire is #1 and craft a sentence that is still focused on value, not product
details. For example, if your audience cares enough about customer support
to make it #3 on the priority list, you might say, “Help is always close because
our support team is available seven days a week.” Or if data safety is #4 on the
priority list, you might say, “Your data is always secure our security surpasses
the industry standards.” When you’re done, you’ll have 3-5 of these — one for
each of your audience’s next top desires. This is why you’re not wasting time
by testing multiple opening statements if you’re not sure which desire is #1.
You’ll use the other too!
Congratulations! You’re done — and already
better off than the vast majority of companies!

You now have a tailored, persuasive story you

can trust … and deliver as a 15-second “elevator
pitch.” Then you can expand it to a minute or
more when you see interest in your audience’s
eyes. Time to go out there to stop pleading and
start persuading!