I know it's hard for you and other government officials to make changes with limited resources.
Rural communities give residents and visitors unique experiences. Government officials in rural communities like you have exceptional challenges requiring unique solutions; especially when you need to convince stakeholders to do things differently.
Erich Schlenker and Carol Kline invited me to speak with government representatives from Rural Community Capacity (RC2) who are committed to economic development in rural North Carolina communities just like yours. Their questions were about presenting new proposals to rural residents, business owners, and investors who are resistant to change. Here are some of their (your) questions and my recommendations:
1) How do you motivate a mixed audience of older and young people, families, and those with different interests?
The key to successfully motivating your audience is to help them make a positive personal connection to your presented topic. Making a positive personal connection is directly linked to individual self-interest, which influences their motivation to listen to you. Engaging a mixed audience is slightly different from engaging a group of people with shared interests. In both instances, invite people to share their experience or opinion because it validates them. Do not ignore audience different experiences or perspectives, instead acknowledge the differences and highlight how they are positively connected to your proposal. Audiences need help to strengthen or change their existing beliefs and behaviors.
When the Audience has Shared Interests
-Select a few people with similar viewpoints to share their perspectives
-Ask individuals to share their deeper insights and perspectives
-Spark their interest to want more information
When the Audience has Different Interests
-Pick a few people with different experiences or perspectives to share
-Identify the common thread across audience differences highlighting commonalities
-Explain what the differences share with your proposal
2) How do you convince or change minds of groups that don't like change "this is how we've always done it"?
Naysayers exist offer more than making your life miserable consider that they naturally stimulate curiosity and creativity. Here's how:
-Often naysayers don't feel heard and complaining is their way of feeling heard. So when a naysayer starts complaining, respond with a sincere “thank you for sharing” to show you listened to they.
-Next, ask your naysayer why they have that opinion. Your goal is to get to the core fact or truth of what they are saying. Weeding through their extraneous information will help you identify the core emotion and specific issue that needs to be addressed.
-Last, invite your naysayer to provide a solution or alternative to what they oppose. Encourage them to use their past experiences and beliefs to create a possible solution. If they can’t offer a solution, invite them to strongly consider your proposal. If they do have a solution, discuss how it aligns with (or replaces) your proposal.
3) Sometimes it's impossible to intimately interact with the audience because you have to sit at a stationary microphone, if you can't move around how do you engage the audience?
This is when you need effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills. Your ability to verbally (use words and/or your audible voice) convey your message is a great starting point. Your nonverbal communication skills offer additional opportunities to nurture audience buy-in. Here are a few ways to adjust your communication effectiveness:
Verbal Skills
-Slow down your speaking, rushing makes it hard to follow
-Use your audible voice so people can hear you
-Learn to be okay with silence, sometimes people need time to process information
Nonverbal Skills
-Uncross your arms, open them to invite ideas
-Nod up/down when you agree or side/side to disagree
-Lean your body toward them to show your curiosity
Identify your natural strengths and use your strengths to implement these recommendations with confidence. I know you can do it because I watched others like you use their strengths with my recommendations and succeed. But if you need so hand holding for a bit I'm available.
Imagine the impact you'll have in your rural community when your audience listens and supports your proposal.
Are you ready for your next rural meeting? Let's talk.
#economicdevelopment #ruralgovernment #nonprofit
Special thank you to Rural Community Capacity (RC2) for support rural North Carolina communities.
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