If you want to motivate your customer to take action, the best way to do that is to create a perception of action in relation to your brand. The way you communicate with your customers plays a large role in how they feel about your brand, product or service.
The Infomercial Example
One prime example of how excitement can play a role in getting people motivated is infomercials. Billy Mays was the king of excitement, exuding it from every pore no matter what he was selling. If you turn your TV on late at night and watch these infomercials, you will find that every single person you see appears to be jumping out of their skin with excitement just like poor old Billy or that Australian chap we see all the time selling cleaning cloths and brooms as if they were Rolls Royces.
Infomercials are produced by professionals who truly understand how to motivate a market. If you or your spokesperson is passionate, their enthusiasm is infections and bound to spread.
Passion Doesn’t Have to Look a Certain Way
Passion doesn’t always have to look like a person talking quickly or loudly. It can also take a very calm and controlled demeanor as they say how the product really works and changed their life.
Take Barack Obama for example. Set aside his politics and just look at him as a public speaker. He’s calm and collected and very rarely displays much emotion, yet people still describe him as motivational.
Felt Passion versus Expressed Passion
Have you ever seen someone speak as if they were passionate, but you thought they were just faking it? For example, if you went to a used car salesman, they might sound very excited about a car, but you just don’t feel it personally. You know you are being sold to. That’s probably because they’re trying to emulate what they think excitement looks like without being truly excited.
The key to transferring passion is to first feel passionate yourself. You can’t just emulate passion; you have to actually feel it inside. If you can muster up a burning passion as you speak, that’s what will motivate your customers.
Why Your Brand Can Be Motivating
Who you are, your past results and what you stand for can be intrinsically motivating, even if your tone or style of delivery is not. Take Warren Buffett’s speeches for example. Warren Buffett isn’t expressive at all. In fact, there’s not much that’s motivating about the way he speaks, and if you did not know that he was the #1 most successful investor in the world, you might think he was actually a bit dull.
Yet people scramble to attend Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meetings just the catch a glimpse of the investing master. It’s perhaps the only shareholder meeting that actually has ticket scalpers. It’s not because of his speaking skills, but who he is. His past results convey more than his actual tone.
Steve Jobs was another person who motivated just by being in a room. His whole life with Apple was his passion and made a believer out of many in a way that Bill Gates never could. Yet Microsoft is a brand that almost sells itself in some senses.
Tone versus Technique
Tone of voice and speaking technique are equally important. If you have ever attended a motivational seminar, you’ve seen techniques in action. The speaker will have you jumping up and down, high fiving your neighbors and employing a whole host of other techniques to get you excited. Then they will move in for the kill with the front or back of the room sales.
Your voice is crucial, but so is understanding the mechanics of motivation. However, without passion in your voice, no technique will make a difference. Start with a fiery passion that comes from the inside, then add proof, results and techniques on top.
Further Reading: Bookstore
