What does influence have to do with authority?
Influence creates an internal shift in a person’s mindset. In other words, if someone of influence is educating you, it creates a burning desire to go out and execute, right?
But not everyone can be influential. Influence happens at the intersection of trust and relationship.
So, how do you build trust, influence and authority?
One way is through education. Imagine this:
You went to the doctor with a headache and the doctor starts talking about his life story, his qualifications and his journey through medical school. And while this is happening, you’re sitting there with a blistering headache trying to get your problem solved.
That’s not a pleasant experience.
Now, imagine a scenario where the doctor took the time to listen to your problem and provide actual, constructive feedback to solve your problem? Isn’t that a much better outcome?
Influence and authority create a positive customer experience which leads to a positive employee experience which all leads to an excellent reputation.
How can you build authority and influence using videos?
The first step is to find relevant content ideas and to build authority.
Keep an ear to the ground with your prospects and clients. Here are a few great places to start.
Firstly, you need to understand why your current clients:
- Why are your clients with you?
- What are their current concerns?
- What kind of questions do they have?
- What’s keeping your clients up at night?
Secondly, you need to get your team’s perspective:
- Why do clients work with your company?
- What is your team hearing through their interactions with clients?
- What questions or conversations are taking a lot of time when interacting with clients?
Thirdly, you need to know what the objections are to doing business with you:
- What kind of objections do you find?
- How are you handling those objections?
- What is your most profitable service or your key service focus areas (80/20 rule)?
Lastly, you need to know what’s going on in your industry.
- Opinion pieces and clarifications work really well for building your authority.
Finding answers to these questions helps us curate videos that answer specific questions your audience actually has. And answering these questions is a great place to start building authority.
How do you structure your script?
I’m a big fan of Donald Miller, and one of the models he talks about in his Business Made Simple University is the problem, pain, solution, promise and urgency model. Here’s how it works:
- Problem: What is the problem you’re providing the solution to in the video?
- Pain: What pain does this problem cause for your viewer?
- Solution: This is your solution. Remember you’re educating and not selling.
- Promise: What is the outcome the viewer can expect from your solution?
- Urgency: What will happen if people don’t take immediate action?
Understanding people
Building trust
We often think of trust as an emotion, but it’s a chemical that’s released called Oxytocin. The more Oxytocin that is released, the more trust we feel.
In real life, oxytocin is released by hugs, cuddles and handshakes. But this looks a little different in a digital world. While you obviously can’t hug someone through videos, trust is formed through first impressions.
We form an impression of digital assets (websites, videos etc.) within 30-50 milliseconds which is pretty much instantaneous. In videos, this happens through your first statement and your initial body language.
First impressions are very important because it’s quick forming and slow to change. When people watch your video, they’re getting an overall impression of you and your ability to solve their problems.
So, the question to ask yourself is, would you engage further or make contact if you were the viewer?
Cognitive load
Have you ever watched a video that was too complicated or filled with jargon and big words? I have and guess what. I switched off immediately.
Big words and industry jargon don’t do any favours because it can be exhausting to sit through. And it's because of a thing called Cognitive Load.
Cognitive load is how much energy is consumed by your brain to process the information it is receiving. There are two types of cognitive load:
Intrinsic - How complex the information is (big words, industry jargon etc)
Extraneous - How much information is presented (20 minute video vs a two minute video)
How to avoid cognitively loading your viewers?
- Short bitesize videos
- Make them interactive
- Avoid big words, industry jargon and be aware of length and waffle
- Remove anything that isn’t essential at all
- DO NOT force the viewer to read and listen at the same time
- Break down information as much as possible
Conclusion
Videos are powerful. When you create videos with your audience in mind, it impacts the way you’re perceived by your clients.
I hope you find value in this article, but before I leave, I’d like to leave you with this quote from Donald Miller:
People don't buy the best products; they buy the products they can understand the fastest.
Kaushik is the Managing Director of Dark Matter, a B2B video production company based in Christchurch, New Zealand. If you are in Christchurch, book a session in their new DIY video studio, Dark Spaces.
