You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.
We’ve all heard this old adage, but it’s simply not true. You can make him drink every single time you take him to water. All you have to do is salt his oats before you get him to the water. The salt makes him thirsty before he ever gets there. We can achieve similar results in our personal and professional communications.
Communication “salt” is a statement, a group of statements, or a question that creates curiosity and anticipation.
Once you gain a person’s undivided attention you need to keep that attention at a high level. Attention constantly ebbs and flows during communication. Interest levels begin to decline as soon as ten or twenty seconds after the start of your message, conversation or presentation. You keep a person’s attention level high the entire time by effectively salting your communication. But be careful—too much salt can spoil the stew.
We’ve all heard this old adage, but it’s simply not true. You can make him drink every single time you take him to water. All you have to do is salt his oats before you get him to the water. The salt makes him thirsty before he ever gets there. We can achieve similar results in our personal and professional communications.
Communication “salt” is a statement, a group of statements, or a question that creates curiosity and anticipation.
Once you gain a person’s undivided attention you need to keep that attention at a high level. Attention constantly ebbs and flows during communication. Interest levels begin to decline as soon as ten or twenty seconds after the start of your message, conversation or presentation. You keep a person’s attention level high the entire time by effectively salting your communication. But be careful—too much salt can spoil the stew.