This post was written by Lauren St. Germain, Facilitator and Coach for The Latimer Group.
The first post I wrote as a contributor to this blog was titled “Latimer in the Wild” and I wrote it as a new member of the team. At the time, I was spending hours upon hours learning the model and preparing to teach it in our workshops and advising on it during coaching sessions.
As I was learning, I began to see the frameworks we teach everywhere around me. I would hear an opening line in a television advertisement and think, “what a great hook!” or see a billboard with a thoughtful question and think, “that’s a great way to get the reader thinking!”
Here we are today, 3 years later, and I am still making comments (most often to my husband!) when I see the strategies we teach out in the wild.
Here is a recent “Latimer in the wild” sighting from last week:
Tucked away in my local newspaper was a stack of advertisements. One immediately stood out to me. It was for a generator company that sold and serviced generators direct to consumers. Let me paint the picture for you of what it looked like:
The top of the ad read “2024 Hurricane Season: Are You Prepared?”
The next section pictured two homes, side by side, enveloped in a dark night sky. The home on the left was pitch black with all the lights out. It had a large red circle above it that read “Not prepared.” The home on the right had showed all the lights shining brightly through the windows. It was labeled with a large green circle that read “Prepared.”
It was clear, just from this picture, the home on the left lost power and the home on the right had not. All thanks to, you guessed it, a working generator! Beneath the picture was the final statement, “Don’t get left in the dark!” along with a photo of the generator and information about how to contact the company.
The advertisement is simple, impactful, and persuasive. Here are 3 reasons why:
- The header is clear, hooks potential customers in and speaks to the problem. No one wants to be unprepared as hurricane season approaches.
- The side-by-side visual shows the impact of not being prepared: losing power. They used minimal words and a powerful visual to share their message. No one likes losing power and most people will know the frustration of that experience.
- The company positions their product as the solution and calls its audience to action. They offer a plan to get prepared and tell us exactly how to do so.
And now, a little challenge for you today. Be on the lookout and share a time when you’ve seen one of our Latimer principles out in the wild. If you pay attention, you’ll see our strategies and tools being used everywhere.
Have a great day!
Does your team:
– Overwhelm the audience with too much detail?
– Make things too complicated?
– Fail to ask for what they want or need?
Does your organization:
– Waste time because of poor internal communication?
– Take too long to make decisions?
– Struggle to clarify and frame discussions?
Do your leaders:
– Exhibit poor executive presence?
– Lean on incomplete communication skills?
– Fail to align the organization?
We transform teams and individuals with repeatable toolsets for persuasive communication. Explore training, coaching, and consulting services from The Latimer Group.
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