Ever wondered how to make your innovative ideas stand out and reach the right audience? Discover the art of effectively communicating your big ideas, ensuring they resonate with the people who matter most, and ultimately, make a significant impact.
Finding and connecting with the right people within your organizations to listen to your ideas can…
You don’t get your big ideas, you work with them.
- To make a real impact, you need to get people with decision-making power to listen and believe in you. Here’s how.
Do your homework
Stress-test the idea first to create a more robust and thorough pitch with fewer holes and logic gaps
- Start by gathering feedback from various stakeholders
- Stakeholders often have access to critical information that can strengthen your pitch
- Connecting with them can also help you develop advocates throughout the organization
Frame Your Pitch in the Most Compelling Way Possible
Have a clear objective, purpose, and success metrics
- Frame your pitch as one that will not only improve the organization, but also make your champion’s life easier
- What does your champion care about?
- Outline the success metrics you plan on using to evaluate the performance of your idea
First, figure out who holds the power to implement your idea
RACI matrix
- Responsible: people who are in charge of completing tasks or reaching an objective
- Accountable: the person who must sign off on the work of the group mentioned above, and give final approval
- Consulted: the people who need to give input in order for the group to do their work
- Informed: those who are updated on the status of the project and decisions that are being made
Follow through and follow up
If you don’t get buy-in from your champion, work with them to understand why
- There’s no magic or luck in getting someone to believe in your big idea
- Patience is key
- With careful observation, strategic decision-making, smart communication, and persistent determination, it’s very possible to get the right people to listen to you
Choose your champion
Pick a champion – someone to advocate for your idea in the high-level meetings and discussions that you probably won’t be invited to
- Picking the right champion will depend on the magnitude of your idea
- A smaller idea, or one that won’t cause significant disruption, might be able to find a champion who has the direct power to put your idea into motion
- If your idea is more disruptive, find someone who has informal power that allows them to exert influence over those who are formally in charge
