‍I just finished Dan Pink’s latest book, To Sell is Human. It’s a fascinating read that explores how and why, so many of us are now in sales. 

Sales. Yuk. But before you think I’ve just condemned myself (and possibly you) to the sleazy ranks of the stereotypical smarmy salesman, consider this: “[We] are engaged in what I call “non-sales selling.” We’re persuading, convincing and influencing others to give up something they’ve got in exchange for what we’ve got.” 

Communications falls pretty neatly into this definition, meaning we communicators are squarely in what Dan Pink calls the “moving people business.” I think that’s a great definition and, when I’d finished the book, several of the many useful tips about everything from making pitches, to improving the way we listen, to crafting more effective email subject lines stayed with me. But the part I liked most was in the final sections of the book: “At its best, moving people can achieve something greater and more enduring than merely an exchange of resources. And that’s more likely to happen if we follow ... two underlying lessons … Make it personal and make it purposeful.”

Make it personal

Pink describes an experiment looking at the work of radiologists. These specialists review CT scans all day long, and one of their most important tasks is to identify what are known as “incidental findings,” or abnormalities in the scan that aren’t related to the ailment for which the patient is being treated. In the experiment, when the radiologists viewed a scan, a picture of the patient’s face was displayed at the same time. 

The radiologists reported feeling “more empathy” and being more meticulous about the scans accompanied by pictures. When the exact same scans were later viewed by the same radiologists but without the patient pictures, there was a startling result: “80 percent of the incidental findings were not reported when the photograph was omitted from the file.” 

Approaching the patient as a human being rather than as an anonymous case study made a tremendous difference. And it’s not just about doctors: “Every circumstance in which we try to move others by definition involves another human being. Yet in the name of professionalism, we often neglect the human element and adopt a stance that’s abstract and distant.” 

It’s a great argument for our communications work taking a more concrete approach that is rooted in the personal. The fact is that our audiences are human beings and not widgets or columns on a spreadsheet, and we can more easily move them by engaging on a human level. No more corporate speak, please!

Make it Purposeful

One of the best things about the book is the liberal use of real world examples, and Pink draws on another hospital related case study to look at what happens when purpose is integrated into communications. 

In this example, researchers were trying to identify the most effective way to get more people scrubbing their hands, and so reduce the levels of infection in hospitals. The researchers split the hospital’s soap and hand sanitizer dispensers into three groups and posted a different sign for each of the groups. The first read: “Hand hygiene prevents you from catching diseases.” The second emphasized the risk to patients: “Hand hygiene prevents patients from catching diseases.” The final sign was for the control group and read simply: “Gel in, Wash Out.” 

By weighing the soap before and after the two-week long test, researchers determined which sign had prompted most employee use. The second sign was by far the most successful. When the communication focused on the bigger picture, on the people who were being served by the organization (in this case, patients) the results were measurably better. 

It turns out people are motivated by the desire to serve a purpose that is bigger than their own role.Bringing the idea of purpose into communications by sharing the bigger picture or joining the dots will always be more effective than a simple directive. We’re in the moving people business—let’s start making better use of our most effective tools and crafting communications that are more personal, more purposeful, and more moving.

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