Companies all over the world are obsessed with data. They want to collect as much as they can so that their people can be data-driven. So it only makes sense that when you have a disagreement with a stakeholder, you pull out your data and prove them wrong – and they’ll change their minds, because you can’t argue with numbers… right?

Not so much.

That’s because people make decisions emotionally and then justify them rationally.

People are exceptionally good at justifying things to themselves – in fact, we’re so good we often don’t realise we’ve done it. You’ll make a decision based on a feeling or an emotional response, but your brain is able to come with a logical reason to go with it.*

This is why just showing people data doesn’t work – you haven’t appealed to their emotions. Once, I showed someone a chart demonstrating clear behaviour, and the stakeholder said, “well, that might be true, but that’s not what I’ve seen.”

🤷‍♀️ So if you can’t just use data, how do you influence others?

Data is important, and you should continue to use it to inform your decision-making and use it with stakeholders. But data on its own is not a compelling argument. You need to appeal to the emotions and then back it up with data.

Depending on what you’re presenting, there are a lot of ways you can weave in the human element with the facts and figures:

• Tell a story about a customer’s experience, and then show how widespread it is.

• Appeal to a customer’s struggles and frustrations, and then offer a logical solution.

• Describe an inspirational vision of the future, and then map out the rationale behind it.

Just like how using data without emotion is generally unconvincing, so is appealing to only the emotional side. When trying to convince others of something, you’ll need a careful balance of both feelings and logic to ensure it really cuts through and lands.

*If you want to read more about this, this article expands on this a bit more from a buying perspective.