What to Do to Get Around People’s Scripts

My dad used to tell us this funny story, and it relates perfectly to what I see happen between people communicating all the time.

The story is about a man from Germany living in the United States. We’ll call him Hermann. He’s doing well, speaks English well, and has a job he enjoys. He convinces his brother Friedrich to come visit from Germany but Friedrich is hesitant because he doesn’t speak English very well. Hermann assures Friedrich he will help him with enough phrases to get by. 

The brother arrives for a weeklong visit, and they spend a great weekend together in the city. Before Hermann has to go to work on Monday, he helps Friedrich plot out some museums and other paces to go by himself while Hermann is at work. Friedrich wants to be able to get a snack in the afternoons at a local diner. Hermann teaches Friedrich to order his favorite, “apple pie and coffee.”

After a few days, Friedrich explains he would like to have lunch at the diner. Hermann teaches his brother to order some lunch. The next day Friedrich sits down at the counter at the diner where he’s been enjoying his afternoon apple pie and coffee, and he proudly tells the waitress that he would like “a roast beef sandwich.”

The waitress asks, “What kind of bread?” 

Friedrich looks puzzled, and says, “Apple pie and coffee.” 

Each of us Only Knows Our Own Script

We don’t need to be limited by a few phrases on a script. The art is learning to think around the script, beyond the script. Recognizing there are other ways to see the world or the matter at hand, and many ways to learn and figure things out. 

In promoting yourself and your business, like I said last week, you have to anticipate what your audience knows and do some level-setting with them for what’s not on their script. By and large, people know less about your topic than you first assume. We assume that people know what we know and that they see the world about the same way we do. That’s a fallacy. If they knew everything you knew, they wouldn’t need to hire you. 

How do you Know What They Know? 

You don’t want to make assumptions about your target audience knowing more or less than what they know. The best way to find out is to ask. Flat out ask them how much they know about the topic. Have a few telltale questions that will help you gauge what they know. You can do this many ways, but here are a few ways to consider.  

1. Have a conversation to get to know them and find out what they know, then adjust your messaging and your proposal points based on what they know and what you need to teach them for you to successfully serve them. 
2. Give them a quiz. People check knowledge with little online quizzes before meetings often. You will then know how much you need to help them–from remedial to expert level. 
3. Create a fact sheet. I find creating a lingo sheet especially helpful to get people up to speed. I try to avoid jargon as it is, but it slips though and giving people a key to it is helpful. 

Pay attention to your own scripts that may hold you back. You need to live on more than apple pie and coffee, after all. 

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