Give your idea external and internal credibility to enhance its appeal

Use a spokesperson with first-hand experience of your idea
Let’s say you’re a teacher who has an idea of how to transform the school curriculum to help students learn better. You can invite a teacher from another school that has already adopted a similar idea to speak to the school board. Use their experience to convince the board to approve your idea even if on a trial basis.

Use interesting and vivid details when selling a product to customers
If you’re a real estate agent looking to sell a home, provide potential buyers with detailed stories about the history of the house and its previous owners. If it’s an old mansion, talk about how the home survived being bombed during the war, was built back up, and even housed people in need. Present it as a symbol of resilience and courage.

Use a physical demonstration to add meaning to your message
You’re an environmental activist who wants to show your community the impact of climate change on the local bird population. You can gather thousands of toy birds and spread them out all across the pavement to show people just how many birds will die unless they take immediate action to conserve their environment. This is more compelling than using statistics.

Humanize your message when using statistics to explain your point
As a senior manager who’s frustrated with the lack of teamwork and organization, you can use a soccer analogy to humanize the situation instead of relying only on statistics. For example, talk about how half the players in the team are playing out of position, tackling their teammates, and scoring their own goals. This is more effective than saying, “50% of the team have no idea what the organization wants to achieve and why.”