Aha-Effekt Archive - The Art of Communicating

Resonate stronger

When I wrote my first book (“The AHA Effect”), I was stunned to see that almost every communication book out there focused on the wow effect.

Many of them did it for selfish reasons: persuasion. These books teach you how to push your message harder and lure the audience over to your side.

As you know, I prefer to resonate stronger instead. I think it’s a more sustainable way of communicating.

It builds relationships rather than consuming them, because it fosters mutual understanding and trust.

It even leads to better products (and services), because when we look from our audience’s perspective and capture in words what we see, we can build products that align much better with what the audience truly needs.

So I wrote the book as kind of a counter offer: Here’s a better way to communicate!

One that doesn’t stop at wowing the audience, but that leads them all the way to a profound aha moment.

With “The PATH to Strategic Impact”, which comes out on Oct 1st, I’ve tried to take this thought further. I’ve applied the aha effect to leadership communication to fill a glaring hole that can keep your business from a bigger impact. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.

The WOW vs. AHA Matrix

We can all agree that you never want to be in the bottom left quadrant.

But surprisingly, there are strong proponents for the top left and bottom right quadrants.

The genius who refuses to make an impact sits in the top left. They have huge talent and brilliant ideas but they are wasting their talent because they can’t get people to pay attention to their ideas. Worse, they almost refuse to get bigger attention because they insist that

“this is how our customers expect it”,
“WOW” is a trickster skill of the show-offs,
“getting attention” equals “click bait”, and
“great work will prevail”.

They’ll never make it to the top right.

In the bottom right sits the show-off who dazzles the audience but lacks substance. They are brilliant at getting their audience’s attention but leave them short of a profound insight. Worse, they almost refuse to make an impact because they insist that

“this is how it’s done”,
“how you say it is more important than what you say”,
“people are bored by the details”, and
“we need more bang”.

They’ll never make it to the top right, either.

Here’s the thing:

Without attention, people won’t hear your story.
Without substance, your story won’t make an impact.

The point is that this is not either-or. You need both.

WOW opens the mind. AHA changes the mind.

Keep lighting the path and make a bigger impact!

The Zip Line

Alex: For my last talk, I had a grand entrance on a zip line to give a wow effect.
Casey: That’s daring! What was the feedback?
Alex: They all loved the entrance, but asked if I could zip out and back in with some clearer points.
Casey: Ah, the difference between a flying start and a landing thought!

—

Wow effects get you only half-way there. Change happens when you lead your audience all the way to a profound aha moment.

Should Taylor Swift really perform at your product launch?

When you manage to get Taylor Swift to perform at your company press conference it will almost certainly get you a wow from your guests. But that’s no substitute for the resonance that your actual announcements do or do not create.

Tonight, Apple will stream their newest keynote. I found this piece by Alex Cranz interesting in which she observes:

No one else in the tech space has had the same success as Apple at getting people to treat their announcements as big events. Nearly every single major tech company has tried. Sony had Taylor Swift at a CES keynote, and Samsung marched out a member of BTS to applause at a Galaxy Unpacked event. Google had the Slo-Mo guys. Intel had dancers and acrobats festooned in LEDs. But something about an Apple event seems to resonate more with folks.

Here’s the thing: People don’t watch a tech announcement to see Taylor Swift. And there’s no aha effect in seeing dancers and acrobats perform. It might create attention and, thereby, “open the mind” of the viewers.

But it doesn’t change minds. It’s merely wow. But wow without aha is mostly harmless. Just look at all these hilarious ads. What was that ad about, again?

Apple understands its customers better than most. Their goal for the keynotes is not to wow them with random show acts. Apple wants to provide their fans with aha moments about the products they love.

These aha moments might not resonate with everyone, but that is precisely why Apple can strengthen their resonance with loyal fans. It’s an aha that’s not meant for everyone. But it’s an aha for their fans – often without any wow on top (I mean, how many of their latest keynotes were you blown away by? And yet, if you’re an Apple fan, you’re going to watch this one …).

If you feel like you need a star act to make your event appealing, perhaps it’s time to find the inherent value in your products … and the words that create strong resonance with the people who truly matter.

Open to change

Wow opens their mind. Aha changes their mind.

Both are better together.

Aha moments can’t happen when your audience doesn’t pay attention. Wow moments are great at getting you attention.

But wow moments get you only half way there. After all, what use is it when people cheer about what a great show it’s been when what you actually want them to cheer for is your idea?

When you’ve opened the door, walk through and take your audience all the way to a profound aha moment.

The duality of the aha effect

Clarity can show up in the form of a thought or in the form of a feeling.

The aha effect happens when both fall together … when your gut tells you that something feels right and your brain understands why it is right.

You’re missing out if you only look at one of those sides.

The day after

The keynote was a great success. Standing ovations.

“What a great presentation!”
“You’re a natural born presenter!”
“That was quite the roller-coaster ride! What a brilliant show!”

And yet, the day after, nothing happens.

Because it’s never about “What a great show!” but always about “What a great idea!”

The wow effect brings you the excitement in the moment. But that excitement always fades. Sometimes later, but mostly sooner.

That’s why you need to take your audience beyond the wow effect – all the way towards a profound aha effect.

Aha effects last much longer.

PS: Happy to help.

How is clarity to be achieved?

“And how is clarity to be achieved? Mainly by taking trouble and by writing to serve people rather than to impress them.” — F. L. Lucas

Wow effects are easy to achieve. When in doubt, throw money at the problem. Samsung, for example, has put entire orchestras on stage during their keynotes.

Wow effects rarely increase clarity, though. Also, you don’t even need clarity to achieve a wow effect.

Aha moments are different. You can’t buy an aha effect.

The aha effect requires effort. It requires you to do the work and think things through. You’ll have to see your audience to understand where they’re coming from and what matters to them. You’ll have to understand their language so that you can find the words that lead everyone in your audience to see what you see.

Aha effects require clarity. Clarity requires effort.

But it’s worth the effort. Because while wow effects usually fade quickly, aha effects often last.

The best way to think about wow effects is as a door opener to your audience’s connection. But once you’re in, lead them all the way to an aha moment.

This is the game you’re in

-> Passionate beats eloquent
-> Prominent beats competent
-> Relatable beats spectacular
-> Relevant beats fancy
-> Simple beats complex
-> Useful beats beautiful
-> Wow beats aha in the short run
-> Aha beats wow in the long run

Don’t persuade harder, resonate stronger!

The art of digging deep

TED has popularised the art of presenting big ideas. What gets easily overlooked is how another art is even more essential to a great TED talk: the art of digging deep.

This is the art of not only identifying the stones but actually picking them up and looking under. The art of scratching our heads and asking further. The art of looking for answers as opposed to stopping at the questions. So that we arrive at ideas that don’t just look big but actually are big.

For this, it’s not enough to copy the looks of a TED talk: the structure, the storytelling, the stage layout, the timing. That’s just the surface.

A big idea is not in how the idea looks.

A big idea is in what it inspires. What it changes. Such as a fundamental change of perspective.

More often than not, these ideas originate in the mud and dirt. By digging deep. And getting your fingers dirty.

People on the TED stage are standing there because they have an important story to tell. One that originates from doing the work. Sweating the details. Looking beyond the obvious. Asking the questions and looking for answers.

The problem with our world of inspirational TED-like speeches is that it’s copying the looks of a great TED speech while missing the work that precedes it. These people copy the TED part but not the digging deep part.

Yet, digging deep is the most reliable way of arriving at a big idea talk. Dig deep and do the work. And then, tell a true story about what you worked out.

This is how you light the path.

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