I’m often asked what are the secrets to making your ask effective? To be clear here are secrets – or at least techniques — that are powerful and drawn from psychology and neuroscience. But if you ask me what the single most powerful tool was, I’d say if was to do with what you don’t do, and it comes from ancient China.
An outstanding fundraiser will commit to completely paying attention to the person from whom you’re seeking support. Developing this ability will add significantly to your effectiveness in Making the Ask. We’re combining two techniques here which by chance are not just complementary, but also an anagram of each other – silent and listen:
You may be aware that Chinese ideograms often combine a number of symbols to create a single word or phrase. This makes Chinese an exceptionally rich language. One of the most interesting elements in this context is the cluster of symbols linked together to represent listening. If, like me, you don’t speak Chinese, the listening symbol below is made up of six other ideographic components. These are: You, Eyes, Ear, Heart, Undivided Attention, and King.
As you can see, this impressive combination goes way beyond what in English is commonly described as active listening.
Let’s explore each of these:
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Clare Segal, Director