{"id":3853,"date":"2013-07-08T06:48:34","date_gmt":"2013-07-08T12:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corevalues.com\/?p=3853"},"modified":"2013-07-08T06:48:34","modified_gmt":"2013-07-08T12:48:34","slug":"the-top-persuasive-words-to-use-during-team-meetings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/2013\/07\/08\/the-top-persuasive-words-to-use-during-team-meetings\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top Persuasive Words to Use During Team Meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"key-to-teamwork\"<\/a>What are the top persuasive words to use during team meetings? According to a data-driven study there are some good ones.
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Every day, an estimated 11 million meetings take place in the United States alone. With managers often spending three-quarters of their time in meetings \u2013 and 97% of workers reporting that collaboration is essential to do their best work \u2013 many companies are looking for ways to make meetings more productive. According to MIT Sloan School of Management Prof. Cynthia Rudin and MIT PhD student Been Kim, findings from a new data-driven analysis of meetings can help managers be more persuasive and efficient.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cOften when key decisions are being made, there are not too many proposals still on the table, and people are mainly receiving or asking for information\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe study of meetings is important yet challenging because it requires an understanding of many social signals and complex interpersonal dynamics,\u201d says Rudin. \u201cWhile there has been a lot of academic work done on meetings, our research is unique in that it is one of the first studies to use a data-driven approach to meeting analysis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Applying machine learning techniques to analyze a very large amount of meeting data, Rudin and Kim addressed whether it\u2019s possible to predict if a proposal will be accepted based on the persuasive words used. Rudin explains, \u201cThere are many published lists of persuasive words, but they weren\u2019t created from a data-driven perspective. We wanted to prove which words are more persuasive using predictive modeling and hypothesis tests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using statistics, Rudin and Kim found that the use of specific words in proposals significantly increased the chances of acceptance. They found that some of the top words most likely to result in accepted proposals were: yeah, give, start, meeting <\/b>and discuss<\/b>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften when key decisions are being made, there are not too many proposals still on the table, and people are mainly receiving or asking for information,\u201d observes Rudin, who notes that their algorithms obtained 92% accuracy in detecting the time frame when decisions will be made.<\/p>\n

The word \u2018yeah\u2019 seems surprising at first as a persuasive word, but, says Rudin, \u201cwhen we looked at the way people were using it, we found they were using it to show agreement with something that someone else previously said. Perhaps if you frame a suggestion as if it were in agreement with others, it\u2019s more likely to be accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of the other words also were unexpected, she notes. \u201cThe word \u2018meeting\u2019 is used in suggestions about what not<\/i> to discuss. For instance, someone might say, \u2018Maybe this is something for the next meeting,\u2019 as a way of gently moving the topic onward without causing offense. That suggestion was almost always accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further analyzing the language used in meetings, Rudin and Kim found that it\u2019s possible to predict when key decisions are being made based on dialogue. The predictors, explains Rudin, are a combination of communications such as information being provided or requested, suggestions, acceptances, or rejections, among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be useful when listening to a previously recorded meeting and you want to fast forward to the key decision. Or, it might help managers be more efficient if they could be automatically alerted to join a meeting when a decision is about to be made,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Rudin and Kim also tried to determine whether there was a \u201cquintessential\u201d pattern of dialogue that happens during a meeting. They looked specifically at the patterns of how social acts (which include phrases like, \u201cBrilliantly done!\u201d) interact with assessments (which include phrases such as, \u201cNo, a wheel is better.\u201d).<\/p>\n

They found that positive social acts are almost never directly stated before or after a negative assessment. \u201cThis is a bit counter intuitive because it would seem natural to complement someone to make up for something negative you said about their idea,\u201d says Rudin. \u201cHowever, that almost never happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, if someone compliments another participant just before or after they assess an idea negatively, she explains, their compliment could sound disingenuous. \u201cFor instance, you\u2019d almost never hear \u2018It\u2019d be annoying\u2019 back to back with \u2018Yeah, it was a pleasure working with you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudin adds, \u201cThis is one of the first data-driven works in the scientific field of meeting analysis and while we\u2019ve made \u2013 and found tentative support for \u2013 several hypotheses, there is much more work to be done in this arena. We\u2019re just at the beginning of finding ways to use machine learning to produce tools for more efficient meetings. Since everyone wants their ideas accepted, it\u2019s worth considering word choice in proposals. You don\u2019t want to undermine your idea by not using the right language.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudin and Kim\u2019s work on this topic was recently featured by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. For more information on Prof. Rudin, please visit: https:\/\/mitsloan.mit.edu\/faculty\/detail.php?in_spseqno=41126<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To read Rudin and Kim\u2019s research paper, \u201cLearning about Meetings<\/i>,\u201d please visit: http:\/\/arxiv.org\/pdf\/1306.1927v1.pdf<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright TIGERS Success Series by Dianne Crampton<\/p>\n

\"bookcover1\"<\/a>About TIGERS Success Series<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Want solutions to building a thriving post-recession business?<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

For clear insight into achieving growth and profitability in the workplace \u2014 straight from 10 top experts in their industry\u2014 go to: Engagement, Retention & Growth<\/a> to review current best practices in meeting management, engaging employees to champion change to onboarding new employees.<\/p>\n

One solution will not address your unique initiatives, but\u00a0 a combination might make more sense to your complex systems.\u00a0 For this reason, TIGERS Success Series presents viable solutions from diverse perspectives in change management, marketing, training, team development, executive recruitment, employee retention, and sales. Each solution is offered in a 30-minute comprehensive recording from experts in their industry. We provide the best strategies to advance growth\u2026 stay ahead of the competition \u2026 adapt quickly to change \u2026 and improve your company\u2019s bottom line. And, you are encouraged to share these recordings with your employees.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What are the top persuasive words to use during team meetings? According to a data-driven study there are some good ones. Every day, an estimated 11 million meetings take place in the United States alone. With managers often spending three-quarters of their time in meetings \u2013 and 97% of workers reporting that collaboration is essential […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[512,8,95,257,258,593,457,340,316],"tags":[69,32,125,594,540,595],"class_list":["post-3853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-consulting","category-collaboration","category-communication","category-cooperation","category-cooperative-values-collaboration","category-meeting-management","category-project-management","category-research","category-team-communicatiions","tag-collaboration","tag-communication","tag-cooperation","tag-meeting-management","tag-team-leadership","tag-team-skills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/corevalues.com\/dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}