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PEOPLE DON’T ‘BUY’ WHAT YOU DO, THEY ‘BUY’ WHY YOU DO IT — Simon Sinek
The most important step in making an effective argument is articulating why a program exists. Every program has a purpose and it is critical to clearly articulate it. This should be relatively simple for fraternities and sororities: the founding mission and values of each organization. These foundational elements explain why an organization exists and why others should support its efforts. Regardless of the type of resource requested, there will never be a shortage of other entities competing for the same resources. As such, decision makers need a compelling reason to pick your program over competing interests.
USING DATA TO MAKE BET TER ARGUMENTS SCOT T R ADIMER, PH.D.
For better or worse, it is an increasing expectation across the political spectrum that higher education administrators provide data to support arguments and demonstrate the value of programs. Rather than lament this increased scrutiny, educational leaders would be wise to embrace the call for better evidence of the impact of this work. While it may initially feel alien to some, using data to make more persuasive arguments is easier than many fear and can add value to one’s daily work. To do so only requires an ability to articulate what larger goal a program serves, gather data that directly relates to that goal, and present it in an easily relatable manner.
While this might seem obvious, too often individuals skip past the why and skip to what they want to do and how they plan to do so. When immersed in work, the reasons why something is important may be taken for granted. Talking first about why a program is important builds interest and invites others to become part of the endeavor. This also helps provide the necessary context for decision makers to evaluate what is desired and how you propose to do it. It does not matter how interesting the proposed program is, nor how novel its method of completion if there is no good reason for it to exist in the first place. The program’s mission will not appeal to every audience and that is okay — no argument works with every audience, nor should it. However, having no argument at all results in leaving it up to the audience to determine a proposal’s value. Audience members may not want to do that work on your behalf, or even worse, could develop their own reasons for why the proposal is important that differ from your own. Program supporters may have different ideas as to what the program should accomplish. Therefore, it is important to consider if the ability to part ways or say no exists, or if you might find yourself committing to something other than initially envisioned. Finding support for an argument is in many ways like new member recruitment. The goal is to find other individuals and/or organizations with shared values and purpose. This occurs by openly communicating values and purpose to potential supporters. It is not enough to simply get support - the right support is needed to ensure continued success. While situations where a complete mismatch in values or priorities should be avoided, there will be instances where values overlap but are not exactly the same. In those situations, one should still articulate why a program exists by choosing what parts of the “why” are emphasized. Conduct research on what is important to the target audience and emphasize areas of common ground. This will communicate to the audience a vision for future relationship as an opportunity to work toward common causes, rather than a transactional connection.
