Do you ask the right question—and in the right way?

You’ve got to grab their attention if you want people to listen.

In her book Communication Counts, media consultant Mary Civiello tells about a sales manager who wanted to introduce an incentive program. Salespeople could earn a bonus of $1,000 if they passed sales leads from customers over to a sales rep in a different division. Because the paperwork required to forward the lead took about 10 minutes to fill, the sales manager opened his presentation with a compelling point: “Who here would like to make $100 a minute?”

Who wouldn’t respond positively to a question like that?