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Frame Control

In his book, Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal, Oren Klaff describes the concept of “frame control.” In every conversation or meeting someone is going to control the frame. The person who owns the frame has ultimate control of the meeting. This applies for one on one conversations and for meetings involving multiple people.

The three major frames are:

  1. The Power Frame
  2. The Time Frame
  3. The Analyst Frame

When someone uses their authority to hold control over you or to be bossy, they’re coming at you with a power frame. When someone tells you to make it quick because they’ve only got fifteen minutes to hear your pitch, they’re using the time frame. When someone is only worried about hearing analytics, figures, and numbers, they’re using the analyst frame.

There are three counter-frames to use in order to defeat those frames:

  1. The Power-Busting Frame
  2. The Time Constraining Frame
  3. The Intrigue Frame

The power-busting frame uses unexpected moves to out-power the power frame. Let’s say you’re in a meeting and the main person you want listening to you is looking at his phone the whole time. You can’t get his attention. Klaff recommends doing something like playfully taking away the phone and then making a funny remark like, “you’re not going to see anything like what I’m showing you on a phone.” Then hand it back. It will shock the person you’ve done this to. That’s why it’s important to be playfully and not act like a complete jerk. But there’s no doubt all eyes and ears will be on you at that point.

The time constraining frame counters the time frame. If you’re arriving at someone’s office and they tell you something like, “make this quick, I’ve only got ten minutes.” You bust this frame by countering with something like, “good, I’ve only got ten minutes.” Don’t let them control the frame of time. Klaff says he once pushed a meeting down a minute because he and the other person got in a bidding war for time frame control.

The intrigue frame counters the analyst frame. If you’re making a pitch or doing a Q&A and someone only wants to get into minutia like facts and figures and numbers, you counter with the intrigue frame. This involves meeting their attempts at analyses with narrative. Tell a story. Tell a good story. Tell an emotional story. Tell an intriguing story. Then stop before the story’s over and tell them you’re not going to tell them the end of the story until the end of the meeting.

The final frame-buster is the prize frame. It’s important against all competing frames. The prize frame counters all other frames because it reminds the person or group you’re meeting with that you hold the ultimate prize. Instead of going into a meeting as if the people listening to you have what you want. You approach it as though you have something they want. And you don’t deviate from that mindset. This means you’re always willing to walk away if the other side won’t give you want you want. If they lowball you on an offer, don’t let them get away with it. You hold the prize.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough by the way. It’s now listed on our Recognizing Christ Recommends page.

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