Persuasive Communication
& Managing Up

Wes Kao

Co-founder, Maven · Co-creator, altMBA with Seth Godin
MOO framework · spiky POV

COMMUNICATION

MOO Framework

Address the Most Obvious Objection First

MOO = Most Obvious Objection
Before any presentation or memo: spend 2 minutes listing the obvious objections. Address them proactively. Stop being "blindsided" in meetings.

"If you thought for even two minutes about what are obvious objections I'm likely to get, you often immediately come up with what some of those things are. Can you anticipate every objection? No. But the obvious ones? Absolutely."

Operators who explain poorly are shocked by confusion — they created it
If you're not getting the reaction you want, ask: how might I be contributing?

The Blast Radius

The Cost of a Poorly Written Message Is Bigger Than You Think

"The blast radius of a poorly written memo is way bigger than most people think. If you shoot off a message in a Slack channel with 15 other people and it's confusing, those 15 people are now confused — all from one message you spent 30 seconds on."

One clear message → 15 people move fast. One confusing message → 15 people in back-and-forth hell.
Invest 5 extra minutes of clarity — it multiplies across everyone who reads it
Concision is a skill: eliminate every word that doesn't earn its place

Spiky point of view Don't write memos that say "on one hand... on the other hand." Have a clear position. Be willing to be wrong. Spiky beats wishy-washy — it sparks real conversation and shows you've thought it through.

Managing up Managing up = making your manager's job easier. Give them the context they need to say yes. Front-load the conclusion, not the journey. They don't have time for the whole story.

Influence Without Authority

How to Move People When You Don't Have Power Over Them

People are moved by empathy first, logic second — understand their constraints before presenting yours
Make it easy to say yes: do the work for them (draft the email, fill in the template, propose the date)
Anticipate what they'll need to justify your request to their boss — give them the words
Don't ask for the meeting. Propose the agenda, the time, and what you need from them in one message.
If someone is resistant: find the smallest ask that moves things forward instead of the full ask that stalls

"I'm a big proponent of asking myself, if I'm not getting the reaction I'm looking for, how might I be contributing? How could I explain this more clearly? How can I anticipate questions they might have?"

The Wes Kao standard Seth Godin said the biggest thing Wes learned working with him was raising her standards. High standards = constantly improving the spec for the person you're serving — not self-imposed perfectionism.

Communication Craft

Tactics That Actually Work

Lead with the bottom line — conclusion first, evidence second. Executives read backwards.
Use "because" more: giving a reason makes requests 34% more likely to succeed (Langer study)
Separate your proposal from your ask: state what you recommend, then separately ask for approval
Reframe problems as opportunities before presenting them up
End messages with one clear action, not a list of questions

On cohort-based learning (Maven) Learning sticks when it's social, applied, and practiced. Passive courses fail because you consume without doing. Build in accountability, feedback, and deadlines.

Contrarian

Communication Myths Worth Fixing

✗ Being surprised by objections is normal INSTEAD → ✓ If you spent 2 minutes applying MOO before any meeting, most "surprises" vanish. You already knew the obvious objections — you just didn't address them proactively.

✗ Present both sides to seem balanced INSTEAD → ✓ Have a spiky point of view. "On one hand... on the other hand" wastes everyone's time and signals you haven't committed to thinking it through. Be willing to be wrong — it's more useful.

✗ A quick Slack message is fine INSTEAD → ✓ The blast radius of a confusing message multiplies across every reader. The 5 extra minutes you spend making it clear can save hours of back-and-forth across a team.

✗ Good ideas sell themselves INSTEAD → ✓ Good ideas die in bad packaging all the time. The quality of your communication determines whether your idea gets heard, remembered, and acted on — not just whether it was correct.