Syrian Statement Selling Septuple
UK PM Cameron led debate in the Mother of Parliaments Thursday.
The imminent decision around whether to bomb inside Syria unsurprisingly garnered blanket media coverage.
I noted that he framed his argument for this “highly complex situation” according to seven questions.
In part this seems inspired by the Foreign Affairs select committee. They earlier suggested to him that seven issues need his urgent attention before any aye or nay.
Interestingly, the next speaker (the Opposition Leader in response) also chose to play a septet of his own.
Cameron listed his questions twice. Up front, then later prior summary remarks. Text via Hansard, here they are;
| Set Up | Sum Up |
| Why? | Why? |
| Why us? | Why us? |
| Why now? | Why now? |
| Is what we are contemplating legal? | Is it legal? |
| Where are the ground troops to help us achieve our objectives? | What are the ground forces? |
| What is the strategy that brings together everything we are doing, particularly in Syria? | Is there a strategy? |
| Is there an end to this conflict, and is there a plan for what follows? | What is the end point and plan for reconstruction? |
The summary set is snappier. It also strikes me as remarkably similar to a winning construction of a closing presentation.
Your bid may not feel as weighty as going to war, yet allied emotions are probably stoking.
Turn inaction into action. Simply switching the odd word here and you’ve got yourself a persuasive structure for your sales arguments.