You Don't Need Every Answer: The Power of a Third Voice

One of the biggest reasons new people delay sharing is a quiet belief: I don't know enough yet.

They imagine the hard question they won't be able to answer, and the embarrassment that follows. So they wait for more training, then a little more, and the waiting becomes the habit.

Here is the good news. You don't need every answer. You need to know who has it.

Why a third voice works

When you talk about something you're involved in, people naturally discount part of what you say. They like you, but they know you have an interest.

When someone else says the same thing, especially someone with more experience, it lands differently. A third voice carries a credibility you can't give yourself, however good you are.

In battle, use the direct method to join the fight, and indirect methods to win. — Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu wrote about combining the direct and the indirect. Your direct contribution is the relationship: you're the one they know and trust. The third voice supplies what the relationship can't: depth, experience, and an outside view.

Who can be the third voice

• Your upline or a more experienced leader. A short three-way call or a coffee together often answers more in twenty minutes than you could in a week.
• An event or meeting. A good event puts the person in a room with many voices and real stories. Your job is simply to bring them there.
• A customer who has agreed to share. With permission, a real customer explaining their own experience is often the most trusted voice of all.
• Good material. A clear article or video from someone credible can answer the technical questions you'd rather not guess at.

Make the introduction well

A third voice only works if you set it up properly. A good introduction tells each side why the other is worth their time.

To your prospect, describe the expert honestly and warmly: what they know, how long they've done it, why you trust them. To the expert, brief them in advance: who this person is, what they care about, what they've already asked you.

Then, during the conversation, do the hardest thing for a new builder. Be quiet. Let the expert answer, and resist the urge to jump in and help.

What it teaches your team

There's a second benefit. When a new partner watches you bring in a third voice, they learn that they can start before they know everything.

That's one of the most useful things you can model. A team that waits until it feels like an expert barely moves. One that knows how to connect people with the right voice gets going in the first week.

Later, as you gain experience, you become the third voice for someone else's prospect. That's how the system keeps itself going.

So what is the question you've been waiting to answer before you start, and who could answer it for you this week?