Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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When introducing a new idea to a potentially resistant audience, you need to invest as much energy in what you say and how you say it as you did in coming up with the idea itself.

There are a few ways to increase the likelihood that your idea will get a fair hearing. Here are two:

o Start by connecting the idea to the existing strategy and making analogies to current products, services, or processes. Building on what people already understand will make your idea more relatable.

o And discuss how your idea meets the needs of a key stakeholder. Sometimes you need to borrow someone else’s clout to give your idea the extra oomph it needs to get over the threshold.

Adapted from “Your New Idea Is Worthless Unless You Know How to Sell It,” by Liane Davey.

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Also, you may wish to check out an anthology, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, by clicking here.