A few years ago, I was engaged by a company for a huge project. They wanted my help in unifying two sales teams from different cultures following a recent merger, and aligning them toward common objectives.

They asked that I work with the management team across the U.S., bringing together 32 field managers in Chicago. The VP made one thing clear: “If we’re bringing in these managers, the last thing I want is for you to do all the talking.” He said, “To gain velocity and get their buy-in, they have to be engaged in the process.”

That comment got me thinking. At the time, I was running two-day programs, speaking for eight hours each day, because I thought I had to carry the weight of the presentations. By the end of each day, I was exhausted. And it was that project that was a game-changer for me, because the VP essentially gave me permission not to do all the talking.

So, we agreed on an agenda, focusing on four key issues the VP wanted his management team to agree on. I split the topics into four modules over two days, each starting with 20-30 minutes of input from me to provide context and share some key information. After that, I broke the managers into groups, have them do their own analysis, and come back together to present their final recommendations. By the end, we had a consensus.

In total, I probably spoke for no more than two hours over two days, with some facilitation in-between. But the funniest thing was that at the end of those two days the evaluations came back where all of them said this was the best speaker they’d ever had. And the funny thing is they did all the talking.

Here’s my point: If you want to gain velocity in getting people to back your initiatives, you need to engage them in the process. Share the desired outcome, involve them in developing the plan, and let them contribute ideas. When people are engaged like that, they’ll move faster than if you try to convince them on your own. Plus, once they help create the plan, they have a vested interest in its success and are more motivated to push it forward.

The secret to gaining velocity and influence is in engaging your audience.

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