SCI-PAB® in Everyday Life

Originally published in 2022 on the Mandel Communications blog.

If you’re familiar with SCI-PAB®, you know what a powerful tool it can be in your business communications. But did you know that it can be incredibly useful in your personal life as well?

SCI-PAB® lets you grab your listeners’ attention within the first few seconds — when they are most attentive — and in a few quick sentences, convey the problem, suggest how to resolve it, and share the benefits of doing what you recommend.

Part of what makes SCI-PAB® so powerful is that it’s based on the simple storytelling framework that we were all exposed to in children’s books and stories.

Scenario: Hansel and Gretel

• Situation: After getting lost in the woods, Hansel and Gretel came across a candy-coated house and a sweet old lady who lived there.
• Complication: The sweet old lady was actually a mean witch who locked them in a cage and tried to fatten Hansel up.
• Implication: Her plan was to eat Hansel.
• Position: Hansel and Gretel needed to find some way to defeat the witch.
• Action: They pushed the witch into the oven, filled their pockets with gold, and returned home to their father.
• Benefit: And then they lived happily ever after.

But that’s just the beginning. SCI-PAB® can be used to guide any communication or conversation. Below are just a few examples.

Scenario: Deciding who has dish duty

The dishes are piling up in your sink and you’re getting tired of it. Here’s how you could use SCI-PAB® to open the conversation with your roommate or partner — or even teenager!

• Situation: It seems like the dishes need to be washed more frequently.
• Complication: Unfortunately, it’s not clear whose job it is, and they are piling up.
• Implication: We’re running the risk of this becoming a significant issue between us.
• Position: I think we need to think about doing the dishes in the context of our other chores and make sure responsibilities are divided fairly.
• Action: Let’s sit down and make a list, see who wants to do what.
• Benefit: Then we won’t have to feel like we’re each doing more than our fair share.

Scenario: Toasting the new Mrs. and Mr.

• Situation: As many of you know, Brian lived with Bob and me for a long time.
• Complication: He’s a fantastic friend. But, if you’ve ever lived with Brian, you’ve come to learn he has some “quirks.”
• Implication: Frankly, we all figured that he would be single forever.
• Position: Working with the Law of Numbers, we pushed him to go out on date after date after date. We were thrilled when he finally met Julie!
• Benefit: Julie has embraced Brian’s quirks and I have never seen him happier.
• Action: Please raise your glasses as we wish the new couple a life filled with love, laughter, and even a few quirks!

(Pro tip: Sometimes it works better to switch the Benefit and the Action around so that the action is last.)

Scenario: Drumming up conversations with colleagues

SCI-PAB® can also help you discover and ask questions of others.

• Situation: It has been a crazy last two years.
• Complication: What challenges did you face at home?
• Implication: How did those [reference challenges you heard in the Complication] impact you?
• Position: The good news is that we got through it — and learned a few things along the way.
• Action: And now it’s time to move forward and get back to seeing one another in person.
• Benefit: We definitely have a newfound appreciation for some of the things we previously took for granted.

Put SCI-PAB® to work for you

Curious to know more? We’d love to talk to you about how SCI-PAB® can help you in your business and personal communications.