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Powerful Persuasion
by Candice M. Coleman, Ph.D. In our society, it's impossible
to escape persuasive messages. They come from advertisers, politicians,
co-workers and even (or especially) children. In turn, you also frequently
try to persuade others. If you're in sales, you spend most of your working
life at it. In addition, you're persuading when you try to convince your
family to go to the beach rather than the mountains for vacation. Or,
when you negotiate with a contractor or vendor for a better price for
their services or goods.
There are several things to remember when you are trying to motivate
or persuade someone.
- Make certain that you're appealing to them at their need
level. You've probably heard of noted humanistic psychologist, Abraham
Maslow. According to his theory, we are motivated or persuaded by different
things at different times based on our needs. Someone may not care about
getting a new car if they don't have enough food to eat or a roof over
their head. The car is an esteem need (the forth level), while food
and shelter are physiological needs (the sixth level). Once you understand
what a person's need level is, you must appeal to and satisfy that need,
not the one above it
For example, I have a friend who is intelligent, hardworking, loyal and
has the potential to be an excellent manager. The problem is that she doesn't
have the same education as some current managers and feels inadequate. As
a result, she has a million excuses for not applying for a promotion. Maslow
would say that she's dealing with her esteem needs and until those needs
are satisfied, she isn't ready to take the self-actualization step of moving
on in her career. If you were her employer, you could gain a valuable manager
if you helped her meet her needs, by giving her more positive feedback and
recognition for the work that she's already doing.
- When you're preparing to convince someone to think or do
something differently, it's important to have the end in mind from the
beginning. What really is the outcome you're looking for? You also want
to think about your "audience" B the person you're trying to persuade.
Do they just need a little nudge to make the change or are they hostile
to the idea? You'll need different strategies for different situations.
Let's suppose that you have a colleague who is unhappy about a new policy
that will ultimately improve morale. You might try a simple statement
of reasons method to get him/her to "buy in." Start by preparing a list
the reasons or benefits of the new policy. Then, list them in order of their
strength starting with the weakest. Then when talking with him, state your
first reason, then the second strongest. Follow this with your other reasons.
What you want to do is to build momentum. Finally, end your argument with
what you hope your colleague will perceive as the very best reason. "Not
only will this policy save the company money and cause less stress in the
office, but it will also allow everyone to have an extra week of vacation."
Now that's a reason! This method seems to work best when the "persuadees"
are generally in favor of your idea.
- Another way of persuading is to use a problem/solution
method. For example, if you're having a problem retaining good employees
and you think that a flex time schedule would go a long way toward solving
the problem, here's what you could say to your boss. "Mark, our exit
interviews are telling us that we're losing a lot of good people because
they can't be around when their kids get home from school (problem).
Since most of our employees work independently on their projects, I
think converting to a flex time schedule would help (solution). Since
we know that we don't want to hire a lot of part time people, this seems
the best way to keep our people happy and increase production (best
solution)." Of course, you'd want to fill it out with some evidence,
statistics, etc., but you get the idea.
Remember that you can only be persuasive if the person you're trying to
convince perceives you as credible, honest and knowledgeable. That's generally
something that you have to develop over time with a person or group. Remember,
too, that people usually aren't convinced to make a major change in thought
from just one message or presentation. It sometimes takes many messages.
That's why advertisers and politicians keep bombarding us with their slogans
and products.
These techniques can work at home and in social situations as well as
in business if you make certain that you know what you want the outcome
of your persuasive message to be, the needs and attitudes of those you
are trying to convince and the best method to use for the situation.
These are just a few ideas from a whole academic discipline, but if
they get you thinking about new ways to persuade, then I will have been
successful in motivating/persuading you.
Have fun!
*****Candice M. Coleman, Ph.D. uses presentations, coaching and learning
resources to help business executives and others have more presence, influence
and authenticity in their communication. She can be reached by phone at
314-621-9228 or on the Web at www.SayItWell.com.
© Say It Well! Inc. 2002. [Permission is granted to reprint
this article provided that complete bio and contact information are included
and that a copy of the publication is sent to: Say It Well! Inc., 1822
Hickory Street, St. Louis, MO 63104.]
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