Whether you’re a leader trying to inspire your team, push an initiative forward, or simply make a bigger impression in conversation, you’ll benefit from mastering the fundamentals of persuasion.
Influence is the ability to persuade other people to change their minds, attitudes, or actions by appealing to their authority. Every interaction, whether professional or personal, is a chance to demonstrate your influence. You can achieve a better chance of getting a positive response on your next appeal through practiced persuasion. Because of the critical nature of influence in the workplace, numerous websites now offer influence training.
Yet, what does influence actually entail? When you can influence the results of a situation, how do you best use that power? Specific persuasion strategies are more productive than others. Many of them have already been used in public, and you could have even tried them out. If you’re not already versed with the art of persuasion, here are five methods you can use to improve.
1. Determine Your Target Market
It’s crucial to identify the people you’ll need to persuade. Consider factors like age gaps, familiarity with the topic, character traits, and anything else that might have a major bearing on the outcome. Then decide which type of leadership would be most effective given the objectives.
Learn to read the body language of those around you to determine if they disagree or agree with you. Seek the person who will have the most significant say in the matter. Develop a sincere interest in maintaining those connections.
2. Find out what people really want and need
Most attendees at a meeting put their interests first. Moving forward at a breakneck pace, but with solid justification and supporting evidence. This is the exact opposite of persuasive behavior, as it will not bring the needs of those you are trying to persuade into alignment with your own.
Before promoting your idea, you should anticipate potential trouble spots. Having this information in advance is a fantastic way to get ready and can help guide the questions you bring up.
3. Justify the mutual benefit
If you’ve done steps one through three correctly, step four will find you with a far more receptive audience. You must apply logic and reason here. List the benefits and give specific instances to back them up. A compelling argument that connects the request to the needs of others always wins the day.
If one person at work chooses not to participate, how does it influence the rest of the team? This kind of discomfort can serve as a powerful motivation, often even more so than actual participation itself. Explain how the target individual or organization would feel the adverse effects of inaction more keenly.
4. Alliance
Building a coalition of loyal workers is a powerful tool for any leader. They team up with these workers to exert their influence over the rest of the office. The strategy fails miserably as a kind of pressure.
5. Appeal to Higher Power
Making an upward appeal is going to higher up for approval before requesting an employee. The influencer gains some sway over the direct report through this strategy, which is only moderately effective.
Bottomline
You’ll always come out on top if you use these methods and get proficient at persuasion. You can foster more responsive relationships in the long run by settling differences via mutual respect. The groundwork you are creating today will allow you to earn people’s trust in future interactions. When people believe in you, you can impact their opinions.
