What is the essence of a person's belief in something? What do we do to convey our point of view to others? Most often, people rely more on their own authority and the weight of their word, or try to be more flexible and resort to a variety of methods of persuasion. Of course, the second option most often gives more performance and using it is the right thing to do.
At least because each person is individual and has a wide variety of life values, worldview, level of upbringing, education and culture. The power of persuasion and the art of influencing people are issues that have been the subject of much research.
What does it take to convince someone of something?
Let's analyze this question based on the statements of Jay Conger. He says that in order to convince a person, you need to be based on four elements:
- trust;
- attraction;
- liveproof;
- emotional connection.
Only in tandem, these properties give an effective result. And it is absolutely worth noting that the power of persuasion is an art.
What is the essence of belief?
Many people firmly believe that this concept is based on the ability to sell something or convince other people to accept your point of view. However, this is not entirely true, first of all, here we are talking about finding mutual understanding. Only if this can be achieved will the work be mutually beneficial for both parties. This is especially true for leaders and managers, as the essence of their job is to achieve their goals with the help of others.
Often we find that they can be quite rude in their methods, even aggressive, thereby forcing others into submission. But in the long term, this technique does not work. It turns out that convincing the team that achieving goals is their conscious choice is a real art. As practice shows, if the employees in the team are properly motivated, they can move mountains.
So, let's figure out the power of persuasion and influence on people, what and how to do?
Establish trust
All people are different and no one is alike, so each person needs their own approach and their own power of persuading people. The task is simplified if your object of persuasion works in the same field as you, has the same level of education. That is, to find common groundit will be much easier.
Things are different if this is a complete stranger to you, who has a different view of the world, belongs to a different culture. It also depends on the character: some people are quickly rubbed into trust, while for others it is a very difficult process. The fact is that it is impossible to convince a person of anything if he does not trust you. Here it remains only to be patient and act. Trust is based on a good reputation, helping people, honor and integrity.
Get people on our side
The first thing to do if your goal is to draw the attention of the audience to yourself in a positive way is to determine what their interests are, what benefits these people are looking for. One of the easiest and most effective ways to analyze a situation is to analyze the past experience of similar situations. Your task is to answer the question, what attracted the audience before?
To do this, analyze the following points:
- determine what your potential audience is interested in;
- try to build an open dialogue, discuss problems, encourage initiative and listen to the ideas of your audience;
- take the time to discuss your own ideas and assumptions with the people you trust the most.
These three aspects are basic, without them it is virtually impossible to figure out what your audience really wants.
What if we present living evidence?
When previousstage is over, it's time to move on to providing the audience with evidence that they will get what they want and this benefit will be no less than yours. To convince the other side that you are right, you should take the trouble to prove that your idea is working and no one will be left with nothing. The following tips will help in this matter:
- To make your idea fit into a realistic picture of the world, use strong metaphors.
- Telling about your beliefs is not enough, you also need to supplement the information with real examples, preferably from personal experience.
- Also, analogies work great for persuasion purposes.
Using these simple techniques is a great opportunity for your audience to look at things from different angles in the first place and iron out contradictions.
Completing the process
Convincing a person from a logical point of view is one thing, but the process does not end there. Consider creating an emotional connection. It is often possible to meet the opinion that this aspect in the process of persuasion does not make any sense, but this is not at all the case. You can at least create an emotional connection if you use your own feelings. If you show that you are burning with an idea, that you are working with enthusiasm, then your audience will have no chance to doubt your ideas.
Don't forget to dispel other people's fears and distrust as well. You will have to learn to feel the mood of your audience in order to harmonize with it. As much as we would like to rely on logic, but emotions are the primary factor in the process of making decisions.decisions and motivation. Therefore, if you try to behave as objectively as possible, then it will be extremely difficult to create an emotional connection with the audience. So be sure to use emotions to convince.
What not to do?
There are many myths that not only do not help in the process of persuasion, but also interfere. Let's analyze the most common of them:
- Don't rely on strong arguments alone. As practice shows, not all people adhere to logic and facts. Naturally, there are no arguments, and let there be as many of them as possible, but in this case, remember that most people listen first of all to their emotions.
- Don't try to sell your idea. Few people like intrusiveness, and no one likes the feeling of being used.
- Forget ultimatums, be flexible.
Don't demand much here and now. If you didn’t succeed in influencing a person the first time, don’t get upset, be patient, analyze your mistakes. Nobody canceled the second chance.
