The Art of Persuasion

We all tend to hold opinions that are different than those of our friends, classmates, and family. It seems such a difficult task to win people over to our way of thinking. Have you ever wondered if there is a consistent strategy to achieve success when trying to persuade someone? Well, luckily enough, there is.

If you consistently apply these principles in your interactions with others, I guarantee you will see a marked difference in your results:

• Be friendly
  If you start a conversation with an aggressive or antagonistic overtone, people will be less likely to listen to what you are saying. You have to remain honest with the other person and be patient with them. Sometimes other people won’t understand what you are saying, right away. Helping them to understand your point of view, allows your discussion to be more civil and allows for more accuracy.

• Have empathy
  Make an effort to see the other person’s point of view. If you truly understand why they believe what they believe and how the issue affects them, you will be able to more fully describe what you believe, in a way they will understand. Also, nobody likes to have their thoughts and experiences marginalized.

• Present your ideas dramatically
  When your message is not being received, dramatize it. For example, if you were trying to illustrate the weight of the national debt, to a friend, you could send him an analysis of the national debt, scaled down to the average family's finances. When people are able to see a more dramatic representation of an idea, it helps it to register more easily.

• Don’t say “You’re wrong”
  Nobody likes to be told they are wrong. When you feel the urge to do so, ask a question instead. People like to find their logical flaws themselves, not have them thrown into their face. If you ask someone, “Wouldn’t this be the case, in that situation?”, they will take it much better than if you declare them to be wrong.

• Admit when you're wrong
  This is a hard one for us, we don’t like to admit that we are wrong. However, it can disarm the other person in a discussion, if you admit a mistake and emphasize it. People will respect it when you admit your own mistakes.

• Avoid arguments
  You can’t win an argument. If you lose the argument, you lose, and if you attack someone’s beliefs and prove them wrong, you make them feel inferior and resent you for it. If you can disagree with someone and walk away from a discussion with their goodwill, you have won. Alienating those around us, even if we prove our point, is still a loss.

• Start with points on which you agree
  If you start by asking questions about points on which you agree, rather than getting defensive, the other person will be open to discussing further. If you can get them to agree with you several times before you get to the issue of contention, they will be more open to different possibilities.

• Let them believe that an idea is theirs
  Forget about taking credit for an idea and instead present it in such a way that the other person can discover it for themselves. When we go through our own thought process to get to a result, we are much more accepting of those results. If someone walks us through that process, we may understand and even agree, but are less convinced than if we had discovered it ourselves.

• Listen to them
  Everybody likes to talk, very few people are good listeners. If you spend majority of a discussion listening to the other person, they will often ask for your opinion. It allows you to get a clearer idea of their views and makes them feel respected. They are much more open to listening to your side of the issue, when you have listened to theirs.

• Issue a challenge
  When a person proves difficult to persuade, try challenging the other person to meet a certain goal or prove a certain point. Competition can get people to set aside qualms and work towards something. We thrive off of competition.

Are there any methods of persuasion that you think I missed? Please let me know in the comments below. As always, if you enjoyed this article, please upvote, follow, and resteem! Thanks!

Spacecadet1