The Art of Convincing Someone To Do What You Want

There is an important process in Persuasion Psychology known as "Framing". It basically is the manner in which we present an argument or any issue. We use it all the time in our daily lives in more ways than we are consciously aware of. This has a tremendous influence on how we make our decisions as well as when we try to persuade someone else.

A very simple and relatable example is the power of large statistics in terms of a positive outcome. For example, if a doctor wants to persuade a patient to go through with a surgery, saying that it has a 90% success rate is more effective than saying it has merely a 10% failure rate. When the large statistic is focused on the positive outcome, it obviously evokes hope, which is a positive feeling. On the other hand, focusing on the smaller statistic, although it is of the slight possibility that the surgery fails, evokes a fearful and negative reaction, and the patient is less likely to be convinced.

A way to prevent someone from doing something risky, is to frame the risk in numbers and not in percentages. Saying that a chemical exposure can kill 10 out of 10 million people is more frightening than simply saying it can kill 0.000001% people. The possibility of ten dead human beings is somehow scarier than a tiny statistic.

Another amazing way to subtly get people to do what you want is to give them a choice, but to make it slightly more difficult to choose the one you do not want them to choose. A great example is the organ donation policy passed by the Welsh government back in 2013. Now, in Wales, the default option is to be an organ donor after one's death. Consent for organ donation is presumed to be affirmative unless stated so otherwise. The process for applying for a change would obviously be a bit more inconvenient than just going along with the default. It was seen that the number of organ donors went up after this policy passed. On the other hand, in other countries like the rest of UK, for example, the default option is negative for organ donation. If one wishes to become an organ donor, one has to apply separately and follow a procedure which would obviously be more effort than going along with the default. In such countries, it was seen that the number of organ donors were quite low.

Framing is best seen and, perhaps, is most relatable in the context of wordplay. We use words with the same meaning in place of words that can be harsh so as to avoid an intense reaction. For example, most people would be against the system of "reservation", but replace that with "affirmative action" and you get more supporters.

In social surveys and questionnaires, framing of the questions can have a crucial impact on the results of the survey itself. This is why it is important to ensure that your survey does not consist of leading questions and always has an option for every possible response.

These are just some of the ways in which we can be consciously aware of the ways in which we convince people around us. Now that we know, perhaps we can use them in a better manner and learn some more ways!