How to Persuade Someone to do Something
5 Basic Principles You Must Understand Before You Can Effectively Persuade Persuasion is both a skill and an art, however it is something that can be learned. It takes practice, finessing, and most importantly time to be able to effectively persuade others. However, that doesn’t mean that someone with strong persuasion skills will be successful…
5 Basic Principles You Must Understand Before You Can Effectively Persuade
Persuasion is both a skill and an art, however it is something that can be learned. It takes practice, finessing, and most importantly time to be able to effectively persuade others. However, that doesn’t mean that someone with strong persuasion skills will be successful every time. There are five basic principles that must be practiced if a situation calls for persuasion.
2) Persuade Don’t Manipulate
Persuasion is the act of swaying someone to agree to something that is in everyone’s best interest (but again be sure to check #1). Manipulation is the act of coercing someone to your way of thinking or acting by force, be it real or imagined. Manipulation is frowned upon and involves some form of trickery. The line between persuasion and manipulation can often be thin. Take care that you aren’t pressuring someone, but instead are presenting them with real facts. Let them know that the decision is ultimately their own.
You Can’t Always Persuade Someone
3) You Can’t Always Persuade Someone
This step and the remaining two build off each other and link together the overall picture of the most effective strategy. Persuasion is not always possible. This is a fact of life. Whether your selling a house or trying to win the next presidential election there will be people that you absolutely can not persuade. Instead we need to focus on those that can.
4) Check Your Expectations
The one think about life that is certain is that everything changes. Be sure that you are going after the right person or groups of persons at the correct time and place for persuasion. You probably won’t be able to persuade a brand-new college graduate with $80,000 in school loans to buy a brand-new car, but you may be able to persuade a recently pregnant couple to buy a gently used minivan.
Persuasion Can Benefit Both Parties
5) Persuade Interested People
Now that you know know that you cannot always persuade someone. You definitely can’t persuade everyone every time. You also know to take into consideration where someone is at in life and what their goals and motives are. Lastly, take into consideration if the person is interested in being persuaded in the first place. This means that the person must be interested (or maybe invested) in what you are promoting and that they must also be interested in listening to you. That recently pregnant couple is not interested in a corvette. It’s important to understand that the persuasion that you are using, must actually benefit them. That is the best way to help and get what you want at the same time.
Persuasion is not always an option, and from these five basic concepts, you should now be able to decide if a person or situation is worth your time and energy.
