Persuasion Skills

You need to carry others with you if you want to succeed. This needs persuasion skills, the ability to motivate others to have faith in you. This is not an easy task because every human being has his own ideas as to what is right or wrong for him.

The first step in gaining people’s trust is to convince them of your intentions. They must believe that whatever you are saying is for their benefit. The housewife must be convinced that the new soap will improve her looks or the workers must believe that the new production targets will lead to higher bonuses.

The second is to make them do things for you. This will only happen if you treat others with courtesy and respect. By doing this, you will be stoking one of their most important subconscious needs – the need to be recognized as an important member of the team.

You also need to listen to them carefully. This not only boosts their feeling of self-importance but you may also get a new perspective on the subject. This will enable you to change your line of argument or offer a new compromise to win them over. You should not look upon compromise as your defeat as long as it meets the larger goal or objective that you have set for yourself.

You also need to be well prepared. Your arguments must be based on fact. You should be able to paint vivid images of the likely benefits through graphs, images, metaphors or examples. People will believe you if your arguments are logical and realistic.

Finally, you should be able to connect. You should be able to answer the questions with confidence without being arrogant or brash. Most important, you should be able of identify yourself as one of them.