If you are tired of people passing over your ideas or generally not listening to you when you speak, your persuasive skills could probably use a boost. If you are interested in being more influential at work or just in your personal life, we have some behavioral techniques that are proven to be effective.
Prepare Your Audience for Action
Persuasion is mainly about convincing someone to take a specific action. It can be as simple as agreeing with your point of view or as complicated as becoming a client and signing a contract. To be effective, you need to keep this activity in mind during your entire interaction. For example, if you want someone to buy a product, it is a good idea to have that product in front of them from the moment they enter the store or your area. Once they understand the result of your persuasion, it will be easier for them to prepare to take that action mentally.
Take A Firm Stance
Even when using persuasion, it is essential to be accurate and factual. While doing so, it makes sense to assume that logic and facts will carry the day. Well, the short answer is no. People prefer a confident lie over shy truths. That’s not to say that you should start telling fables to your audience but instead present your case with confidence and stamina. Humans automatically assume that something spoken with confidence equals skill and truth. You can use this quirky trait to your advantage. Get rid of qualifiers in your communications such as “I think,” be bold with your statements and present what you want your audience to know as a point of fact.
Pay Attention to Your Rate of Speech
It is essential that when you are trying to be persuasive, you moderate the rate and tone of your speech to match your audience’s perspective. In most cases, a fast-talking salesman-type address will not help your cause. However, there are instances where it will be effective. If you think your audience is prone to disagree with your stance, you should increase your speech rate and slightly raise your tone. If you are in the company of those more inclined to agree with you, it is best to slow down your speech and lower your style.