The concept of persuasion

Persuasion generally has to do with convincing others to do your bidding or what you are recommending. It is a powerful technique if one could persuade people to do what they are suggesting. With understanding the ability of persuasion, one will not only be able to influence others but with the mastery of the technique, the individual will also the self-aware of the different ways people can also try to change their beliefs or values, thus putting such individual in such a strong position to know how to react in such situations.

In our everyday life and even more specifically at work in a professional setting, we often find ourselves in situations where the use of persuasion is required. One might be trying to sell an idea t the team at the workplace where other ideas are also being evaluated or trying to sell one skill to get a contract, salespeople trying to convince people to purchase what they are marketing and so on.

We have some principles that guide how one person influences another, but it is important that we also understand some generally accepted good process that further helps the persuasion. One must get themselves out of that stranger position as people will not trust what is coming from a stranger, so you must get the right introduction to start the persuasive process from familiar ground. Also, one must be a good listener and be very attentive before jumping into the persuasive process as that will help to gather information and greatly inform how you will respond which largely results in a positive persuasive process. Furthermore, you need not present yourself as disagreeing with their views just because you want to sell your view, It is always better that you are perceived to be an agreeable individual for the persuasive process to bring a positive result. Finally, one must not engage in this process just for the fun of it, one has to be concerned about the ethical implications of the process in terms of how the success of the persuasive process will impact the other individual which also helps to build some level of trust within the party you are trying to influence.

In terms of principles that govern how we can influence others, there are quite a few. First is the concept of liking, in general people are inclined to favour and to comply with those whom they like. This means that you must have the qualities that appeal to your audience or the party you are trying to influence. Another concept is that of reciprocation, which is creating an impression that tells the audience that they owe you a positive response to your request. This might not be done directly as it seems, but you make this happen by creating situations to back up the impression. For example, a waiter that provides added service to customers like recommending a wonderful wine or offering to bring ice to aid the drinking is more likely to get a tip at the end of the day. The last principle I will mention here is the concept of authority, which simply means that we tend to comply with the request or recommendation of an individual that is adjudged expert in that field with very little objection in our mind, however, this should not be used maliciously as it tends to provide a greater positive result.

In conclusion, persuasion is a very common concept in our everyday life, and it helps in achieving a lot of our set objectives. However, we need to get the process right while also considering the various principles that help guide an effective persuasive process.