Leadership

5 Ways to Convince Anyone of Anything

fwfwrA person’s ability to have people do what he wants is the ultimate exercise of power. A person can get people to do his bidding through force or by convincing them. It has been established throughout history that forcing people to do things doesn’t really work. They do the work poorly and according to J.S. Mills the cost is eventually higher. People who employ force also do not win the people’s loyalty for long.

Advantages of Convincing People

Convincing people, leads to better results and the convincer’s influence lasts longer. Convincing people is the most accepted way of getting them to do things. A person has to learn the art of persuading and convincing people so as to be useful in public decision making.

Ways to Convince People

There are many methods used to convince people. These methods mostly involve the use of words. The following is a list of possible methods to convince people.

  1. The Persuader Should Exude Confidence

People are unlikely to follow someone to someplace he seems unsure about what they are talking about. The person seeking to convince others has to remain confident of what they are saying throughout the period of engagement. Confidence may be difficult to muster at times. If one is not feeling confident, they can act confident. A show of confidence should be balanced. This is because if it is overdone, it looks like arrogance. People rarely follow arrogant people.

  1. They Should Let the Other Party Know How They Will Benefit

People do not like the notion that they are being used to pursue someone else’s agenda. They want to know what is in it for them in whatever they are being persuaded to do. In addition to that, the persuader’s argument in persuasive essay should inform them of the benefits they will receive from the venture.

  1. The Convincer Should Employ Logic

A person needs to believe that what they are doing is the right thing to do. Whether something is right or wrong is determined by logic. A student requesting a fellow student to assist them to study needs to let them know how they would benefit from helping them. In such a scenario, the persuader can point out that the fellow student will understand the subject better in the process. Should he explain it convincingly, he is likely to be helped.

  1. Choice of Words Should be Made Carefully

There is a reason why many politicians are lawyers.

People who have a natural disposition for the use of language know how to persuade others. Certain words create the impression that the thing being talked about is superior. For example, although the word profitable means the same as lucrative, lucrative is considered more persuasive. The person seeking to convince others should pick the words likely to cause more impact.

  1. Appeal to Emotions

Many times, people make decisions based purely on emotions. Demagogues have a way of preying on other people’s emotions. They may convince people by appealing to their sense of outrage, sadness and such emotions. People have been caused to do strange things when their feelings of love have been appealed to. In today’s technology-driven world, bloggers have appealed to the youth’s sense of outrage to stoke revolutions in some countries.

Conclusion

When setting out to convince people, it is important to know who they are. A careful study of such people would inform the one seeking to persuade them on what works best on them. All factors constant, appeal to logic would work better among intellectuals than emotions. Among oppressed people, anger is easier to appeal to and so on.

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