Persuasion or influencing others is not just a skill but also an art. After polishing your basic communication skills which includes your ability to talk and converse with people, you are now ready to engage in a more complex level of communicating viz., the skill of influencing also referred to as persuasion skill.
With the varying personalities and manners of thinking that individuals have, influencing people is not an easy task. Yet, certain circumstances would prompt you to use your influencing power over people so that you can get what you want. Salespeople, for example, are known to be very persuasive as their job calls for them to be such. Leaders are also highly influential individuals. They need to possess this characteristic because a major part of their role is to act as motivators to their members.
To Influence or Be Influenced
Persuasion involves two concepts: to influence or to be influenced. In most of your interaction with people, you may not completely realize that you are in a constant and complex process of influencing and being influenced. Those who have mastered the art of persuading are consciously making efforts to easily get what they want from others and they are able to do so because they know how to do it. On the other hand, the individuals who are unaware that they are already being influenced tend to easily give in to petty favors or requests, decisions, and even perceptions.
How do you become aware that you are the usual target of getting influenced? For one, you get easily manipulated such as in making decisions. You know for yourself that you have a personal decision in mind but when an influential person starts to talk you are out of it; your mind sways to a different direction quickly.
Motivation is Key
People can have various reasons for wanting to influence others. It can either be for a good or a bad and selfish motive. Using persuasion for selfish intentions is reasonable enough but not on a frequent basis. The downside with using the power of influence for personal gains more often is that people may eventually retaliate or they may stay away from you knowing what you can be capable of doing.
A powerful key to good persuasion is motivation. People are easily encouraged to do and give something with the right kind of motivation. In the same way, as the one to persuade others, you also need to motivate yourself enough to carry on with your persuasive ability. It can be hard to try influencing people with no source of motivation.
The Art of Influencing People
Influencing is probably one of the most challenging skill to master. You are bound to make use of your creative concept in talking things out with people to achieve something. Below are some tips that you can apply in developing your ability to influence:
- Use the technique of reciprocation. You do something for them and they will tend to easily comply with your requests and favors as a means of giving back. People feel obliged to give back when they feel that the person deserves it for also doing something nice.
- Show a sense of commitment and consistency to your intention. If you plan to persuade a customer to close the deal, show consistency in what you say and back it up with supporting documents. They are more likely to consider getting the sales.
- Project a sense of authority or control, yet not in a manner that would manipulate people. Simply show enough level of assertion when explaining or talking about a subject matter. With the right amount of authority, people will look up to your level of confidence and see you as someone who is credible enough to be followed.
- Be a friend to people and reach out to them. It is by far easier to influence those who view you as a friend more than just a mere individual. They feel the comfort and convenience of being influenced by you because you are a friend to them.
