How To Develop Powerful Persuasive Communication Skills
Mar 07, 2024
We are social animals and we all need the cooperation of others in life.
Powerful persuasive communication skills are essential to build strong and healthy relationships. However, skillful influencing is much more than just effective communication.
Wielding effective tactics for persuasion will help you to gain confidence, manage and leave a positive impression more effectively, and get you more directly to your strategic objectives.
People who lack influencing skills fail to inspire confidence and earn respect and generally do not leave a positive or memorable impression. These people tend to work independently (and, at times, against the team or others), do not respond to their audience (even tend to alienate), are unable to successfully defend their ideas if challenged and they are ineffective in persuading or convincing others of a common vision and direction. Most of the time, they come across as opinionated or boring.
On the contrary, people with good influencing skills inspire others and are able to persuade, convince or impact others to get to support their agenda. Influencers are very skilled at winning people over and use complex strategies like indirect persuasion to build consensus and support.
Marketers know very well about this. If you read books about modern public relations (propaganda), you will discover that behind the scenes there are people who are master storytellers, experts in calibrating their communication to appeal to the listener, to the point of orchestrating dramatic events to effectively make a point.
To start developing powerful influencing skills, here below please find some tips:
- Read “The psychology of persuasion” by Robert Cialdini and “The science of influence” by Kevin Hogan and “Marketing Propaganda”
- Be clear about what you want
- Always use positive self-talk and outcome based thinking
- Learn to understand people and how to develop rapport with others
- Learn from those who are skilled at influencing others
- Talk with people and ask them about values, needs, desires (gather intelligence)
- Know and learn about what motivates your audience
- Create a message that appeals to those motivations
- Plan ahead of time and be open to learn and apply new ways of communicating your message
- Frame your message and develop a communication strategy that makes message more acceptable
- Walk the talk
- Use inspirational appeals
- Refine your communication skills
- Consider in advance what some objection might be and how you might overcome that
- Use rational persuasion: data, statistics, and endorsements for credible, respected authorities to help make your case
- Have others to support you (and appreciate support)
- Know when to be assertive, when to make suggestions and when to ask questions
- Be transparent (express your needs and vision for what needs to be done and the good reasons behind your proposal)
- Encourage others to join your cause
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” —Ken Blanchard
Social and emotional intelligence is the ability to be aware of our own emotions and those of others, in the moment, and to use that information to manage ourselves and manage our relationships. —The Institute for Social and Emotional Intelligence
