Why is persuasion important?

Your life is based on persuasion. From the day we are born to the day we die we try to master the art of persuasion.

Each day someone is trying to persuade you to do something that you may not have wanted to do, whether it is to buy a TV, go to the Cinema or drink a cocktail instead of orange juice.

Being persuasive is the ability to get people to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do if you didn’t ask. Not everyone understands how important it is to master the skill of persuasion.

But here are three main points you should always make a note of when you are trying to be persuasive.

Logic – you have to know your facts, your reasons and quotes. No one wants to hear ‘you should buy this TV because I think you should’. We want reasons why and then facts should  accompany your reasons.

Emotions – there is nothing more annoying than those people who think they can be persuasive by talking to us as if they are reading a book . No emotions. No empathy. No sincerity. If the audience who you are trying to persuade do not feel emotions and you don’t relate to them then they will not relate to you.

Character – make your talk as appealing as possible and don’t forget what your status is. It is much easier for a scientist to persuade people that they have found the cure to cancer than for a music teacher. For a message to be believable, there has to be source credibility.