In this video, we'll discuss the power of persuasion. This will include a discussion on different strategies you can use to be more persuasive in the way you deliver arguments and communicate generally, the use of fear and how others process and perceive what you're saying. There's so many times in life where we want people to do something, but we aren't in position to simply order them around, even when we're in a leadership position constantly ordering. Subordinates around can create resentment and disloyalty. It's very helpful and often necessary to get people to do what you want through persuasion rather than power. Persuasion has been studied for thousands of years going back to the ancient Greeks and refined in multi-million dollar ad campaigns. It's an essential tool of corporations looking to sell products. Politicians looking to convince citizens to vote for them. Attorneys trying to get jurors to render verdicts in their favor. Parents trying to get their kids to eat well. And in countless other situations, it's very helpful for leaders to develop skills that enable them to establish useful partnerships with others and maintain positive relationships with employees. Robert Cialdini, a psychologist and one of the leading experts in the world on persuasion, recommends a number of approaches for getting others to do what you want. The first strategy is reciprocity, followed by commitment and consistency, social proof likability, and finally authority. First, reciprocity can be a highly useful strategy. If you do a small unsolicited favor for someone, they'll be more likely to do what you want. For many years, Hari Krishnas and Eastern religious sect would raise money by approaching strangers in a public place to give them a gift, like a book or a flower. If a person initially refused, they would insist it was a gift. Only after the gift was accepted would they ask for a financial donation which they often received. People felt like they owed something to the Krishnas and they resolved this debt with money. Second, if you can get an initial commitment from people, they'll often behave in ways that are highly consistent with that commitment. Thus, commitment and consistency are helpful persuasion strategies. Small behaviors get followed by more committed behaviors. People are much more likely to vote for candidates on election day if you can get them to put a sign in their yard supporting that candidate, get people to make an initial commitment, and they will often behave in very consistent ways. Psychologist Thomas Moriarty did a compelling study on this related to bystander intervention, where he staged thefts on a public beach and measured whether bystanders would get involved in his experiment. A person who was lying in a blanket near others and listening to the radio got up and went for a stroll on the beach. Minutes later, another person came by and stole the radio. In 20 trials, only four people who were lying next to the blanket and radio got involved and stopped the thief. However, in another condition the person listening to the radio asked the person next to them to watch my things before walking away. In that case, in 19 out of 20 times, people intervened with a thief confronting him and chasing him down the beach. People are more likely to do what you want if you make a small request first. Third, we look to others for social proof. That means that if you want someone to do something, put peer pressure on them show them what the norm is. That is what other people are doing, what other businesses are doing, and what other communities are doing. People want to belong and they often have considerable difficulty violating social norms. Fourth, it matters a lot who asks us to do things. For example, we're much more persuaded by people we like. There are two big components of likability: physical appeal and similarity. Typically, we like people who are attractive. It's a cliche. It's superficial, but it's true. Sex sells. That's true in advertising and it's also true in interpersonal interactions. We tend to be more persuaded by good-looking people. Of course, not everyone is blessed with six-pack abs, luscious hair and a stunning face. However, all's not lost because we also tend to like people who are similar to us. Our friends and romantic partners are often people we share key interests or values with. In commercials on tv, if an actor isn't attractive, they're often trying to portray someone who is hopefully similar to you on some level. Cialdini also focuses on the importance of authority. Certainly being in a position of authority can make others have to do what you want, but it can also make them want to do what you want. People have a tendency to be deferential to those in power, even if the power isn't directly over them. Similarly, we tend to be highly influenced by credibility factors. Credibility is made up of two factors: trustworthiness and expertise. Let's start with trustworthiness. If a person seems trustworthy because of their personality or because of their role like a priest. well they're often more persuasive. In addition, we tend to trust experts and individuals who seem more like experts, thus making them more persuasive. Having formalized credentials such as a PhD can be helpful on this front. Also bringing in others who have credentials to support your position can be very effective. Interestingly, the way you communicate and deliver messages can make you seem like more of an expert and make you more credible. And persuasive people who talk faster are judged to be more knowledgeable about a topic than people who deliver the same message but talk slower. In terms of delivering a message, one consideration is whether you should only give your position or whether you should start by explaining both sides of the matter, and then explain why your side is better. That's known as delivering a one-sided versus a two-sided appeal. In a one-sided appeal, you give all the benefits of your side, and you don't acknowledge any alternative positions. In a two-sided appeal, you acknowledge both sides of the issue, but then you explain why your side is better. So which should you go with? In general, a two-sided appeal works best if the person or group you're talking to is either mixed in their opinion, or is likely to oppose what you're trying to persuade them to do. When you use the two-sided appeal, you'll appear less biased. One-sided appeals work best only when the person or people you're trying to convince are already inclined to agree with you, or if there's overwhelming support, you can offer for your position. Sometimes, a two-sided approach is known as using an inoculation strategy inoculation works just like a shot where you give people a weak dose of a virus, so they're protected when they get hit with a full-blown case of it. From a persuasion standpoint, you give a weak dose of what the alternative position that is. You give weak arguments for why the opposite position is true by hearing what your opponent will say. In a weak form, people develop counter arguments to resist the message, and are more inclined to reject it and accept what you're saying. Another consideration within persuasion is fear. It's common for people to use fear within their persuasive attempts that is. They'll talk about all the bad things that will happen to you, if you don't do what they want you to do. Is fear effective or does it turn people off? A better question is does it get them to tune out. The answer to that is: it can. When fear is used, it's important to not be too extreme. A campaign against drunk drivers can effectively show mangled vehicles that have been in a DUI accident, but showing mangled victims could be too much for most people, causing them to disengage quickly. An attorney can show a bloody knife that was used as a murder weapon, but large gruesome color photographs of the victim after they had been brutally stabbed might be too much. You want to arouse some fear, but not too much. An emergency manager wants to motivate people to take action. If they don't evacuate before a hurricane, but it's likely ineffective to show photos of people who drowned in tidal surges or their bodies. After trees fell and crushed them. In addition, you need to give people direction for fear-based messages to be successful. Telling someone a hurricane is coming or you could be injured, killed, or cut off from rescuers isn't a good message. People need to know how to act. They need to know when and how to evacuate where shelters are, or the supplies they should stock up on. An example of this is one of the early public service campaigns designed to reduce the spread of AIDS. Early messaging was simple. It was AIDS kills. It was simple and it was ineffective. The rate of transmission wasn't slowed into the messages and formed the public to wear condoms to reduce the spread of the virus. If you want to persuade people with fear, tell them what to do with their fear. Fear is aroused. People may pay close attention to the message because they're worried about something harmful happening to them. However, not all attempts at persuasion will be things that people are heavily involved in or care about. So if someone isn't heavily invested in what you're trying to persuade them of. Does that mean that you won't be able to convince them? Not necessarily. You just need to think about the approach that you use researchers. Richard Petty and John Cassiopo, along with Shelly Chaikin, have identified two routes to persuasion. These are called the peripheral and central route when people are not invested in an issue, or when they are. But they're tired, distracted, overworked or they can't focus on what you're saying for whatever reason. They aren't able to think about the strength of your arguments. So strong arguments won't always win out, but they'll look for other information to help them decide if they should accept a persuasive message. As a result, they'll look for what are called heuristic cues. That's a fancy way of saying mental shortcuts. Our beliefs about people, like stereotypes, can be heuristic cues. For example, thinking certain types of people are more or less trustworthy, because of who they are, or looking at things like credentials, educational background, even their appearance. Remember, attractiveness and similarity matter. Are you good looking? Do you look the way people expect an expert to look? These cues which are sometimes fairly superficial, can be very powerful for an uninvolved or distracted person. So when people are using the peripheral route to evaluate what you're saying. Because they aren't heavily focused on the message. They'll be convinced by well-educated experts and attractive or similar people. And consequently discount the message from people who aren't experts or who don't have these appealing qualities. On the other hand, when people are directly affected by an issue, like if it's something that may cost them a lot of money or they're very interested in something and can focus on what you're saying. Then, they'll set aside heuristic cues and instead focus on message strength. but you'll need strong arguments to convince them because they're not going to be influenced by weak messages or go along with someone just because they're good looking/ Those factors are secondary for people processing in a central route. Because the central route of persuasion is based on solid arguments. People tend to be convinced of the message for a long time, even permanently. On the other hand, peripheral rap persuasion tends to be more fleeting. You can persuade someone for a short period of time, but it won't be difficult to change their mind on the issue. Ultimately, persuasion is a very useful skill to have. If you're persuasive, you can get others to do what you want without using power, which a lot of time you won't even have. Persuasion can allow you or your organization to be someone or something that others like and want to follow or connect to, which is very valuable to leaders, corporations and everyday people. In summary, there are a number of strategies to make your messaging and communication more persuasive. Remember the approaches Cialdini described: reciprocity, commitment, and consistency, social proof, likability, and authority. It's also important to consider credibility factors, such as trustworthiness and expertise, as well as how you communicate your position with one-sided or two-sided appeals. Leaders can use fear as a persuasion strategy, but it's important to use appropriate levels of fear and provide a sense of direction in fear-based messages. Finally, keep in mind that in some situations individuals will be more persuaded by heuristic cues, such as credentials. educational background. attractiveness. and similarities. rather than the content and reasons you're giving to explain your argument and position. Using persuasion to carefully craft your arguments and your communication overall will be an invaluable tool for you as a leader as well as in other areas of your life.