Leadership, Innovation and Adaptability: Persuasion Video

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 chaldini

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 is

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