The 7 Ways to Get a Successful “YES!”: Learn to Harness the Power of Persuasion
“What’s your superpower?”
I am pretty sure you have been asked this question one too many times when you were a kid. It must have roused your young and imaginative mind and answered it in the most enthusiastic manner, am I right? And if my guesses are correct, the ability of flight, super strength, lightning speed and the power of invisibility were probably one of your marvelous choices. But as you grew older, while certainly an amusing thought still to have superpowers, you realize that it is certainly impossible to possess any of these.
Taking reality and practicality into consideration, there is actually one super power that all of us might want to take control. Any guesses? Well, it is the power of persuasion! That ability to elicit that coveted “Yes” from people rather than that scorned “No”. That capacity to influence and motivate people to do your own bidding (well, to some acceptable extent, of course).
Power of Persuasion
The skill and art of persuasion is not just for salespeople selling products
It is actually a valuable skill anybody should learn to harness. Look at it this way: If you can get everyone on the same bus as you are, you have a smooth and easy ride towards your destination. And everyone’s life destination is always pointed towards success.
Unfortunately, only a lucky few have mastered the science of persuasion. Then, there are a handful who suck at capturing an audience, convincing the doubtful or winning over the opposition. If you are among the latter, I tell you, it is not impossible.
Thumbs up
There is no better way to get the power of persuasion to a tee than to be as personable and likable as possible. Most often than not, people are bound to agree with someone that they like. You can never imagine how important it is to take some time in engaging small and light conversations to find similarities that you both share with the other person. So when you want to get your point across, you can present them in a way that you share common concerns, issues or problems. You will be surprised at how much successful agreeable outcomes you will get in exerting a little effort in being genuinely likable.
Mimic like a mirror
There are two NLP thoughts that go into this. First is that you need to develop and widen your Sensory Acuity, which is one of the Four Pillars of Success used in NLP. This allows you to notice and identify subtleties and intricacies of everything that happens around you and the people you interact with. Listen using all your senses. Taking these into consideration, learn to subtly mimic and match their body language and words to establish empathy. This puts the second NLP technique of Mirroring and Matching. From hand gestures, facial expressions to the tone of the voice, it creates a level of understanding between you and the person you are interacting with.
Framing thoughts
Express things in a different perspective. Frame your thoughts in a way that is aimed towards the goal or intent of your message. Learn the balance of dissecting whether you should use positive words or phrases over negative ones. This requires a great level of understanding of your objective in relation to the personal intricacies of the other person. One foolproof way of convincing your audience is to use cause-and-effect phrases, as taught in the NLP Reframing techniques. This is an excellent way of letting them know what will happen as a result if they do not go with what you are telling.
As what best-selling self-help author Karen Salmonsohn once said, “Your words have great power. Use them to support and inspire.”
"You" over "I"
As simple as using “you” or “yours” instead of “I”, “we” or “our” matter when it comes to gaining a very willing “Yes”. This lets your listener know that it is more about them rather than being about you, which is very essential when it comes to sales. In a different sense, using the word “us” also encourages the feeling of inclusion. Additionally, using the names of your listener as much as possible gets across the feeling self-worth and that they are important to you.
The art of acknowledging and appreciating
Your influence over others can sometimes stem from inspiring and motivating them. That is why it is important that you acknowledge and appreciate every chance you get. This is especially true when you are a leader handling team players under you. This adds a boost of morale and creates a positive emotion. Simple yet powerful words like “Thank you!” and “Job well done!” goes a long way at winning people over.
Reciprocate to obligate unconsciously
In an article by The Guardian , author Robert Levine said that, “Most of us are usually driven by a sense of equity and fairness. When someone does something for us, we feel obligated to do something for us, we feel obligated to do something for them in return.” In a sense, reciprocity is about giving what you want to receive. You gain a level of influence over others by unconsciously and artfully reminding them of how you have helped them before in the past. Again to insert a quotable quote, Aesop said that, “Persuasion is more often effectual than force.”
Listen
Persuasion is definitely not all about you jabbering. It is not a one-way street. It is a dance than requires the harmony between you and your listener. That is why to get people to agree with you, it is also important to stop and listen to what they have to say. This helps you get back to finding similarities of your audience or listener, which you can use to get agreeable outcomes. This also gives you leverage over reframing your thoughts and ideas by understanding the other side of the argument.
To truly harness this super power, you have to make sure that everything has to be done in the most genuine manner. Remember, people can instinctively spot if you are being manipulative, insincere or hard sell. Because if you ask too much, then you might end up on the losing end. Build trust and credibility instead. These are vital and key aspects when you want to become a persuasive, influential and motivating individual.
Harnessing the power of persuasion is one of the many important life techniques you can learn from the Jacky Lim NLP Courses, like the NLP Sales Program and Public Speaking Program.
To learn more how you can control this practical super power, simply fill-out our inquiry form. Or you can join me in one of my NLP Sharing Sessions to discover how you can succeed in life with NLP!