7 Secrets of Persuasion - How to sell an idea
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Effective
public speaking is the no 1 skill
for leaders to position themselves
ahead of the crowd. LDL’s
Dynamic Presentation Skills
can help you deliver stunning,
memorable presentations that move
people to act. |
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Whether you're making a sales presentation, running
for office, asking someone for a date, befriending a
VIP, chairing a meeting, asking your boss for a promotion
– whether you're a trainer, a manager, an author
on a TV talk show, or out to make yourself a leader
in your chosen field – whatever you're doing,
the skills of persuasion are critical.
Persuasion is all around us and it makes sense to have
the clearest possible understanding of what the process
is about. What follows are 7 'secrets' to help you:
1. Listen first
You’ve heard this before! A thousand times. We
all have! Yet few do it correctly. Most people don’t
really listen – they fake paying attention and
then interrupt (but… but…but…) to
get their comments in. Or they listen too fast –
here’s a little exercise we sometimes use at seminars.
Would you shout out loud ….. SILK, SILK,
SILK.
Now what do cows drink…….?
If you thought milk you’re listening
too fast.
Cows drink ……water!
Listening , like everything requires practice. The
more you listen, the more you are fascinated by what
people have to say, the more they will like you, trust
you and want to do business with you.
It’s amazing how much you can learn by simply
keeping quiet. When you ask relevant questions and listen,
you learn what matters to the other person. And there’s
an added bonus — listeners quickly become popular.
Below-average people monopolise the talking. Above-average
people monopolise the listening.
Rapt attention is the highest form of flattery. Listen
to people as if you have all the time in the world.
Visualise a neon sign above their head reading ‘Make
me feel important’.
2. Find out & match
Find out and match is the fundamental psychology of
persuasion so
- Find out what the other person wants – (ask
questions and listen) then
- Match your product/idea/proposal to that.
A speaker on the podium must know what the audience
is interested in and match their presentation to it.
Modern management thinking stresses the importance
of matching the individual’s personal goals to
the goals of the organisation. How do you motivate an
individual in your team? Find out what they want to
achieve and match the task you have to that.
These examples reinforce the concept of find out and
match. To influence anyone, the core skill is: find
out what’s important to them , their hot button,
and then match to it.
3. Be flexible
Before buying into our proposals, people want to know
that we are flexible enough to respond to their concerns.
A willingness to adjust our viewpoint to incorporate
other people’s ideas is one of the key skills
of persuasion. Mostly this goes without saying when
we are with customers, but what about when we are with
internal colleagues?
Once coworkers realise that we are flexible enough
to listen to their views and respond to their concerns – ie that we genuinely do have their interests
at heart, they are much more likely to go along with
our proposals.
4 . Learn to tell stories
Stories are the key to human contact. Not statistics,
not facts, not bullet points. What do people see in
their minds when they listen to you? Stories don’t
have to be long. Tell a story of what happened to you
or a colleague.
Martina King, Managing Director of Capital Radio in
London, tells the story of how she called on a prospective
customer and somehow allowed the prospect to tell her
about his family, his kids and all the difficulties
he was encountering. Driving back after the meeting,
Martina thought what a waste of time that was. She felt
guilty at not making her presentation and selling her
product.
The next day he phoned and booked an ad — the
first ever from that account.
5 . Don’t rely on words
alone
Bring your thinking to life. Make it visual. Create
an exhibit, use diagrams, flow charts, models, prototypes.
Architects have long known how powerful models can be
for influencing buyers.
Warning to presenters! This is not an excuse to produce
yet another PowerPoint deck. At LDL the first thing
we do when coaching presenters is to turn their slide
show off. You would be amazed how quickly people improve
their presentation skills.
Are we saying ban PowerPoint? No. Just use it sparingly
and always create the slides after you have written
and rehearsed your presentation, not the other way around.
6 . Be courteous with everyone
Not just the people you want to persuade. Malcolm Forbes
said – ‘You can easily judge the character
of others by how they treat those who can do nothing
for them’.
Courtesy costs nothing but what it buys is priceless.
Handling situations, especially tricky ones, in a positive,
constructive way makes everyone a winner.
There is a quality about courteous people that makes
us trust them. If they go out of their way to be pleasant,
polite and well mannered, then somehow we sense they
have our interests at heart. They are more likeable
and we are keen to do business with people we like.
7 . Go for it.
Are you energising people …..or are your batteries
dead? Are you putting them to sleep or knocking them
out? Passion persuades. Never, ever forget that people
are more persuaded by your convictions than by your
arguments.
Throw yourself into it. Nothing great was ever achieved
without enthusiasm. Remember the words of the song ‘Dance
like no one is watching. Love like you’ve never
been hurt. You’ve got to come from the heart if
you want it to work’.
© Leadership Development
Ltd. www.ldl.co.uk
LDL specialise
in high-impact leadership and sales development that lasts. Programmes
are available as
open courses, tailored in-company
solutions, short
seminars and one
to one coaching. Elearning
is increasingly used to provide post programme
follow-up.
We offer this article on a copyright acknowledgment
basis. You may reprint or repost this material
as long as LDL’s name and contact
information is included: learning@ldl.co.uk,
+44(0)20 7381 6233, http://www.ldl.co.uk
LDL operate on an international level and
have considerable experience in designing
and delivering learning programmes across
a number of countries and cultures.
LDL also deliver exhilarating and informative
conference
keynote speeches. |
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For further information complete our enquiry
form or call our team of learning advisers
on +44 (0)20 7381 6233.
 
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