Page 245 - DMGT519_Conflict Management and Negotiation Skills

Unit 11: Gaining Leverage through Power and Persuasion

Notes

Notes The power of persuasion can open doors for you and make the path to success much
smoother. After reading this article, you will have an array of persuasive techniques at
your disposal.

The most persuasive techniques have their roots in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming).
These persuasion techniques are based on empathy – in order to persuade someone – you
must understand them.

11.8 Empathy-based Persuasive Techniques

The first and most important thing you must understand about the person you are trying to
influence is what their mind best responds to – feel, visual, or auditory stimulation. Knowing
this will allow you to be more persuasive by plugging into and feeding this specific desire.
Females usually respond best to feelings, but not always. Men often respond well to visuals, and
some people are affected by audio. To learn which is the best stimulation to focus your persuasion,
look at how they talk. Do they say “I see”, “I hear what you’re saying”, or “I feel that…”? These
are obvious examples of course, the correct answer could be more subtle and perhaps a mixture
of two types of stimulation.

Adjust your persuasion techniques based on the kind of mind you are dealing with; for example,
when persuading someone who is “feel” orientated, focus on how they will feel if they do what
you are trying to convince them to. Don’t try and tell them what it will be like – you have to
make them actually feel it.
The more you’re aware of the person you’re dealing with, the more effectively you will be able
to focus your persuasive techniques.

11.9 Mirror based Persuasive Techniques

As well as focusing the content of your persuasion in a way that interacts well with their specific
personality type, you can also adjust your language and the way you speak to put yourself on
their level. People respond better to persuasive techniques that are in their own “language”.
Pick up on specific words that they use and use them back on them, especially adjectives. Pay
attention to their speed, pitch and volume, and respond as similarly as possible.
Matching your body language and even your pose/position is a subtle but surprisingly powerful
persuasive technique. You need to be subtle and it may feel awkward at first, but with some
practice you will see how effective this technique, known as “mirroring”, can be at developing
a rapport and

11.9.1 Other Persuasive Techniques

There are many other persuasive techniques that you can work on and build up. We recommend
that you master the empathy/mirror persuasive techniques most importantly as these are the
most effective. However, the following techniques can be valuable additions to your persuasion
armory.

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