How To Be More Persuasive

How To Be More Persuasive

Do you want to be more persuasive?

Do you ever wonder how people become incredibly persuasive? 

Most things in life and business are based on interaction and convincing people.

Hence the need to develop persuasive skills.

Either as a business owner or regular individual, your persuasive skills will be what helps you get peoples’ attention such that when you talk, they’ll want to listen to what you have to stay and take the desired action.

So, stay with us till the end to discover how to become more persuasive so you can use this skill to achieve your goals in business and life generally positively.

First, What is Persuasion? 

How can I improve my convincing skills

Persuasion is the process of convincing someone to do something in their own interest and benefit. 

However, it should not be mistaken for manipulation or coercion. 

Also, persuasion is about telling someone why they should buy into your idea and how it will favor them. 

This isn’t only useful to marketers and salespersons. 

It can be used in all aspects of human existence, especially in your workplace, where you may need to suggest an idea to your team. 

Therefore mastering this skill will open doors for almost every other skill. 

How To Be More Persuasive 

What is effective persuasion

Every skill can be learned, and persuasion is not different. 

Below are some things to do to become more persuasive.

Be Confident 

Almost everything in life requires confidence, and persuasion is not different.

It even requires more confidence.

People would not just buy your idea because you have told them it is awesome and the best in the world. 

How confident you sound when talking to people is what will make you sound more convincing.

Therefore, to become more persuasive, build more confidence. 

It is the first thing people would see before they would listen to you. 

This will help you withstand any question thrown at you in your interaction and help you be more persuasive. 

To Be More Persuasive, Use Small And Common Words 

When trying to convince someone about something, using common/small words is usually the best way to go. 

Small or common words are easy to understand by a wider audience. 

Also, when you use common words, it makes your sentence comprehensible. 

When sentences are easy to understand, people tend to believe them. 

This is because anything easy seems true to people. 

Likewise, small words tend to have an immediate emotional impact compared to big ones. 

Therefore, to become more persuasive, avoid using big and uncommon words while speaking and writing.

It will make it difficult for people to understand or believe you.

What are persuasion strategies

Speak In A Way That Moves Your Audience 

Most persons come out prepared for their speech forgetting that they are speaking to an audience, not themselves. 

Since it is good to prepare for your speech and give it a pattern/structure, it is also good to watch your audience. 

A tired or bored audience will find it difficult listening to you, let alone be convinced about anything. 

This is the point you have to say what they want to hear. 

Anything humorous will help to lighten their mood.  

Doing this will help you create a better atmosphere for you to stand on. 

Also, it will make it easy for you to persuade and convince them.

Consequently, helping you become more persuasive. 

To Become More Persuasive, Never Argue With A Person You Want To Correct

Persuasion is like stating your case and the reasons you think so. 

The best way to persuade people is not by telling them that they are wrong. 

As soon as you do that, you had already lost. 

Therefore to be more persuasive, do not logically reason with someone you are trying to win over. 

You can rather start by asking them questions that would generate a series of “yes” responses from them.

This will build up their interest and make them more open to the conversation.

As a result, making easy to persuade them.

What is the most effective persuasive method

To Be More Persuasive, Be Knowledgeable About Your Topic

Nothing makes your audience doubt you, like sounding uncertain about a topic you are discussing. 

It will make you seem like less of an authority in that field, and that will make your audience not trust you enough to be convinced. 

Hence, whenever you try to persuade someone, you have to be certain of what you are saying. 

If it is possible, pull resources from known authorities in that field. 

This will give you an edge and a stepping stone to persuading your audience. 

Therefore, to be more persuasive, always make sure you are knowledgeable about what you are discussing. 

To Become More Persuasive, Flatter Your Audience 

People love to be complimented and told how good they look; that is what flattery is all about. 

Flattery works like magic, but you have to be sincere about it. 

Also, make sure to avoid using it on a person with low self-esteem. 

It would make them feel like you are trying to patronize them.

That alone will make them not to be persuaded by your words. 

Hence, to be more persuasive, use flattery to your advantage in a sincere way. 

It will help to get your audience to trust you. 

How do I stop being persuaded

Don’t Make The Conversation Not About You; It Would Help You To Be More Persuasive

People usually have their reasons for doing what they want to do. 

Your job as a persuader is to set the environment and put people in a position to understand why they are doing what they are doing. 

Hence, to be more persuasive, avoid making the topic revolve around you.

It will make it difficult to get their attention, and without attention, you can not convince them.

Make your audience understand why they should be convinced. 

It will make you sound convincing and be more persuasive about the subject.

Mind Your Body Language 

Persuasion involves communication, and body language is one of the non-verbal means of communication.

Body language says a lot more than spoken words. 

Hence no matter what we say, our body language says more. 

Therefore to become more persuasive, endeavor to match your body language with the words of your mouth. 

If you’re talking with confidence, ensure your body exudes the same energy and confidence.

Otherwise, whoever you’re talking to will notice it, and your attempt to persuade them will be defeated.

Therefore, when engaging in a persuasive conversation, pay serious attention to your body language to avoid a situation where you’re saying something but your body is giving off a different signal.

How to Be More Persuasive and Get What You Want

Mirror The Body Language Of Your Audience 

To mirror is to put on similar gestures as the person you are speaking with. 

If, for instance, they crossed their legs, you could do the same. 

This psychologically puts you both down on the same level. 

This works well, especially with children. 

For you to talk to and convince a child, you will need to either kneel or squat. 

This places you at the same height as them. 

Also, in that position, they become less fearful of you and also earn their trust easily. 

The same applies to most individuals, children or not.

Consequently, helping you become more persuasive.

To Be More Persuasive, Match Your Voice With That of The Other Person

Persuasion is different from forcing your opinion on people.

However, the volume of your voice can make it seem otherwise. 

Therefore to be more persuasive, make sure you match the volume of your voice with that of the other person. 

If they have a soft voice, trying to persuade them with a loud voice will raise trust questions in their mind. 

Their brain will misinterpret it as desperation and as forcing one’s opinion. 

However, with a calmer voice/soft tone, you’ll sound more genuine and convincing.

This makes it easy to earn their trust and persuade them.

Techniques You Can Learn To Become More Persuasive

Reduce The Speed of Your Voice 

Persuasion is a two-way thing; you are trying to get someone to accept something, and the other person is trying to understand you by listening to you and studying you. 

Part of what they observe is your body language, and the speed at which you speak is embedded in body language. 

Hence, when in a conversation with someone, there is a need to change the speed of your voice to match theirs. 

If the other person talks slowly, make sure to slow down when it is your turn to talk. 

This will ensure a good rapport between the both of you and eventually make you sound more persuasive.

To Become Persuasive, Be Conversant With Your Audience

In persuasion, knowing your audience goes a long way in convincing them. 

You can not rely solely on your instinct to convince people. 

You have to research to know some things about your audience, especially if you are selling them a product or an idea. 

Some of these things include their likes and dislikes, desires, needs, etc.

They are the things you’d rely on while you convince them to see reasons with you. 

Doing this will helps you to craft a message that will engage them and addresses their pain points.

As a result making, you sound more persuasive.

Want to Be Extremely Persuasive

Know The Timing And Context of Your Message

Everybody can be persuaded using the right timing and context. 

By context, we mean the persons who will be interested in what you have to say. 

It also means those your topic will impact directly.

Always bear in mind that not everyone will be interested in what you have to say. 

People are rarely in their fellow humans unless such people have solutions to their specific problems.

Likewise, people rarely have time to engage in meaningless conversations that will be of no particular benefit to them.

To find your interested audience, you have to fit your message into a man’s basic need. 

Also, ensure that you’re bringing it to them at the right time, the time they need it the most.

You have a high chance of convincing them and getting them to take action when you do that. 

Never Assume 

Most times, while we sell our ideas/products/services, we assume that people may not be able to afford them (in the case of products and services) or that they may not like them (in ideas, products, and services). 

You can not read the mind of people.

Since body language communicates more than spoken words, you can not be certain of your audience’s wants or afford it. 

Hence, do not put yourself in a position of assumption. 

Sell your product/ideas and leave the choice for them to make. 

Communicate Your Idea Clearly 

The bedrock of persuasion is communication. 

Hence, while you try to persuade people, make sure to explain your idea clearly so that even a child can grasp it. 

Communicating your idea clearly helps your audience to know the next line of action to take. 

This doesn’t only help you to gain their trust, but it also helps you sound more persuasive. 

So, there you have it, some basic guidelines on how to become more persuasive.

Not to leave you wondering why go to this extent to become more persuasive, let’s consider some benefits attached to this skill.

Benefits of Becoming More Persuasive 

how to be more persuasive at work

Being persuasive has a lot of importance and advantage attached to it.

Some of the benefits include: 

It Makes You Charismatic

Being able to persuade and convince people to see things from your point of view makes you charismatic.

Also, people are naturally drawn to persons who have power over other people and can command the attention of others.

It Makes You More Self-confident 

When you work on becoming more persuasive, you’re also indirectly building your self-confidence. 

This is because you require confidence to convince someone to believe in your idea. 

It Enables You to Market Yourself 

Again, persuasion as a skill comes in handy in all aspects of life, especially in our professional lives. 

When you become more persuasive,  you can market yourself to any audience and convince them. 

This helps to open doors of promotions for you, especially in your place of work. 

It Helps You to Communicate Better

The art of persuasion involves communication, both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. 

When you persuade, you strive to match your spoken words with your body language. 

Doing this helps to improve your communication skill, especially your body language. 

Final Words on How To Become More Persuasive

Ways to Persuade Anyone of Anything

Persuasion is often perceived as controlling people.

However, it is far from that. 

Persuasion is simply the ability to influence people to take an action you want and favor them. 

This skill works well in all areas of life, hence the need to master it. 

To be more persuasive, you have to start building your confidence in yourself and your message/ product or service. 

People tend to believe persons who are more confident in themselves, which will lead to you convincing them easily. 

Also, you have to learn how to pitch your idea making use of simple and common words. 

Using uncommon and ambiguous terms will put people off. 

Preparing your message before you pitch it to your audience is nice.

Finally, remember that persuasion is a skill and requires constant practice.

Hence, be patient and consistent as you practice these tips to become more persuasive.