Maximize Your Influence

Great persuaders are great communicators. Well-known motivational speaker and best-selling author Jim Rohn said it best: "When I learned how to effectively persuade and communicate, my income went from six digits to seven digits." The False Consensus Effect Your communication skills are critical for your success, yet this is another set of overlooked skills that are not effectively taught in schoo...

Are Your Authentic and Congruent Or Fake and Unlikable? One interesting study found that physical gestures that convey less immediacy (lack of eye contact, leaning back, reduced proximity) communicate you don't like the person.  It communicates a lack of congruence.  It destroys your authenticity and coming across as genuine. Imposter syndrome Are you congruent with your past history and your last...

Two of the big motivation inhibitors are mindset and the people we associate with. Take a look around you. Are the people in your life pulling you up or pulling you down? Are they encouraging you or discouraging you? How do they view your goals, dreams, and aspirations? Turning Off Your Camera Can Reduce Zoom Fatigue What's holding you back? What are the chains and stakes in your life? What would...

Understanding human nature is essential to maximizing your greatest persuasion potential. Have you ever wondered how the mind works? Why do we do what we do? Why do many people do the opposite of what is best for them? Great persuaders can find patterns in human nature and customize their ability to persuade accordingly. 6 psychological tactics behind the Starbucks menu Join me for this week's pod...

Great persuaders have charisma. We can all think of charismatic people. They have a confident presence and charm about them; they are captivating. They command our attention; we hang onto every word out of their mouths. Their energy prods us, motivates us, and inspires us. We feel better for having met them, seen them, been persuaded by them, and interacted with them. 4 Signs of Decision Fatigue  ...

Appearance affects your authority. External objects and the environment also affect perceptions of power. It is therefore wise for all of us to check out our appearance and surroundings to make sure we're sending the right message. Article 1 Article 2  What are other forms of power you can use to increase your ability to persuade?  You will be surprised to know there are many different forms of po...

Are you congruent?  Do you feel authentic?  Does your prospect think you are genuine?  Are you coming across as truthful?  These are the new buzzwords that your prospect is looking for…  Join me for this week's podcast with David Wood that reveals techniques and ways to be more authentic and congruent in your persuasive presentations.  Discover how to be Transparent, Authentic, Genuine, And Vulner...

The MOST important aspect of Trust is credibility It's harder to gain credibility nowadays than it ever was in the past. Most people are fairly sophisticated and have grown cynical with all the exaggerated and unsubstantiated hype that is thrown at them. People who have been burned in the past develop thick skins against almost every persuasive message they are exposed to. Want to sound smarter? A...

It is human nature to mirror and match, or to "synchronize" with the people we connect with. We don't even think about it. It happens so quickly and so subconsciously - one is unlikely to even notice it. What if you were aware of it? Could it be used to help you be even more persuasive? Research says definitely yes. When you mirror your audience, you build rapport with them. Do you want to know ho...

Are you a leader or a manager?  When you influence people do they do it because they have to or they want to?  Isn't that a tough question?  What do you think?   Are you able to boost people up, motivate them and inspire them to new levels?  Because that is the role of a long-term leader. Join me on this week's podcast on influence and leadership with Ben Ward.  Ben is a leadership expert that is...

Did you know that 80 percent of all new products fail or don't even come close to projected forecasts?3 Large corporations spend billions on focus groups to see if their product or service is viable. Do you want to know how to balance logic and emotion during the persuasion process?  Do you want to know how your prospect makes decisions?  Discover how to create a persuasive message that resonates...

How Conflicting Beliefs Are Stalling Your Success Beliefs are only one of the pieces to a successful mindset.  I spent years monitoring, interviewing, and watching successful influencers.  What are their traits and characteristics?  What are they doing differently?  How is their mental programming making them more successful?   Join me for this week's podcast on Persuasion IQ Skill #1 –   Mindset...

I'd say now is the time to take a careful look at your personal development program.  Are there ways it can be enhanced?  Every day, you are either learning or deteriorating.  You are either closer to or farther away from your goals.  Learn to model the best in your field.  Find those who excel in your industry and benchmark what will work for you.  Pay the price to become an expert in your field....

Great influencers can create the right mood at the right time.  They can put people in a happy state.  When they are feeling happy, they tend to think more positive thoughts and to retrieve good experiences from memory.  When they are in a negative or foul mood, they tend to think unhappy thoughts and to retrieve negative information from memory.   10 Ways to Defuse the Hostility of People Who Are...

Influential people can read and interpret nonverbal gestures.  You can read people like a book and you can obtain the knowledge you need to adjust yourself and your presentation based on what body language you are reading.   8 Ways To Identify A Liar Want to know how to spot a liar?  Would it be beneficial to be able to detect deception?  What to learn those FBI interviewing techniques?  Join me f...

Trust is critical in persuasion. Unfortunately, we live in a day and age when people are more skeptical and mistrustful than ever before. Twenty years ago, the mindset was: "I trust you; give me a reason not to." Now the mindset is: "I don't trust you; give me a reason why I should." You could say trust is at an all-time low and still falling. Stanford researchers study trust in autonomous product...

One of the major distinctions between mediocre persuaders and highly successful persuaders is the amount of talking they do and the number of questions they ask. We have found that great persuaders ask 2.7 more questions of their audience than average persuaders do. Want to know what questions to ask when you are attempting to influence?  Discover how to change a conversation and persuade under th...

Learn how to be prepared to handle hecklers and those that will ask the tough questions.  Learn to connect on a personal and emotional level.  Make sure every member of that audience feels like you are talking to them.  Practice your presentation so it becomes part of you, instead of a slick PowerPoint or a tired outline.   Manage your fear, anxiety or nervousness, so you can radiate charisma.  Ho...

So how can you use subconscious triggers and options to be more persuasive?  What do you need to understand about these triggers that are hurting your sales?  How can you persuade better and faster understanding why we do, what we do?  Join me for this week's podcast and discover The 10 Psychological Techniques (And Tips) To Sell More And Persuade Faster.   Pausing Before Replying Decreases Percei...

One of the biggest challenges we face is that we think, and our audience thinks, we are logical creatures. But most of the time, we don't know why we do what we do. In fact, up to 95 percent of persuasion and influence involves a subconscious trigger. This tendency means that inclinations like "It just feels right," "I trust this person," or "I don't like this person" are all based on subconscious...

To maintain order of the world, our brains link objects, gestures, and symbols with our feelings, memories, and life experiences.  We mentally associate ourselves with such things as sights, sounds, colors, music, and symbols.  These associations create quick subconscious triggers.  The feelings you generate can help or hurt your ability to persuade.   You could be using symbols that are repelling...

What can you do in the first thirty seconds of your encounter to capture your audience's attention?  Can you prove to them that you are worth listening to?  Think about this: Every time you communicate with someone, they are paying with either time or money.   Do you want to know how to magnetize your message?  Get and keep the attention of your prospects?  Ever thought about how to brand and posi...

Did you know that cost is often the first objection raised, but usually it's not the true reason for rejecting a product or service?  Whether you're selling an actual physical product to consumers or an idea to your stubborn teenager, there is always a price involved. Want to know how to make price a non-issue?  Want to know how to charge more and help your prospects be more successful?  Want to g...

As humans, (when we listen) we have the ability to read people from facial expressions, gestures, tone of voice, or even a smell.  This comes from our early programming as humans to be able to meet a person and instantly decide if they are a friend or foe. Want to know how to make better decisions and use your intuition?  Want to know what changes are happening with your prospect and customers?  E...

Voice plays a critical role in influence.   Our voice is a powerful instrument that can motivate the troops or lull them to sleep. There is a huge difference between presenting and persuading, informing and influencing, and communicating and convincing. Want to know how to grab attention and increase the influence of your voice?  Ever felt your voice was not very impactful?  Listen to this week's...