Maximize Your Influence

Humor can be a powerful tool to create rapport. Humor makes the persuader seem more friendly and accepting. Humor helps gain attention, enables you to create rapport, and makes your message more memorable. It can relieve tension, enhance relationships, and motivate people.  Appropriate use of humor increases trust in your audience. Another aspect of humor is the smile.  A smile is free, generates...

The Law of Verbal Packaging states that the more skillful a person is in the use of language, the more persuasive they will be. People are persuaded by us based on the words we use. Words affect our perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and emotions. The words we use in persuasion make all the difference in the world. Language misused will trigger the wrong response and decrease your ability to persuad...

Have you heard about foot-in-the-door" (FITD),  or the "sequential request theory? Basically, it is a means of using a person's self-perception to motivate them to take a desired action  When an individual complies the first time, they perceive themselves to be helpful.  If they are asked to comply a second time in an even greater way, they are more likely to consent.  The key to using FITD is get...

You could have the greatest product in the world, but if there is no trust, there is no sale. Trust can be ambiguous, but certain things are pretty clear: 1) You can't get others to trust you unless you first trust yourself; and 2) your message will not be convincing to others unless it's convincing to you. Whenever someone tries to influence us, in our minds, we ask ourselves, "Can I trust this p...

Not only do charismatics use your gestures in the right way, they also have the ability to read and interpret nonverbal gestures.  You can read people like a book and obtain the knowledge you need to adjust yourself and your presentation based on what body language you are reading.  When you can read and be aware of your body language, you can synchronize your nonverbals to create instant likeabil...

What makes someone successful? Why do some people achieve wealth while others don't? How can we predict who will make it big, who will barely make ends meet, and who will fail? How do we quantify the characteristics of highly successful people? Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which Do You Need to Work On? Given that increasing your EQ is critical for your success, you need to master this s...

Imagine that there is a giant rubber band inside of you. When dissonance is present, the rubber band begins to stretch. As long as the dissonance exists, the band stretches tighter and tighter. You've got to take action before it reaches a breaking point and snaps. The motivation to reduce the tension is what causes us to change; we will do everything in our power to get back in mental balance. Sl...

Let's talk about where negotiation fits into the world of persuasion and the difference between the two.  Persuasion occurs when your ideas are so convincing that the other party adopts your point of view.  With persuasion, there is no compromising as there is in negotiation. While persuasion is the ultimate ideal, anytime any one of us presents our ideas, the other party is often equally committe...

Moods affect our thinking, judgment, and willingness to say yes. When the person you are trying to persuade is in a good mood, they are more likely to accept your offer. The opposite is also true. If they're not in a good mood, chances are much higher they won't bite. This is a massive advantage to you when it comes to persuasion. Great persuaders create the right mood. Leading with Humor Using hu...

Do you know how long waiting times affect persuasion? Do they bave a negative or positive influence? Listen now to see how waiting is either helping or hurting your persuasion. Psychology of Waiting Lines Starbucks still has a problem with long lines Long Waiting Times Cost You Sales

Many times, when we are trying to be persuasive, we want to highlight all the perks and plusses. It's only natural. Wouldn't helping someone see the potential gains of your product or service be a good thing? Yes, but here is the issue: Your audience will buy for their own reasons and only their reasons. How managers can spark, not squelch, our motivation They don't care about why you like the pro...

Do you think people are trying to flatter you into submission?  Are they using manipulation tactics and want to know how to resist.  Are you seeing signs of gaslighting and feel like they want to take advantage of you?   Let me give you the answers.  How to Spot Manipulation Tactics, gaslighting, coercion Join me for this week's podcast on Resisting Manipulation And GasLighting – The Dark Side of...

A poll with your prospects found that Trust is at an all-time low.  Their default setting is not to trust you.  In fact, only 12 percent of the prospects trusted their persuaders, while 88 percent of the persuaders felt they had established trust with their audience.  Wow, what a disconnect. It's harder to gain credibility nowadays than in the past. Are you good at what you do? Bragging about it c...

Our task is not only to realize humor's profound influence but also to develop the necessary skills to use it powerfully and ethically. As you become more and more skilled at incorporating humor into your presentations, you will discover that humor almost always has a place. Humor puts your audience in a good frame of mind. Your audience is in a good disposition and less likely to disagree with yo...

Most people don't address why it is taking so long to achieve their goals or find their success.  The first step is always self-discipline. When we hear the word self-discipline or willpower, we tend to get a little tense, tune out or think about something else.  We think of all our bad habits, things we don't want to do, or all the times we tried to exercise willpower and failed.  It is something...

Optimistic persuaders outpersuade pessimistic persuaders every time. Not only is optimism essential to influencing others, but is also a critical for success in life. Optimism is more than a positive mental attitude. It is not constantly saying positive things to yourself and then hoping they will come true. Rather, true optimism is a state of mind that dictates how you look at the world. An optim...

How did you learn what you know about money? You likely picked it up, a piece here, a tip there.  You absorbed attitudes from your parents and from the media. You absorbed the examples of friends. You proceeded through trial and error—the school of hard knocks.  You learned haphazard, mostly wrong, and certainly out of context.  Money is one of the most important subjects to study in your entire l...

By adding Expectations to your persuasive toolbox, you can change your audience's expectations of you—and their expectation of buying your product, service, or idea—and you will be infinitely more persuasive. Staring at yourself during virtual chats may worsen your mood The challenge is you are creating negative expectations – they feel the desire to say no because of your mindset, body language,...

When you become a great Persuader, you will learn to love objections. You will understand that when people voice their objections, it indicates interest and shows that they are paying attention to what you are saying. The key to persuasion is anticipating all objections before you hear them. Fielding questions and handling objections can make or break you as a persuader. These skills will help you...

Life is change; persuasion is change. As a Persuader, you must be able to create and motivate change. Understanding human nature is knowing that most people will resist change and burrow into their comfort zones. We tend to follow the path of least resistance. BUT when done it the right way, people are very accepting of change. Mood Has Less Control Over Behavior Than We Think Those are some good...

Persuaders know emotion will override logic every time.  I will assume here (I know I shouldn't do that) that you can form a logical argument.  Reading emotions and your emotional intelligence is the missing piece for most people that want to become more influential.  Very few know how to read and trigger the right emotional states. 16 top reasons cited for getting out of a speeding ticket What em...

A great persuader can connect with anyone in thirty seconds or less. First impressions take only seconds to form, but they last a lifetime. This is a critical skill to develop because the cement dries fast. How do you ensure that you're making those early seconds really count? 'Mind's eye blink' proves 'paying attention' is not just a figure of speech So do people like you?  Can you develop rappor...

All things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like, and trust. People choose healthier food when with outsiders for fear of being negatively judged So do people trust you?  Are you sure?  It is doubtful in the current climate.  What are you doing that destroys trust?  What can you do to increase trust?  Join me for this week's podcast on 7 Rea...

Let's talk about where negotiation fits into the world of persuasion and the difference between the two. Persuasion occurs when your ideas are so convincing that the other party adopts your point of view. With persuasion, there is no compromising as there is in negotiation. Why Do Hugs Feel Good? This Chemical Messenger Want to know when to use negotiation tools?  What about when to know when it i...

Do you repel people?  Most people say no. Howeve statistics show that this is happening to you.  What are you doing that turn people off, and cause them to run?   Want to take a deeper dive into the boomerang effect?  What else could you be doing that is antipersuasive?  How can you connect more with your prospects?  Do Zoom Meetings Kill Creativity? Join me for this week's podcast on The Boomeran...