Maximize Your Influence

The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance Leon Festinger formulated the cognitive dissonance theory at Stanford University. He asserted, "When attitudes or beliefs conflict with our actions, we are uncomfortable and motivated to try to change." Festinger's theory sets the foundation for the Law of Dissonance. The Law of Dissonance proves that people will naturally act in a manner that is consistent with...

We are firm believers that we all have greatness within us. We believe that we each have within ourselves unwritten books, un-started businesses, brilliant ideas, great inventions, charitable ideas, and untapped energies. But sometimes we have a hard time knowing exactly what our purpose is. We may fill many roles—husband or wife, father or mother, school board member, coach, employee, or communit...

The Hostile Prospect This person disagrees with you and may even actively work against you. For a hostile prospect, use these techniques: Find common beliefs and establish a common ground. Use appropriate humor to break the ice. Don't start the presentation with an attack on their position. You are only trying to persuade on one point; don't talk about anything else that could trigger disagreement...

Have you ever noticed how some people can captivate, inspire, and influence others without effort?  Other people instantly like them and want to be around them. Some individuals can enter a room and everyone notices. They seem always to get what they want because the people around them want to give it to them. How do they command such instant attention and influence everyone they meet? This is the...

Humor can be a powerful tool to create rapport. Humor makes the persuader seem more friendly and accepting. Humor helps gain attention, helps you 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.   Humor can also distract your audience from negative arguments or grab...

Social Validation and Marketing The more a brand is advertised, the more popular and familiar it is perceived to be. We as consumers somehow infer that something is popular simply because it is advertised. When people are buying gifts for others, social proof is one of the most effective techniques that a salesclerk can use."   Many salespeople find great success in telling clients that a particul...

Your environment and the expectations of that environment should be persuasive. There is a concept called the Phillip Zimbado’s Broken Window Theory. This theory suggests that a building full of broken windows will cause people to assume that no one cares for the building or its appearance. This in turn will spur more vandalism and more broken windows. In other words, the environment's condition g...

Touch is another powerful part of body language—important enough to devote a whole section to it alone. Touch can be a very effective psychological technique. Subconsciously, most of us like to be touched; it makes us feel appreciated and builds rapport. It is true, though, that we do need to be aware and careful of a small percentage of the population who dislikes being touched in any way. In mos...

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.   Power Persuaders take advantage of association...

The Law of Scarcity plays a large role in the persuasion process.  Opportunities are always more valuable and exciting when they are scarce and less available.  We want to be the ones to own the rare items or to get the last widget on the shelf.  The more the scarcity of an item increases, the more the item increases in value, and the greater the urge to own it. Whenever choice is limited or threa...

For this episodes article, Kurt and Steve discuss the top techniques of hostage negotiators.  Admit it, you're thinking of the movie "The Negotiator" all of the sudden.  Now that we got that out of the way, we can actually talk about negotiation.  While hostage negotiation can seem intimidating and have very high stakes, there are some critical lessons that we can learn that can apply to even the...

The better you become at handling objections, the more persuasive you will be. The key to great persuasion is anticipating all objections, problems, or concerns before you hear them. Great persuaders are always able to accomplish three critical objectives during the objection process: 1. They can distinguish between a real objection and a knee-jerk reaction. Our studies show that most objections s...

We tend to rate our skills that we want, that we need or that we require higher than they actually are.  To improve, grow and become more successful we have to know our weaknesses and be able to identify our blind spots.  If we don’t know what they are than we can never truly improve.   The reason self-perception bias has such a negative impact in our lives is because we are lying to ourselves. Th...

Are you good at flirting?  Admit it, when we asked you rolled your eyes but were A LITTLE bit interested, deep down.  As it turns out, flirting is related to your ability to influence.  A recent article by Psych Central discusses what makes somebody good at flirting.  Check out the article here.  At a minimum you'll be entertained. Thoughts → Emotions → Actions  It all starts with your thoughts. Y...

Being in sales or being a business owner can be emotionally exhausting.  It's important to develop the ability to pick yourself up out of a bad mood.  To start this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that gives you "8 ways to feel better in a hurry."   If there's one topic that people just don't want to hear about anymore, it's listening. Ironic, isn't it?  As we've researched succes...

Can your personality type change?  A recent article from Psychology Today seems to think so.  It's not uncommon for many to become more friendly (or less friendly) the older they get.  Check out the article here for more info. Did you know there are over 60 different personality types?  This has led many to try and simplify the science of personality types down into sixteen, or even as few as four...

Is Google rigging elections?  On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that thinks so.  Merely telling the masses that a candidate has a "high" approval rating tends to gender more support.  So how much influence do the "Googles" of the world actually have?  Check out the article here. Most persuaders would rather deal with an angry prospect than an indifferent one.  Indifferent pr...

Everything that we understand and know about our world is based around words.  Words don't just have meaning, they have feeling.  That's why some words in some languages just don't directly translate.  One particular author has used this to apparently create a childrens book that makes children fall asleep.  When it comes to influencing, there are words you should never use.  Kurt and Steve discus...

As we get closer and closer (even though it's a long way away) to the 2016 presidential election, more and more persuasion blunders will be on display.  A recent article shows that politicians who have deeper voices (yes, even women) are perceived as more credible by voters.  Check out the article here. Due to listener feedback, Kurt and Steve realized that they didn't cover the Law of Expectation...

You can't visit a business web page without hearing "follow us on Twitter!"  We're certainly guilty of this too.  Follow us on Twitter @influencemax!  A recent article from Psych Central shows that when customers complain about a business on Twitter, businesses can actually shoot themselves in the foot by responding too much!  Check out the article here. If you've ever been told your product is to...

When you're an entrepreneur or sales person, being mentally tough is key.  If you want the rewards that come from owning your own business or being on commission, you need to put up with days that can be full of rejection and disappointment.  Check out a recent article posted  by Psych Central that discusses the Six Stages of Mental Strength. In any persuasive encounter, your prospect has certain...

It's been 100 episodes!  After inserting some canned applause and patting themselves on the back, Kurt and Steve discuss why disobedient kids may actually make more money as adults.  They then proceed to insult people who don't listen to their show.  But if they're not listening does it really even matter? Different personalities relate to different persuasion techniques.  One method may resonate...

Whether you think you love it or not, you love to procrastinate.  The brain thrives on it.  The reason is that we tend to treat our "current self" much better than our "future self."  We give our future self way to much credit.  We think "future me will save more money" or "future me will lose more weight."  But when the future gets here what happens?  Kurt and Steve discuss it during this week's...

Do you sort your mail over the trash can?  Do you delete most emails before you even consider them?  That's the reality of advertising today.  Messages to your prospects need to be compelling and grab their attention.  To start this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article about which is more effective: digital or print media? Ever now and then on Maximize Your Influence, we like to return...

After Steve gives the full report on his recent trip to Puerto Rico (including a priceless blunder by the Ritz Carlton resort), Kurt discusses this week's "geeky article moment."  A recent article on Psych Central reveals the advantages of both active and passive communication styles. The rest of the show centers around a recent interview Steve conducted with Brad Harker.  Brad is the author of Th...