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How to Persuade Someone of Something
Most of us find ourselves having to persuade someone else of something — whether it’s a proposal for a new project to a boss, a VC pitch, or a proposal of marriage — when the stakes are high and we care a great deal about succeeding. How can you increase your chances of success?
1.First, think about your audience. Start any serious effort of persuasion by thinking hard not about how you feel but how your audience feels. If you don’t succeed in getting in the minds of your audience you won’t succeed in changing those minds. What’s on their mental agenda? What are they afraid of? What do they want?
2.Second, think about the best way to persuade that audience. What’s the best way to get your message across to this particular audience? Is it a casual conversation? A formal document? A presentation? A presentation with Power Point slides? A blog, a book, a series of articles? A PR campaign? A romantic dinner with roses, champagne, and a ring? Every audience and every act of persuasion has an optimal moment and medium, and too many people make the mistake of assuming that, say, a Power Point slide deck is automatically the best medium for all messages. Not so.
3.Third, think about how your persuasive act solves a problem that the audience has. Few people are interested in hearing new ideas just for the sake of newness. We are all…
