How to be More Persuasive

Written By Colēgia

Communication is an important part of life since it helps us more accurately express ourselves around others. One element of this is being persuasive. This is extremely useful because it allows us to help get our point of view across and can give others a different perspective. Today we want to talk about how we can be more persuasive.

Listen Before Speaking

In order to truly be persuasive we need to put a good amount of effort into listening before speaking. Too often do we try to share our own point of view before truly seeing what someone has to say. This is crucial since everyone wants to feel heard and simply listening can give them the opportunity for that. We can opt to slow down our thoughts and try to understand what the message is. Being aware of nonverbal cues can give us context as to whether someone is being genuine or if they're nervous about talking. We can take things a step further and let them know we're listening by asking them questions as well. This shows engagement along with a sincere interest in the topic. Listening before speaking also helps us have all the information we need when it's eventually our turn to share.

“In order to truly be persuasive we need to put a good amount of effort into listening before speaking.”

See Their Side

The most persuasive people are oftentimes the ones with the greatest amount of empathy. Seeing how life looks through the lens of someone else is what empathy is. This can be hard to do at times since we may not always be in the best state of mind. Understanding what makes people think and say the things they do takes a concentrated effort. One good approach when we're being persuasive is to enter into things with the intent to understand. This is helpful because it teaches us that persuasion is more than simply being right. It helps build connections between each other and gives us the ability to see that maybe our own point of view isn't always foolproof.

“The most persuasive people are oftentimes the ones with the greatest amount of empathy.”

Tailor Your Message to Your Audience

Being authentic is important when it comes to persuasion. It's also important to keep in mind your target audience. Tailoring your message with this along with still being yourself is how to truly move people. A great example of this is understanding who you're speaking to for a class presentation. Depending on the subject we may need to make our speech more easily understandable for those who don't know about it. We can inject our own sense of humor into this while still making it entertaining. People are more receptive when they're able to relate to the presenter and throwing in an anecdote that ties into your persuasive argument can help a lot. Truly persuasive people want to work together with those they're talking to. As people, we ultimately want to understand and help one another and it's important to let others know that we're coming from a place of sincerity.

Colēgia

Colēgia

Previous

Using Creativity to Help Anxiety
Next

3 Healthy Mindsets to Have