Last Updated on March 20, 2023 by Mike Robinson
In this article, you will learn how to convince someone, be it woman, man, a client, your parents, children and in general anyone. Developing this skill will help you both in your professional and personal lives, as it will allow you to influence others.
Well, so how to convince someone? To convince a person of what you believe is to make him accept a new belief or renew his knowledge about preexisting ideas. Not everyone will accept your ideas from the first try, but there are ways to increase your chances of convincing others of what you believe or want.
How to convince someone
If the person you are trying to convince has prior knowledge or experience of what you are dealing with, your goal will be to change your beliefs and “suggest” that there are others. After that, you can introduce yours.
If the person does not have previous beliefs in your proposal, you can start by talking about them.
1-Look for a need to solve
Think of the different needs to be covered from the Maslow Pyramid:
Surely you can find something to solve in the other person, some need that the other person is looking for cover: from being hungry (physiological need), to wanting to learn social skills (need for social adaptation) or traveling and to know the world self Realisation).
2-Offer rewards
If you know what need is the one that has less covering the person to convince, offers a reward. This is not a bad thing, it is a simple exchange.
The reward can be from economic to do a job, to teaching to do something, etc. Look for something that does not cost you too much. For example, if you are an electrician, you can give in return the arrangement of some appliance.
3-Creates urgency and scarcity
Conveying a sense of urgency is communicating to the other person that your product or proposal will not always be available.
On the other hand, transmitting scarcity is communicating that your product or your person is limited and that at any moment you can go or spend.
4-Choosing the Right Time
If you want to convince someone of something, choosing the right time will be important to get the best result. If you talk to people when they are more relaxed, open and in a good mood, you will be more likely to give in your requests or proposals.
In addition, people are more influential if they feel in debt for something. If someone thanks you for something, it’s the perfect time to ask you a favor. There is nothing wrong with asking for favors, as long as you do not lack respect for the other person.
5-Get to know people and find out what they want
If you build rapport and you like your client, friend or relative, it will be much easier to convince you what you want. If you do not know the person well, it is necessary to do it and find points in common among you, in addition to communicating them. People often feel safer and more comfortable with people who look like them.
Another point to remember is not to talk too much about our life and talk much more than what the other person likes. Ask questions to find out what you like and passionate about, then ask questions about what you like and finally convey that something also interests you.
6-Affirm your intentions
To make your opinions clear and what you want, use affirmative phrases. If you do not like your partner to go out at night, say: “I would like you to go out with me at night.” If you want your child to study, say “this afternoon you have to study and finish your homework” instead of “you are not studying anything”.
Talking affirmatively will help you make your intentions clear and avoid misunderstandings.
7-Provide evidence
If, for example, you have to convince a partner to join you in a business, give evidence that it will work.
Read about Assertive Communication.
Provide clear evidence to support your proposals, arguments, and ideas. The more evidence you can give to support and strengthen your argument, the less skeptical the other person will feel and the easier it will be to convince you.
8-If persistent
It is not a question of being heavy, if not of trying to get the proposal to remain in the mind of the other person and do not forget.
When you see it, you can talk a little about what you want to convince and then talk about something else, continuing to talk about the subject only if the interlocutor is interested.
9-Believe in your idea
If you do not believe in your idea, no one will. This is logical because you will not demonstrate motivation, persistence, and enthusiasm when communicating it. When someone is convinced of an idea, it transmits energy and manages to have others create it as well.
This, for example, applies to entrepreneurs who believe that their idea is valuable; they often pass it on to other people, are persistent and often build a business. The more convinced you are of your ideas or what you want to propose, the more confident and convincing you will be for others.
10-Non-verbal language
Nonverbal language deserves a wide section. Did you know that 93% of effectiveness in human communication is determined by non-verbal language?
The influence and impact of our communication are determined by:
55% non-verbal language
38% of paralinguistic elements.
7% verbal content
Being a leader of an organization or a television presenter requires us to communicate effectively with others. How do we get it? How can we influence others using our non-verbal language?
if you pay attention to the charismatic leaders, you will observe that they very often show “power” positions; it is an open posture that conveys confidence in oneself.
Therefore, on the next occasion, when you try to convince others: look with your head straight (not down), shoulders back and back straight.
–Movement of hands:
When communicating with others, move your hands to accompany the verbal message. There is research confirming that we see more competent and confident people who communicate with gestures, compared to others who leave their hands still or in their pockets.
Hands gesture:
Hand gestures help the audience to visualize the message and to better remember and understand the message.
Imitate postures and actions of the person with whom you speak. This will build a rapport between the two while facilitating communication.
Speech speed:
Must be determined by the situation. Speaking slowly seems like the communicator is calmer, while quick talking seems to be reactive to external circumstances. If you call an ambulance because you’ve witnessed an accident, it would not be smart to talk fast, and on the contrary. Can you imagine getting married talking fast?
– Changing voice tone and pauses:
Two tricks to keep the attention of the audience (whether one person or many) is to pause between phrases and make changes to your voice tones. Something like if I were the narrator of a story or story.
Talking in a high tone will make you appear more anxious and nervous while speaking in a medium tone will make you appear more confident and strong.
– Smile and use the sense of humor: when smiling you will probably make the other person respond with a smile and lower their defenses. The same using the sense of humor.
– Eye contact:
looking into the eyes of the person you want to convince can also help increase your level of influence. Are not leaders who speak to the public more convincing than those who read the speech?
