The Power of Persuasive Speech
By Eric Cooper
Some years ago I started my career in marketing and sales. It wasn't an easy jump since I was coming from the airline industry where I spent most of my time in computer automation, scheduling and training. I had to make the shift because the income potential was huge. I was only missing one thing the power of persuasion.
Persuasive speaking is the practice of communicating with an audience in order to accomplish specific outcomes and goals. Now desired outcomes will vary from person to person. Sometimes a person may want to change another person's existing beliefs about a subject. Other times, a person may want his or her audience to take an action such as buying a product.
Persuasion is the conscious use of human communication to introduce change. Your very words can be used to introduce change so that you will accomplish specific outcomes. It is within this context that we begin our own exploration of persuasive speech.
Persuasion is a skill, plain and simple and this skill should never be exploited. Persuasion is the ability to earn people's trust and confidence effectively and quickly. Like any skill when you are just learning, you have to take into account that persuasiveness is a state that is achieved by mastering the skill of persuasive speaking itself. There are no shortcuts in the world of persuasion it takes time and it takes practice.
This skill is often used in important situations where a person really has to win over another person or a group of people to achieve a particular goal or create a desired outcome. Some people believe that persuasion per se is a bad thing, because it €bends people to your will.' Some people would even say that persuasion is €evil' or €manipulating' or €it's like hypnotism.' I strongly disagree, nothing could be further from the truth.
Persuasion is not evil €" but some uses can be unethical. For example, if you try to persuade someone to buy something that you know they don't need, want, can afford, you get my drift. If someone is going to be dishonest then that is obviously an unethical application of persuasion.
But if you use your persuasiveness to win over a new client for your start-up company, what's so €evil' about that? We must remember that human communication itself, at its very core, aims to express and persuade.
All human communication endeavors to convince and persuade. When you chat with a colleague about the most mundane things, what is at the back of your mind? You want your colleague to believe what you're saying. To accomplish this, you need at least some degree of persuasiveness. Is this a bad thing in itself?
Of course not!
No matter what your specific goals are, persuasive speaking can help you reach them. At the core of persuasion is change. Without change, there is no persuasion. And without change, influence is impossible to achieve.
When we persuade someone, we are introducing a specific change into the equation. But a person effectively using persuasive speech is able to reduce or eliminate the natural resistance that people have to change.
If someone handed you a recipe for lemon meringue pie €¦ what would you say? €I can't cook.€€ €It'll come out wrong.€ €€I never made lemon meringue pie before.€ €Nobody will want to eat something I make.€ Stop there! It just so happens that lemon meringue pie is my favorite! You might call me a lemon meringue pie connoisseur. Because it has been my favorite for almost 50 years and if I hand you a recipe you can rest assure that it will be a recipe for success and you will follow it letter by letter, inch by inch €¦ you will be cooking in a whole new way! Not only that €" people will want to know your secrets!
Remember, humans were designed to resist or fight change because change threatens the existing balance of their lives. Our ancient ancestors learned early on that change can bring many problems and that it should be resisted because it's better to adapt to current conditions instead of having to deal with new variables and conditions.
The Art Of Persuasion
The art of persuasion can be learned by anyone, and this is why it's the perfect time for you to learn persuasive speech yourself. Persuasive speech, or simply persuasion, is a type of communication, which aims to introduce change at a personal or group level. Change is good.
Even the experts in the art of persuasion will tell you there are no actual laws of persuasion €" just rules and strategies.
The more you know about persuasion (the science behind the art, real-world applications theories, etc.), the better off you will be. So my advice to you is this: forget about the €quick fixes.' Find the best books on persuasion (like mine: The Power Of Persuasive Speech) and keep reading.
That way, you'll be able to apply a variety of persuasive methods depending on your needs. No single approach will work each and every time. If anyone tells you that there is a €little known secret to persuasion that will work in every situation,' that person is just pitching a product, not telling the truth.
Some years ago I started my career in marketing and sales. It wasn't an easy jump since I was coming from the airline industry where I spent most of my time in computer automation, scheduling and training. I had to make the shift because the income potential was huge. I was only missing one thing the power of persuasion.
Persuasive speaking is the practice of communicating with an audience in order to accomplish specific outcomes and goals. Now desired outcomes will vary from person to person. Sometimes a person may want to change another person's existing beliefs about a subject. Other times, a person may want his or her audience to take an action such as buying a product.
Persuasion is the conscious use of human communication to introduce change. Your very words can be used to introduce change so that you will accomplish specific outcomes. It is within this context that we begin our own exploration of persuasive speech.
Persuasion is a skill, plain and simple and this skill should never be exploited. Persuasion is the ability to earn people's trust and confidence effectively and quickly. Like any skill when you are just learning, you have to take into account that persuasiveness is a state that is achieved by mastering the skill of persuasive speaking itself. There are no shortcuts in the world of persuasion it takes time and it takes practice.
This skill is often used in important situations where a person really has to win over another person or a group of people to achieve a particular goal or create a desired outcome. Some people believe that persuasion per se is a bad thing, because it €bends people to your will.' Some people would even say that persuasion is €evil' or €manipulating' or €it's like hypnotism.' I strongly disagree, nothing could be further from the truth.
Persuasion is not evil €" but some uses can be unethical. For example, if you try to persuade someone to buy something that you know they don't need, want, can afford, you get my drift. If someone is going to be dishonest then that is obviously an unethical application of persuasion.
But if you use your persuasiveness to win over a new client for your start-up company, what's so €evil' about that? We must remember that human communication itself, at its very core, aims to express and persuade.
All human communication endeavors to convince and persuade. When you chat with a colleague about the most mundane things, what is at the back of your mind? You want your colleague to believe what you're saying. To accomplish this, you need at least some degree of persuasiveness. Is this a bad thing in itself?
Of course not!
No matter what your specific goals are, persuasive speaking can help you reach them. At the core of persuasion is change. Without change, there is no persuasion. And without change, influence is impossible to achieve.
When we persuade someone, we are introducing a specific change into the equation. But a person effectively using persuasive speech is able to reduce or eliminate the natural resistance that people have to change.
If someone handed you a recipe for lemon meringue pie €¦ what would you say? €I can't cook.€€ €It'll come out wrong.€ €€I never made lemon meringue pie before.€ €Nobody will want to eat something I make.€ Stop there! It just so happens that lemon meringue pie is my favorite! You might call me a lemon meringue pie connoisseur. Because it has been my favorite for almost 50 years and if I hand you a recipe you can rest assure that it will be a recipe for success and you will follow it letter by letter, inch by inch €¦ you will be cooking in a whole new way! Not only that €" people will want to know your secrets!
Remember, humans were designed to resist or fight change because change threatens the existing balance of their lives. Our ancient ancestors learned early on that change can bring many problems and that it should be resisted because it's better to adapt to current conditions instead of having to deal with new variables and conditions.
The Art Of Persuasion
The art of persuasion can be learned by anyone, and this is why it's the perfect time for you to learn persuasive speech yourself. Persuasive speech, or simply persuasion, is a type of communication, which aims to introduce change at a personal or group level. Change is good.
Even the experts in the art of persuasion will tell you there are no actual laws of persuasion €" just rules and strategies.
The more you know about persuasion (the science behind the art, real-world applications theories, etc.), the better off you will be. So my advice to you is this: forget about the €quick fixes.' Find the best books on persuasion (like mine: The Power Of Persuasive Speech) and keep reading.
That way, you'll be able to apply a variety of persuasive methods depending on your needs. No single approach will work each and every time. If anyone tells you that there is a €little known secret to persuasion that will work in every situation,' that person is just pitching a product, not telling the truth.
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