Page 24 - Effective communication Skills by Dale King

an opposing viewpoint, your argument becomes more persuasive than

sticking to the argument. Why is this? There aren’t too many perfect ideas
out there. And everybody knows that. They know that there are plenty of
other perspectives and possible outcomes.

Combat this head on. Talk about the other things that they likely already have
going through their minds. Discuss some of the downsides and show them
how you can overcome these issues. The listener is going to be more likely to
be persuaded when they already know that you understand the downsides.

7. Bring out the positive conclusions.

Alright, I’m going to give you a few statements and you are going to say
which is more persuasive.

“You will end up being more accurate,” or

“You won’t make as many mistakes.”

How about these two?

“You are going to have loads more energy,” or

“You won’t feel as tired.”

While it may be tempting to use scare tactics, using positive outcome
statements will make your argument more persuasive. If you want to create
some sort of change, then you need to focus on the positives of the change.
Bring your audience into a better place instead of telling them the things they
should avoid.

8. Pick the right format.

Let’s say that you are a man trying to convince another man something, and
you don’t know him. What should be your first step? If you get any say so,
don’t talk to them in person. Send them an email.

A general rule is men often feel competitive in person and will change a
simple conversation into a contest that they think they need to win.

For women, the opposite is true. Women do better with in-person
conversations.