The Art of Persuasion: How to Influence Others and Convince Them of Anything

 In this article, I will review 9 powerful tricks that will help you convince others of anything you want. If you want to convince someone of a different point of view, or want to make them buy something, for example, you will love this article.

The art of persuasion is one of the most important soft skills that a person must develop in his character, as it will help him a lot in all aspects of his life… Part of the superiority and wealth of most people on this planet is due to their mastery of the art of persuasion.

Of course, the art of persuasion is one of the most important skills associated with marketing, and therefore the professional marketer must strive to possess the skill of persuasion, and work to develop it constantly.

What is persuasion? How will it benefit you in your life?

 Persuasion is the art and science of influencing others, whether by changing their thoughts and beliefs or by getting them to do specific actions, a human trait that may be present in some people while others strive to develop this skill.

The art of persuasion is a source of livelihood and capital for many people, from street vendors, to salesmen, marketers, and company directors, to the most powerful politicians and the richest men in the world.

I direct this article to people who want to improve their lives and strive to achieve success in all aspects of life.

You can use the art of persuasion to:

1. Your career:

 By controlling your co-workers, improving your image with managers and superiors in your company, and making them trust you and promote you.

If you work in the field of sales, marketing, or any field that requires dealing and negotiating with others, this article will be a great career move for you.

2. Your emotional life:

 By improving your relationships with your partner or partner, especially when it comes to making joint decisions and managing everyday life.

3. Your social life:

 by facilitating your life and your dealings with the people around you...whether these people are your friends, family, or even acquaintances.

Between the art of persuasion and bad manipulation

The art of persuasion, which we will review its pillars and tricks in the following paragraphs and lines, is a mixture of the results that psychologists and marketing scholars have come up with through decades of experience, learning and research, but before I start listing the secrets of the art of persuasion, I must draw your attention to the great difference between persuasion and manipulation.

In theory, persuasion and manipulation are the same thing, you change someone's point of view or push them to do a specific thing, but morally manipulation is very bad because you trick them into getting a win-win deal for you while persuasion is a Win-Win Situation.

How to be persuasive?

I will now show you a summary of my knowledge that I have acquired over the years through both reading and experience, and my only advice to you before you begins is to adapt these facts and experiences in the way that they will benefit you and not in the way that they have benefited me, and this is to get the most benefit possible from them.

Persuasion does not have fixed steps that if you apply it you will get what you want as in the experiments of chemistry and physics, but rather explanations that will guide you according to the situation and circumstances in which you are and the situation of the person or other persons in it.

For convenience, I will review the secrets of the art of persuasion through a number of points, namely:

1. Use the Six Principles of Persuasion

Robert Cialdini is one of the most important psychologists who dealt with the subject of the art of persuasion and how to influence people, and many around the world believe that he is the most experienced in this field, and Cialdini has many published books that are very popular and popular among readers around the world, but his most famous book is “Influence The Psychology of Persuasion.

In his famous book, he laid out six effective principles on which the persuasion process is based, and they are:

1. Reciprocity

 An innate quality in us humans, we feel obligated to treat others the same way they treat us, and this quality is used by sellers and brokers in order to influence their customers.

For example, if the waiter in the restaurant where you eat gives you a piece of candy or gum, you will automatically increase the tip that you would give him, and if the seller offers you a cup of tea or coffee, you will feel obligated to buy from him at the price that he will convince you with easily and without arguing.

As well as in social relations, you can do this by doing the favor in your family, acquaintances, co-workers or managers, and after this it will be easy for you to convince them thanks to the effect of this kindness that you have done for them, and that is why dear reader is called the art of persuasion.

2. Scarcity

Scarcity is always a key player in the persuasion process, so if you're trying to sell something to someone, and you tell them that this price and offer is only available for 24 hours, or that this is the last piece of the product, by and large they will buy and be satisfied with the price you set or process The purchase itself.

We humans are mentally programmed to fear FOMO, so we rush to buy all the things that are on sale, offers or things that are about to run out, so many sellers and brands take advantage of this a lot to convince you what they want.

By using the Scarcity card, you can convince others of certain deals, or even direct and influence them to take a specific action.

3. Authority

 It is very important in the persuasion process. If the doctor you are talking to has 20 years of experience in his field, you will be convinced of his words much more than if he was a newly graduated doctor, and this is because we humans value experts and their opinions.

This is precisely what many people are trying to do these days on social media pages to appear as experts through the content they provide, consulting and services, and this is because the reputation of being an expert in your field will make you convince your clients or those you talk to in your specialty very easily.

It is highly recommended that you be praised as an expert by a third party, especially if that third party is trusted by the client or the person you are trying to persuade.

4.Consistency 

There is a common saying that “repeating words on the ear is stronger than magic” or “constant dropping wears away rock” and this proverb is the epitome of Sialdini’s concept of Consistency.

And this is what major brands apply in order to repeat their marketing message over and over again... whether on TV ads or through billboards everywhere, in order to confirm their marketing message and convince the customer to buy their products.

This principle is very important, especially if the person or customer does not have a prior opinion, for example, if you are trying to persuade your customer to buy a specific device, and he has heard the name of this device in an advertisement on TV or on social media or other sites, he is likely to buy this product And to be easily convinced.

As well as in personal and social relationships, repetition can help you convince the other person or party to do the thing you want, and that's why they call it magic or the art of persuasion.

5. Consensus

People prefer to imitate others, so we find that novels are popular simply because they are best sellers or people prefer crowded shops, people feel safe and comfortable when their choices are similar to those around them.

So if you are providing services and want to impress the customer with your price or service, you simply have to let the customer know that you have too many clients or that you have a very busy schedule, or if you are working as a Freelancer, you should share the customer reviews of you and your work.

And people in general prefer to accept the offer or to be easily persuaded as long as others also accept, even if the offer is some kind of obvious deception or manipulation, because then they are greatly assured that at least they will not be the only ones who have been deceived.

6. Liability

People tend to be easily persuaded if they like the person doing it, and this is a very big secret of influencing others. Politicians or even Influencers mainly use this principle to impose their authority and convince others of their opinions or their products.

You can also use this principle in order to persuade and influence a person, there are simple ways to do this, including treating them well, caring for them, complimenting them and their clothes, and these simple actions and the like will have a very positive effect on persuading others.

2. Know who you are trying to convince well

It is necessary to understand the person in front of you well before trying to convince him of anything, and this is so that you can recognize his entrance that will make him believe in your words easily, so watch and listen and do not make assumptions.

Very simple things will make you get to know the person you are trying to convince, starting with his clothes, his choice of words and accent, and even his car brand and his social media accounts, so try to do a little research if possible before you start to convince him.

This is why it's easy to convince the people you've spent a lot of time with, whether your family members, friends or co-workers, because you know them well and know the entrances that will make them believe your words and do what you tell them.

3. Make them give you commitment

Commitment is a very important factor in persuasion. A good salesman always makes sure that the person trying to convince him of his product makes any gesture of commitment, even if it is something as simple as giving him the phone number, a quick handshake, or even a word of mouth.

If the person feels obligated to you, he will do and be convinced of what you often say to him, whether it is verbally such as a promise to you, or non-verbal such as a handshake or the like, so never miss this opportunity from your hand, because it may contribute to the prosperity of your business greatly.

This obligation also applies in social relations. If you say to anyone: “I know you are someone I can count on, I have the problem…. I would like you to do... me.” The person will usually feel obligated to you because of your words and will be persuaded to do what you want them to do.

Read also: How to Become a Professional Online Marketer (Your Comprehensive Guide 2022)

4. Use magic words

Yes, there are magic words that make you persuasive, and they are polite or polite words, such as: please, thank you, please,…. And others, you can think of it as Abracadabra of the magic and art of persuasion.

These words have a very significant and noticeable effect in making other people do what you say and believe in what you want to convince them, certainly not absolutely, but it has a great influence on persuading them because they feel that you are a polite and respectful person and you will not deceive them, and that they are bound to you because of your great politeness.

Also, these words are in one way or another a kind and gentle kind of command, which makes the other person feel that he is not being commanded, but rather agrees to do what you say to him willingly, and these words are magical, especially in social relations.

5. Make them think they are in control

This point is closely related to the previous one, as many psychologists assert that the illusion of choice has a magical effect on persuasion, such as the previous example of polite words that make the other person feel as if they have a degree of control over whether or not to accept the task.

Sales men use this a lot. For example, if you want to buy a car, and the man at the car show says to you: “Do you want a brand 1 or a brand 2 car?” And when you chose one of these two brands, he convinced you to choose a car brand from among dozens of brands while you thought you were the decision maker.

Of course, it's not that simple, and this is just a sneaky summary, but you get the idea, if you make the other party feel that he has control while he is choosing from options that you have previously made then you have somehow convinced him of what you want.

In general, many restaurants and services do this trick in order to convince their customers.

6. Pay attention to the factors of time and timing

 Time is a powerful technique when it comes to persuasion. The more time you spend with the other party, the more you will be able to persuade them. This is due to several reasons, including:

That the other is in the process of trusting you.

You have known the other and knew how to affect him.

Prolonged exposure to what you're trying to convince him of will sooner or later make him sway.

This makes it easier to convince people we've spent a lot of time with than people we don't know, so you should try to spend time with the person even before you convince them of anything.

As for timing, it is another important factor, so you have to choose the right timing in which the atmosphere is ready and the other person is ready to be convinced of your idea, and despite the rationale of this matter, there is a lot of research that psychologists are doing in this regard.

Research has revealed that our response to stimuli and messages varies greatly with different moods and psychological states. For example, people tend to be convinced and accept expensive deals without trying to reduce them while they are sad.

7. Always use stories

 Story telling has a great impact on the human mind. We love stories and are affected by them a lot. The closer the stories are to our reality and what we live with, the more we are affected by them. Therefore, the person who uses this mighty weapon becomes able to convince others a lot.

This weapon is very useful in influencing ideas and beliefs and pushing people to specific actions, and therefore it is widely used by politicians and rulers, as well as large companies and institutions in order to enhance their image in the minds of their customers.

So never shy away from using it as much as possible, but be very careful because the smallest mistake will lead to violent backfire that you will not like to deal with, and thus the art of stories has a great impact on the art of persuasion.

8. Be confident in yourself

Confidence is an important factor for persuasion. If your client feels hesitant or afraid, he will reject what you are trying to convince him of immediately, so you have to practice the skill of self-confidence, and do not worry, everyone is nervous when making a deal or trying to persuade someone else, but the skill To hide this fear within you.

There are many techniques that will help you to be confident in yourself, the most important of which are:

1. Think of All Possible Scenarios and Responses: Rehearsing, anticipating and preparing responses for all customer reactions will make you confident and will prevent surprises that may be accompanied by a shake in self-confidence.

2. Doing a lot of imaginary conversations: a lot of lawyers and salesmen do this, which is to have imaginary dialogues with different characters inside their brains, which makes them look like they have done this a lot of times, and it will help them to come up with new ideas to convince others.

3. Worst-case scenario: This technique I use often when I'm anxious or hesitant, is to think about the worst that could happen and accept it. For example, if you're afraid of a client you're trying to persuade, tell yourself what's the worst that could happen? To lose the client? It doesn't matter, there will be many more, and so on.

9. Appearances and first impressions are very important

Appearances and first impressions are very important and essential when trying to impress or influence other people. Appearance is the first thing the other person notices about you, and it may build traits and assumptions for your personality through it, so make sure that you are in the appearance that you want the other person to judge you by.

This is why corporate salespeople usually wear fancy clothes, in order to instill in others a sense of being professional and trustworthy to deal with, which will give them extra points in trying to persuade other parties.

Also, the first impression is important, because it usually sticks with the person so try to be as nice as possible, and make the other person feel that you are trustworthy, which will make them feel that you are trustworthy, and therefore they will be more easily satisfied with what you offer them.