Persuasion & Influencing skills training

Influencing and persuading skills are ways of communicating effectively in order to change someone’s behaviour or thought process, build rapport and motivate. It is a key requirement in organisational communication as often you cannot simply tell someone what to do. They may work in another department, may not be line managed by you or may be resistant to what you are asking.

While it may seem that some people have an innate ability to persuade and influence, they probably spent time trying different techniques. There are plenty of books and TED talks on influencing and persuading. Alternatively you could attend a training course.

Influencing and persuasion skills training takes the form of enhancing your self-awareness and communication skills. You will learn about your assumptions and preferences, the preferences of others, and how to adapt your communication style to get the best out of the interaction with the other person. It will contain elements to help you improve your listening, questioning and rapport building skills.

Cialdini’s six principles of persuasion (sometimes referred to as the science of persuasion) are; reciprocity; scarcity; authority; consistency; liking and consensus.