Getting under Someone Else’s Skin

(click below to view the video or read on if you’d prefer!)

How did you find using "SWAY"^©? For those readers who may have missed the article on this model of persuasion, a very brief recap:

1. ‘S’ is for ‘Significance‘ where you investigate the interest and need of your audience – whether it’s one individual or several people – around the matter you want to influence them over. The challenge there is to ask the right questions to open them up.
2. ‘W’ is for ‘Way of being‘ where you decode your audience’s way of functioning, how they behave, what kind of personality they are. Here it’s about really listening to the words people use and not assuming that we are all the same even if we use the same words.
3. ‘A’ is for ‘Adapt‘ because, once you know what your target audience is interested in and how they function, you need to adapt your communication to match their need and style. The challenge in this stage is to get your mind to shift enough that you can effectively do that.
4. Finally, ‘Y’ is for ‘get readY‘ (so you see how creative I can be!). This final stage covers a number of activities to finely hone your message once you know how to pitch it. The challenge here is to cover all bases in order to come out with a very sleek communication.

For more on "SWAY"^©, go to the dedicated video and article by clicking here.

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Being Able to Persuade Others is Key to Your Success at Work

(click below to view the video or read on if you’d prefer!)

Hello and welcome to the first of three posts on the topic of how to influence people. In this article, I will examine what happens when we try to influence people without the right tools. I will also give you my recipe for successful persuasion. In next month’s post, I will show you the core elements of a persuasion strategy. Those of you familiar with my work know that I like to provide models for people to use so this is another one.

Finally, in a third article, I will pick two themes from that model and show you why they’re important and the difference between getting it right and… well, botching it, frankly. So by the time we’re done with this influencing series, you will understand the fundamental principles of good influencing, know the core elements of a persuasion strategy and will have been given two techniques to immediately test out in the real world.

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