The Importance of Persuasion and Influence

The quality of your life is determined by your ability to influence and persuade.

Now think about that sentence for a moment. Where would you be today without your ability to persuade others to your point of view and influence them to take the actions you desire?

Would you have ever gotten a date? Doubtful (unless you were lucky enough to attract the opposite sex like flies to honey). Would you have ever made a single sale in your business? Not unless your customers are in the habit of walking in waving their cash at you. How about your ability to persuade yourself? Isn’t that just as important?

Whether it’s to lose weight, workout, study and apply ourselves in life, all require persuasive thought before any action is taken. The good news is that the principles of persuasion can be learned and once you’ve mastered them they can literally change every aspect of your business and personal life.

Yes, persuasive communication is a learnable skill.

It’s not manipulation, which is what obnoxious children do when they see a colorful box of sugar coated cr*p that mommy doesn’t want to get them at the supermarket. They adopt extreme behavior and bully their parents into complying with their wishes.

No, persuasion is much more subtle and elegant than that. At it’s best it creates an action that the recipient of your communication decides to take on their own, without any knowledge that they’ve been led down the garden path of your desired outcome.

When done right it’s powerful, effective, and invisible. It’s as good or as bad as the person using it. And it’s an increasingly important skill to master in today’s economy where every sale counts.

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