How to communicate persuasively

Someone is trying to persuade or influence us whenever we are asked to change the way we do something (our behaviour) or change the way we think about something (our beliefs).

As we discovered in Topic 1, there are two critical ways we communicate our message to others: through what we say (our words—verbal) and how we say it (our delivery—non-verbal).

When we want to communicate persuasively, we must focus on being persuasive with our content and delivery.

How have you been persuaded?

Reflect on the last time you were persuaded by another person to do or think something different.

1. What were you persuaded to do?
2. What did the other person do or say to persuade you?
3. What can you remember about how they spoke to you – words, tone, nonverbal body language?

We are going to learn about persuasion techniques that relate to what we say—the words and sentences and the way they’re structured to work to persuade others.

Aristotle and the 3 Elements of Persuasion

Aristotle was a Greek philosopher in Ancient Greece in the 4th Century BC. He wrote about many subjects and had some interesting views. You can learn more about him here: Aristotle - Wikipedia

He had particular views on how we can be persuaded. Aristotle explained that persuasion depended on three modes of appeal:

Ethos

• The credibility of the speaker.
• We are persuaded when we think the speaker is credible—an expert or an authority on the subject.
• So, if we are trying to persuade others, we need to establish our credibility and expertise.

Pathos

• The emotional connection the speaker has with the audience.
• We are persuaded when we feel we have a connection with the speaker.
• If we are trying to persuade others, we need to find ways to connect with them.

Logos

• The facts and figures (logic) supporting what the speaker is saying.
• We are persuaded by facts, figures and data.
• This means as a speaker, we need to make sure we can show we have research that supports what we are claiming.

Watch these videos to learn more about Aristotle and his views on persuasion:

Cialdini’s principles of persuasion (and how people respond)

In more recent times, a thought leader on the art of persuasion is Dr Robert Cialdini. He is well known for his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. In this book, Dr Cialdini identifies six ways, or principles of persuasion, to get people to say ‘yes’ to you:

Reciprocity

People feel obligated to repay a favour. When you give something personalised and unexpected, you create a social obligation that the other person feels they need to give back to settle the debt. For example, when you help a colleague meet a deadline by staying back late, the next time you’re overwhelmed with work, that person is more likely to help you out because you helped them first.

Scenario:

You need to persuade a new client to sign you on to manage their marketing campaign. Using the principle of reciprocity, you could:

• offer them a free strategy session
• suggest you work the first month for free to see if they value what you offer
• promise to feature them in your monthly newsletter.

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt you needed to return a favour?

Scarcity

We are motivated to do something or get something if we feel less of it. The less there is, the more we want it. Think about when you are booking a flight, and the airline tells you there are ‘only five seats left at this price’. Or when products are advertised as a ‘limited edition’ – we tend to want them more. We can use this principle to persuade others by:

• Telling them there is a limited time in which they can act. For example, ‘I need your feedback by COB Friday. After that, I can’t guarantee I can include it.’
• Emphasising what they will miss out on if they don’t do what you’re recommending. For example, ‘If we don’t implement these covid safe procedures and we can’t demonstrate we have them, customers will take their business elsewhere.’

Authority

People who appear authoritative, credible and an expert are more persuasive than someone who seems uncertain and has no proven track record. This is similar to Aristotle’s Ethos appeal.

Authority, or credibility, can be demonstrated by someone introducing us, recommending us, or speaking highly about us, and also by the way we dress, move, and speak. Barack Obama always sounded authoritative—this was due to the way he carried himself, the tone of his voice, and the perception he created by how he stood, spoke and moved that he was indeed the expert.

Commitment and consistency

People like to be consistent with who they think they are. For example, if I consider myself a physically fit person, I’m more likely to do things that contribute to this view, like I’ll go to the gym four times a week or enter a Marathon. When presenting to an audience, you can put this principle to use by:

• emphasising the audience’s self-image and presenting ideas that support this self-image.
• asking your audience what they would be prepared to do to support your idea or suggestion, then ask them to do that.

Liking

People will say yes to people they like because they feel an emotional connection (remember Aristotle’s Pathos appeal?)

But how do you get people to like you? Try these techniques:

• Build rapport by discovering and telling them about the things you have in common.
• Use the same language (don’t use jargon they will not understand).
• Talk about things your audience identifies with.
• Share personal stories.
• Dress similarly – for example, if you are presenting in a workplace, dress in the accepted dress code for that organisation. If you are presenting to a group of tradespeople or farmers, your corporate uniform may seem out of place. This is part of your non-verbal communication.
• Use humour effectively – and especially at your own expense. Audiences love when you are self-deprecating – in other words, you’re willing to laugh at yourself.
• Smile, and be genuinely interested in your audience (also non-verbal communication).

Consensus or social proof

We like to do what we think others like us are doing. If you are trying to persuade a team to adopt safer work practices, telling them about other teams that have already done this would be a powerful persuader.

Watch this video to learn more about Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion.

Persuasion techniques from the world of advertising and marketing

Advertisers and marketers get us to say yes to their products and services every day. Why do you shop at Aldi over Coles? Why do you have a burger from Hungry Jacks instead of McDonald’s? Why do you wear Nike runners and not Asics? Here are some techniques used in advertising and marketing that persuade us:

The compelling why

When we explain to our audience why it’s important they buy our product or service over our competitors, and we frame it to be why it’s specifically important to them, they are more likely to buy from us. Think about Qantas as an airline. They market themselves on their safety record, that they’re Australia’s airline and tell us how important being safe (and Australian) is to us. Of course, it is. And that’s why we would choose them over a competitor.

When you are presenting to an audience, the very first thing you must do is identify the compelling why for them. Why is it important for them to take on your ideas? How will it impact them for the better if they do?

Keep it simple

Apple is great at making things seamless and easy. You only need to include your credit card details once into your Apple ID, and then from then on, you can buy anything at a click of a button. Any upgrade of a device is relatively seamless.

If you are presenting to others about a new process, for example, the easier you make it for them to follow the process, the more likely they will do it. On the other hand, if it’s too complicated, it’s unlikely to be followed.

Low risk/no risk

Have you ever wondered why companies offer a 30-day money-back guarantee? Because they know that you are worried that you might change your mind (but they are certain in most cases you won’t). The money-back guarantee helps minimise your perceived risk.

If you are presenting a new service to a client, giving them time to ‘try before they buy’ might be all they need to say yes to you. Even if you present a new point of view to persuade an audience, saying things like ‘let’s try it, if it doesn’t work out, we can go back to what we had’ will achieve the same result.

Tell stories

Throughout human history, stories have been used to connect generations, teach, entertain, inspire. The world of advertising and marketing uses stories to sell brands, products and services.

Stories are a powerful way to persuade an audience to change their behaviour or beliefs. When someone tells us a story we can relate to, we become emotionally invested (there’s Aristotle’s Pathos again, and Cialdini’s Law of Liking.).

The power of stories

Here is a powerful example of how stories work in marketing. Watch this video and answer the questions that follow:

Dove Real Beauty Sketches | You're more beautiful than you think (3mins)

What was the story about?

What was the emotional connection?

What was the message?

Why does it work?

Our brains have evolved to use stories to process and store information and make meaning from what we hear. Stories have the power to connect us, grab attention, stir emotion, build anticipation, explain complex concepts and change beliefs.

There are several types of stories we can use when we are presenting to others:

• Personal stories about our experiences
• Other people’s stories that we’ve heard or read about. For example, things that have happened to other colleagues, family or friends, things that have happened in the world
• A fictional story created to illustrate ideas.

The most powerful stories are those that are personal and real and ones the audience can relate to.

Starting your presentation with an attention-grabbing story is powerful. However, stories can appear throughout your presentation, or there may be only one story tying your whole presentation together.

TED.com has an excellent collection of inspiring, educating and persuasive talks, and we’ve already looked at some talks from this website earlier in this unit. If you haven’t already discovered TED, spend some time looking through the talks available.

Investigating storytelling in TED talks

The most interesting TED talks are great stories. Read this article about storytelling techniques used by TED presenters: 7 Storytelling Techniques Used by the Most Inspiring TED Presenters (visme.co)

The techniques highlighted are:

1. Immerse your audience in a story
2. Tell a personal story
3. Create suspense
4. Bring characters to life
5. Show. Don't tell.
6. Build up to a STAR moment
7. End with a positive takeaway.

The format of a great story

1. What’s your message? Before you start writing or constructing your story, get clear about what your message is. For example, if you are giving a presentation about why we should stop using products with palm oil in them, your message might be ‘Stop using palm oil; it destroys our forests and kills the orangutans’.
2. Open with an attention grabber – this can often be an intriguing or shocking fact. To begin a story about why we should stop using palm oil, you might open with: Did you know that around 300 football fields of forest are cleared every hour to make way for palm oil production? Those forests are home to animal populations, including the almost extinct Sumatran Orangutan.
3. Tell the story vividly using descriptive language, drawing on all of our five senses where you can.
4. Help the audience see their part in the story – how they contribute to the problem, how they can be part of the solution, or why they should even care.
5. Give them some simple, actionable things they can do (remember, keep it simple).

Imagine you are asked to give a presentation on why we need to encourage teenagers to finish Year 12.

1. Think about a story from your own experience you can tell.
2. Briefly plan what you might say.
3. What message do you want your audience to hear?
4. Build the story with a beginning, middle and end.
5. How can you make it relatable to your audience?

Remember, we can persuade others by what we say and how we say it, and that over 90% of the message people receive come from our non-verbal communication elements. Let’s talk about persuading non-verbally. Here are some ways to deliver your message persuasively using non-verbal communication:

• Eye contact: look directly at your audience as you speak to them. Don’t look at a spot on the back wall.
  • Read this article on the importance of eye contact: 10 Reasons Eye Contact Is Everything in Public Speaking | Inc.com
• Gestures: your hands can be used to emphasise key ideas, but they can also be distracting. Read this article on what to do with your hands when you’re speaking What to do with your hands when speaking in public - The Washington Post
• Facial expressions: these include smiling, frowning, grimacing (often a sign of nerves). Remember, when we’re speaking, our audience wants to know we have credibility and expertise. We can convey this through our facial expressions by simply smiling and looking relaxed. Watch this video about how to read facial expressions: Former FBI Agent Explains How to Read Facial Expressions | WIRED - YouTube
• Your posture and movement: how you stand and move, speaks volumes to the audience. If you stand behind a lectern, gripping the sides so tightly your knuckles are turning white – well, your audience will immediately know how nervous you are. And that takes away from your credibility and perception of expertise. If, on the other hand, you stand with your back straight, shoulders back, and walk purposefully across the stage, the audience sees a confident expert delivering their message.
• Your voice : a research study conducted by Yale University in 2017 found that our voice is the primary way we reveal how we are feeling (link to the study here: Voice-Only Communication Enhances Empathic Accuracy (apa.org), so using voice techniques that convey confidence and authority are fundamental to being persuasive.
• Tone: do you sound nervous or in control and confident? Do you speak in a monotone, or do you vary your tone by modulating your voice?
• Volume: do you speak too loudly (this sounds aggressive) or too softly (this makes you appear unsure and nervous)? Make sure you vary the volume at which you speak throughout a presentation and use different volumes to emphasise central ideas or keep audiences anticipating what you will say next.
• Pace: How fast or slow you speak matters. Don’t speak so fast that your audience struggles to keep up with you (we tend to speak more quickly when nervous). Speak slowly for emphasis. Pause to let the idea you’ve just shared sink in.
• Your appearance: you only get one chance to make a great first impression, so your physical appearance matters because it’s the first thing people see. Make sure you dress appropriately for the audience and the situation. For work presentations, your organisation’s dress code is appropriate. This means if you work for an organisation where suits are typical, then wear a suit for your presentation. If your organisation is more casual, then wearing a suit would seem out of place.

Here is a TED talk that effectively summarises things we need to think about when we want to communicate persuasively.

In this topic, we learned about ways we can persuade others. Specifically, we investigated persuasion techniques from Aristotle, Dr Robert Cialdini, the world of advertising and marketing and storytelling as a persuasive technique. We also discovered how we could persuade others by the way we deliver a presentation – our non-verbal communication.

Here are some well-known people who are regarded as great persuaders. That is, they have been successful at getting others to do or think something different. Watch each video and use the checklist to make notes about the techniques you saw the speakers use to make their message persuasive.

Dylan Alcott

Dylan Alcott is an Australian tennis player who was the first to win the ‘golden slam’. He has challenged us all to think differently about disability. He does this by sharing his story about his struggles growing up and how he has achieved success. He has an easy-going manner and speaks with humility, passion and humour. When he speaks, you can feel the connection he has with his audience

Barrack Obama

The 44th president of the United States and first African American President, Barack Obama, influenced many to see people of colour differently. During his two presidential terms, he achieved many things. For example, he persuaded congress to introduce the Affordable Care Act and legalise same-sex marriage in the US. When Obama speaks, he uses excellent persuasive techniques.

Malala Yousafzai

Malala is well known as an activist for female education and is the world’s youngest Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. You can read more about her here: Malala’s Story | Malala Fund. Through her speeches and work, Malala has highlighted the plight of girls in many countries to access education safely. She has influenced many changes in this space.

Now complete the questions in the checklist provided below for each of the speakers:
Who was speaking?
What was their topic and message?
Persuasion technique	Was it used?	How did the speaker do this?
Ethos
Pathos
Logos
Reciprocity
Scarcity
Authority
Commitment and consistency
Liking
Consensus or social proof
The compelling why
Keep it simple
Low risk/no risk
Storytelling
Non-verbal communication:
Eye contact
Gestures
Facial expressions
Posture and movement
Voice
Physical appearance