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The Power Of Persuasion

by Emmanuel Segui

Napoleon Hill said, "Persuasion is the magic ingredient that will help you to forge ahead in your profession or business and to achieve happy and lasting personal relationships."

Robert Allen, author of Nothing Down, Creating Wealth, Multiple Streams of Income and The One-Minute Millionaire, all of these national bestsellers, said about persuasion: "Persuasion is the skill of the ultra-prosperous. It is how people gain power and influence. It is how people create staggering wealth, how businesses thrive, how books are published, how properties are purchased, and how websites sell millions of dollars worth of product. Persuasion is the life-blood of powerful and effective day-to-day living. The art of persuasion is what makes the world turn."

You begin to understand the reason why the power of persuasion will help you get what you really want in life.

And this is exactly what we are talking about, aren't we? How do you get all that you want out of life? How to turn your dreams into reality?

Kurt Mortensen, from the Persuasion Institute, explained the different forms of persuasion, the hierarchy of persuasion. If you want short-term persuasion and influence, use control, manipulation. But this will have a negative effect on the way others see you. You can also, if you want long-term persuasion, long-term influence, use commitment. This is the highest Ideal of Maximum Influence because "its impact is the most permanent and far-reaching," said Kurt Mortensen.

True persuasion and influence comes from commitment, therefore from trust.

Stephen Covey, in his international bestseller "The 7 Habits Of Highly Successful People" and even more in "Principle-Centered Leadership" deals a lot about trust. He was interviewed by writer Orna Feldman recently. This is what he said:

Orna Feldman: What's the biggest shortcoming of American business?

Stephen Covey: Its low-trust culture, characterized by defensive and protective communication, hidden agendas, internal politics, and underutilized human talent. When I address audiences, they routinely tell me that 90% of the people in their organization have more creative ability, talent, resourcefulness, and intelligence than their present jobs require or allow. People also tell me they spend far too much time dealing with defensive communication, personal conflicts, and interdepartmental rivalries. That's the high cost of low trust.

Orna Feldman: What can be done about this trust problem?

Stephen Covey: Companies have to change their paradigms and recognize the overriding importance of trust. The only thing that can build trust is trustworthiness, which comes from always living, or conducting business, according to certain principles: honesty, integrity, respect, kindness, meaningful work, fairness, and justice. These are the classic, self-evident principles we incorporate into our 7 Habits; we believe they are fundamental to creating a positive paradigm, either in an organizational context or in a person's life.

One of my true friend, Michael Lee, CPA, wrote a magnificent book on persuasion and I love how he gently takes you by the hand and shows you exactly how to acquire this Competence Knowledge.

Michael gives you powerful strategies on how to build trust instantly with anyone. He tells you how to win negotiations and friends.

One of these powerful strategies is called rapport. Michael explains it simply and goes deeper and deeper as you leaf though the pages.

Simply stated, rapport is being connected with the person you're talking with or the audience you are persuading.

You build rapport by first truly caring about the person.

I will share with you a sweet story, which happened some years ago when I first met, Robert Dilts, main developer of NLP (neuro-linguistic programming).

I was sitting there, in the audience. And I saw Robert as he entered the room. The guy is not tough, neither tall. But when he began to speak, you could know that he would care about everyone of us, even if we were 150 people.

I wanted to verify it so I went to see him, during a break and ask him several questions. I instantly felt connected with this man. He listened to me, acted like me and made me feel important. Actually, I felt like I was the person the most important for him now, although I was a total stranger. I felt like I could trust him whatever he would ask me to do. And most importantly, I knew that he wouldn't ask me something inappropriate. He gained trust from me and he knew that. This guy is "tough" and "tall", but metaphorically speaking.

This is rapport. This is the kind of connection you want to have with your prospect, friend and family.

True Persuasion comes from trust, respect and honor. Trust comes from building high rapport.

You will act instead of being acted upon. You will speak and be heard. You will lead and be followed.

Emmanuel Segui is a master-practitioner of NLP and nuero-semantics. He is continually helping people develop their potential genius. His vision is to create a new world of possibilities where people are willing to develop their full potential.

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