The Secret of Authentic Persuasion - a Deeper Dive

Today, we are about to go on a fascinating journey into one of the most substantial secrets of persuasion.?

Harry Overstreet, an American thinker and writer, who produced a wealth of insightful work in the mid-20th century, gave us a simple yet profound statement:?

"The secret of true persuasion is to induce the person to persuade themselves."

Insightful!

Overstreet’s thought aligns so perfectly with my own ideas and the comprehensive collection of insights and discoveries I've gathered over the years on the subject of ethical persuasion.?

But, it does leave us with a question:

"How do we actually accomplish this?"

Let's break it down together...

When engaging in conversation with a potential client, it's easy to become overly eager, to leap straight into the thick of things. We can feel an urge to tout all the amazing things we can provide, talk about our offerings, emphasising their features, benefits, and advantages. Now, while discussing these elements is crucial, they are not there we should start.

So, where do we start?

The answer is engagement. Having a powerful opening to create a degree of curiosity and interest in what we’re about to say.

Then after we have successfully engaged the other person, what follows?

We might intuitively think that it's time to present our offerings, but that would be wrong. The next stage is, in fact, gathering information.

This idea feeds directly into my thinking, something that echoes Harry Overstreet's wisdom:?

"The true art of persuasion is to let people persuade themselves

in their answers to our well-crafted questions”

What this implies is that the major part of the selling process happens during this 'information gathering' stage.?

Yes, as people answer our questions, they end up selling themselves on our offering. It's an engaging and enlightening process that truly underpins the art of persuasion.

Across my 50 years in business, the last 30 years of which have been dedicated to honing my understanding and execution of this process, I've had interviewed?174 successful individuals.

These people ,from all walks of life, have considerably expanded my thinking and deepened my understanding of persuasion.

There are 3 thinkers whose insights fit so well into this discussion.

Brian Tracy, a man whose wisdom I've come to admire greatly. I've had the good fortune of interviewing Brian multiple times, and he never fails to provide thought-provoking insights. One of his statements that really hit home is:

"People don't argue with their own data."?

Profound, isn't it?

Next, Professor Robert Cialdini, with whom I shared a memorable conversation when he visited London.?

He offered a piece of wisdom that I still revisit today: "

“The skill is to be a detective and create the climate in which persuasion takes place."?

Isn't it striking how well this fits our ongoing discussion?”

Tony Alessandra shared an observation I shared with 100s of people.

"Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice."?

Armed with these ideas from Brian Tracy, Professor Robert Cialdini, Tony Alessandra, and, of course, Harry Overstreet, we can view the process of persuasion in a new light.?

The essence of genuine persuasion is to guide individuals into convincing themselves, which is best achieved by engaging them in a well-crafted questioning process.

This understanding changes the whole dynamics of our interactions, doesn't it?

Now, let's consider what we should do next with this understanding.?

The answer lies in carefully thinking about the questions we should be posing to our potential clients.?

• What kind of queries would trigger answers that gradually lead them to realise they have a problem and that a solution exists??
• How do we get them to acknowledge that we can provide that solution?
• How do we instil in them the trust to let us do so?

This level of thinking involves us delving deeper into the issues our clients may face and the potential solutions we can offer.?

Such questions should gently nudge them to recognise the pain of their problem and the relief that our solution can bring.?

Crafting these questions is not easy. It takes time, effort, and a sound understanding of the process.

Remember, Brian Tracy's assertion that people don't dispute their own data, Professor Robert Cialdini's thought to create the right environment for persuasion, Tony Alessandra's warning against premature prescription, and Harry Overstreet's insightful assertion about self-persuasion should reverberate in our thoughts as we craft our powerful questions.

I encourage you to invest time and effort into this. Test, then refine your approach based on your experiences, and be ready to be amazed by the potent results you can achieve.?

This really is a game changer!

Peter

Peter Thomson

'The UK's Most Prolific Business Development Author'

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