Are you turning people off?

When attempting to persuade others are you turning people off without realising it? It’s a pretty full-on question isn’t it?? The fact is that when it comes to persuasion there are plenty of things you do to attract people. Unfortunately, there are also a whole lot of things we do to repel our stakeholder and/or turn them off our big important ideas. Most of us are completely unaware of the hundreds of little things we do daily that are both attracting and repelling people at different times.

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If you’ve ever felt like someone rubbed you up the wrong way, that was you being turned off. And maybe you’ve been in a situation where you got a ‘vibe’ that the other person just wasn’t that into you. It happens all the time. And when it happens most of us don’t take the time to wonder what it is that turned the other person off. We just get on with our life. We might even blame them! Perhaps we tell ourselves, “Well that person is just an idiot!”? This means we are highly likely to do whatever it was that was a turn off again and again, without any awareness and we prevent ourselves from achieving our potential.

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I’ve been teaching persuasion for over 20 years. When I’m teaching my persuasive techniques people often feel very comfortable telling me all about their experiences with people who were a ‘turn off’ during the persuasion process: managers, staff, clients, even external consultants. The common element in most people’s stories is that they didn’t give any feedback to the actual person who behaved poorly which means the person will never know the impact of their behaviour. In fact, it’s my experience that most of us think they are being nice to the persuader by not speaking up or giving feedback about the approach or behaviour that bothered them. In general, we don’t want to offend the person who turned us off or cause any unnecessary conflict. And if the person who offended us is more senior than we are at work, we don’t want to perform a ‘career limiting move’ by calling out the behaviour!?

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To avoid insulting, disappointing or upsetting people let’s look at the list of things you shouldn’t do when persuading others. These are the 15 big mistakes people make when attempting to persuade others:

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1.??? Pessimism or lack of enthusiasm or passion. ?People generally need your enthusiasm to feel enrolled in your idea. Get appropriately excited about it and you’ll be contagious.

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2.??? Appearing judgemental or distrustful. None of us like to feel judged. If you are not sure about the person or their idea, try harder to remain more open-minded and find a functional way to investigate further without making it personal.

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3.??? Too many questions.? Who likes having so many questions thrown at them it feels like an interrogation? Don’t over-question your prospect or stakeholder.

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4.??? One-sided facts. To ensure people find your message credible make sure the facts are not one-sided, that they are logical, and that your argument is robust and well-prepared.

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5.??? Denying, blaming, or justifying poor decisions. Denying, blaming, and justifying are known as victim behaviours. Each of these behaviours is a real turn off to people who would prefer that you take personal responsibility for your actions. Acknowledge the role you play in your own life whether it’s good or bad and importantly own up to mistakes.

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6.??? Pushy behaviour. No one likes a pushy salesperson!? When it comes to persuading another, be ‘others-focused’ so that you can best judge how strong to be without turning your prospect or stakeholder off. Commitment, rigour, passion are all fabulous qualities when used in the correct dose.

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7.??? Too many stories to make your point. Some people just love the sound of their own voice and they tell way too many personal stories to make their point. Stories are a wonderful way to make your point because if told brilliantly, they are interesting and more memorable. Just be careful not to hog the limelight too much.

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8.??? Seeming desperate. Desperation has a stink about it that is very easily sensed by your prospects and it’s a real turn off. If you are desperate it implies that you are unsuccessful. It infers that no one else is buying what you’re selling! Desperation opens you up to price negotiations that will leave you feeling used and unfulfilled.? Do what you can to feel confident in yourself and your idea or offer but don’t beg or plead!

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9.??? Forgetting someone’s name, or never knowing it in the first place! ?Oh, this is one of my pet hates! I was recently involved in a big project where there were only two women involved and lots of men. The senior executive called one of the women by the other woman’s name. There were only two of them, I suspect he thought they were interchangeable (I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit!). Please care enough about your prospect or stakeholder to know their name and get it right every time. And don’t get it nearly right. I’m often called Melissa when my name is Michelle. To you they might seem like similar names, to me, you just got my name wrong.

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10. Allowing yourself to be distracted by something more ‘interesting’ in conversation. Has this ever happened to you? You’re talking to someone and they look over your shoulder at something and you find yourself turning your head to see what they are looking at. Don’t do this. It makes it seem like you don’t care enough to stay connected to what’s being said.

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11. Indirect eye contact that makes you appear insincere or disinterested. Direct eye contact is essential for rapport. Look right at the person you’re talking to. Don’t over stare. Relax your face. Relax your eyes. If possible, even smile with your eyes.

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12. Over stating the facts.? Exaggeration is annoying to some people and funny to others. Choose your moment.

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13. Needlessly embellishing stories. Some people feel they should “never let the truth get in the way of a good story”! Understand that some people love it when they sense you are embellishing your story. And other people will simply brand you a liar for twisting the truth.

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14. Talking about yourself too much. Only talk about yourself to the extent that it builds rapport and establishes the necessary amount of credibility. Then stop.

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15. Smooth communication. If you’re too smooth in your communication style when you’re attempting to persuade others it can seem contrived and may be perceived as insincerity. Aim to be as authentic as possible. Weirdly, you’ll be your most authentic and persuasive self when you plan your message thoroughly, rehearse until you can’t get it wrong, and then allow yourself to ad-lib and even add some humour on the day. Thorough rehearsal is the key to being perceived as authentic.

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So, there you have it. We want people to trust and like us instinctively. Once you make yourself aware of these mistakes the next step is to work out how to better manage your approach so that you don’t end up unintentionally turning people off.? You want to attract, not repel people. If you recognise any of these mistakes are things you do, perhaps ask yourself what you can do differently to stop right now. Pretty much everything you want comes on the other side of persuasion. Let’s do what we can to ensure you are as effective as possible at persuading in every area of your life.

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Happy Persuading!

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? MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business. She's run her?Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass?over 980 times for more than 13,000 people over the past 24 years and her name is a synonym for 'presentation skills' in Australia. She’s a multi-million-dollar pitch coach to her client list that reads like a who’s who of international business: banking and finance, IT, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications plus many more. Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile?, a world-first?psychological assessment tool?that reports on your persuasive strengths and weaknesses at work, the best-selling internationally published author of?How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting live and online?(Wiley)?and her new book is called?How to Persuade: the skills you need to get what you want?(Wiley). Visit?www.michellebowden.com.au

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