The art of influencing others so that they think like you, believe you and act in a way you want is called as persuasion. Very few people have excellent persuasion skills and those who have make the world follow them.

People who do not master the art of influencing others often get lost in the crowd and fail to make a mark of own.

Persuasion skills are extremely important at workplace for others to take you seriously and also acknowledge your hard work. Even a brilliant idea is of no use if it is not shared with others who eventually believe and implement the same in their day to day life.

Trust me, convincing others is no cake-walk and you really need to be good at it. In today’s scenario, where everyone is well aware of what is happening around him/her and even the minutest details can be verified at the click of a button, it is not easy to fool anyone and impose your ideas and opinions forcefully. Such people are often kept out of important discussions and business meetings.

The way you speak, the way you carry yourself and the authenticity of the content play an important role in persuading others.

Let us go through few essential persuasion skills:

One of the most essential persuasion skills is confidence and determination. You need to believe in yourself for others to believe you. There is no magic wand for confidence but adequate knowledge of the subject you wish to discuss with the other person, smart dressing and speaking to the point.

For example, a marketing executive selling mobile phones to potential clients needs to know detailed specifications of the phone, softwares, price, available colours and so on to persuade them and also influence their decision. In a layman’s language, the way you present your products or services certainly makes the difference.

Never force anyone to agree what you say. Give him/her time to think and come back to you later. Persuasion certainly does not mean sitting on someone’s head and chasing him/her daily.

Keep yourself abreast with the latest developments in your respective genre so that you can answer even the trickiest question.

Set an example for others. One need to have that “X factor” to influence other’s decisions, attitude, mindset and so on. Let me give a hypothetical case study:

If you are asked to address a crowd of say hundred people and also persuade them to invest in your organization’s products, what would be the first thing to do? Believe me, in such a case, the first and the foremost thing to do is to dress appropriately.

As they say, First impression may not be the last impression but it is certainly the lasting impression. If you dress to turn heads, trust me, half of your job is done. Avoid being creepy, as no one would even bother to look at you, forget believing.

Believe in what you say. Lecturing others is very easy, but doing the same which you expect from others is the challenge. Practice what you preach.

As a superior, if you want to persuade others to reach office on time, you first need to ensure you also do the same. A marketing executive would never be able to sell his organization’s laptops if he does not use the same brand at home. That conviction would never come.

Stay positive as people do not like interacting and believing those who themselves have lost all hopes in life. Keep a smile on your face. It helps! Create an aura of yourself. Let others draw inspiration from you.