Tom Gorman - Persuasion: Command Attention / Hold Their Interest / Get What You Want

persuasion

>> command attention

>> hold their interest

>> get what you want

Tom Gorman

Copyright 2007 by F+W Publications. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

Published by Adams Business, an imprint of Adams Media,
an F+W Publications Company
57 Littlefield Street
Avon, MA 02322
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59869-100-7
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-100-9
eISBN: 978-1-44051-686-3

Printed in Canada.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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contents

part 1 PLANNING PERSUASION

chapter 1
Learn to Persuade, and Youll Always Succeed

chapter 2
Changing the Balance of Power

chapter 3
First Persuade Yourself

chapter 4
Planning to Persuade

part 2 THE ART OF PERSUASION

chapter 5
Master the Rulesand Toolsof Engagement

chapter 6
Chart a Path, Then Lead the Way

chapter 7
Overcoming Resistance and Moving Forward

chapter 8
Getting Agreement and Closing the Deal

part 3 PERSUASION PARTICULARS

chapter 9
Writing to Persuade

chapter 10
Selling: Persuading Prospects to Become Customers

chapter 11
Find Work in Any Market

introduction

Read this book,and youll be rich!

Okay, Ill be rich too. But thats the way the world works. To get what you want, youve got to give people what they want. To get attention, youve got to appeal to a basic need, and thats what Im doing. We both want to be rich, right? Watch, and learn.

To persuade anyone to do anythingeven to listen to you youve got to show them, clearly and quickly, whats in it for them. Most of the time. Sometimes you need to tease and intrigue them and appeal to their curiosity or sense of humor. Hey, persuasion isnt easy, which is why you need this book.

In this book youll learn an essential business and life skill. Youll learn how to persuade people to give you their attention, to consider your point of view, and to support your efforts to succeed.

How will you do this? By seeing what persuasion really is, why and how it works, and what you must do to practice the art of persuasion. Wait, didnt I just say it was a skill? It is a skill and an artplus science. Its psychology, sociology, economics, and communication, but not the way theyre taught in school. Persuasion puts all those things together at the person-to-person, in-the-moment action level. Success at persuasion depends on knowing what makes people tick, then showing them that the time has come to go along with you.

Wherever youre going and whatever youre doing, youre going to need other peoples help. But this raises questions, especially if youre in the early years of your working life: Who are these people? Where do I find them? How do I talk to them? Why should they listen to me? What do I have to offer them?

Youll find the answers to those questionsand morein this easy-reading volume.

What Is Persuasion?

For our purposes, persuasion is inducing one or more people to willingly and knowingly do something for you that they hadnt initially planned or even wanted to do. Usually, they will resist you and have more power than you, which is why you need persuasion. Persuasion is getting people interested in doing as you suggest when theyre originally not particularly interested in that.

Persuasion works by influencing the other person to change. They are going to do something that they didnt initially want to do, and they are going to do it because of you. You, as the persuader, are an agent of change.

Everybody Does It

Everybody uses persuasion, and uses it often. Youre going to see persuasion whenever someone can grant or withhold something that someone else wants or needs. Persuasion applies in a huge range of professional and personal situations, including these:

You need more time, money, or other resources from your boss

Youre selling a product or service.

You have to raise money for a project or business.

You want to break into a highly competitive field.

You want admission to a certain type of school to learn a new vocation or avocation.

You need to get past gatekeepers and gain access to people you want to persuade.

You need to resolve a problem with a service provider.

You simply want to get your way more often.

I myself have used persuasion to get a literary agent, win book contracts, sell products and services, gain promotions to better positions, and get approval for increased budgets, new hires, extended deadlines, and special projects. I have been a midlevel manager in Fortune 500 companies, an executive recruiter, a workshop facilitator, a salesman, a product manager, a new product developer, and, for the past ten years, a freelance writer.

The common thread in situations that call of persuasion is the need to influence people. This requires leading people or pushing them, chasing them or playing hard to get, pressuring them or leaving them alone. It all depends on the situation and the people involved, including you. The more you know about persuasion and the more tools you have at your disposal, the more effective you will be.

Whatever you want to become and whatever you want to accomplish, there are people who can help you. But you have to ask them to help youusually more than oncegive them good reasons to help you, and make them feel good about helping you. Thats persuasion, and you can learn how to do it.

Can I persuade you to turn to Chapter 1, so you can start learning how?

NOT BRUTE FORCE BUT ONLY PERSUASION AND FAITH ARE THE KINGS OF THIS WORLD.

Thomas Carlyle
(British historian)

Learn toPersuade,and YoullAlwaysSucceed