Persuasive Thinking
Influencing a person to think like another person is the simplest form of persuasion and this is a type of special mental trick. There are some ethics of persuasion as we must not manipulate any people. Though there are very few differences between manipulation and persuasion, persuasion must be used for the good of society. It is right to persuade people to change their thoughts and believes for good of the individual or society. Some tricks can change people into powerful persuaders. The qualities needed to become powerful persuaders are listed and discussed below:
- Knowledge: To become a good persuader in a subject one has to know the subject very well and only then one can successfully persuade other persons on the topic.
- Objectivity and Honesty: People tend to believe in honest people, and this is another very important trait in persuasion. Persuasion through personal character is one of the best forms of persuasion.
- Biases: Biases wrap our arguments and they support our arguments. One needs to be biased in the most accepted idea. Here, if one can control the biases and thinks the issues objectively can gain the confidence of the audience very well.
- Likability: The person who is persuading someone must be likable, and this is one of the very important conditions in this case. People tend to believe the persons whom they like.
- Motivation and Purpose: If the persons who are listening to someone are motivated by the person and if the purpose of the listeners can be understood by the persuader then this type of persuasion is the most effective one.
- The Rational Approach: The rational approach to most aspects of like can solve every problem and so this is one of the very ideal aspects to persuade people.
Another very important form of persuasion is the emotional approach of the people. In many ways, people fail to recognize their inner forces and by successful persuasion, a person can understand his true calling, and this is one of the most satisfying aspects of persuasion (Kirby and Goodpaster 2007).
The most successful persuaders have learned to read the human heart more than anything. And the understanding of the human heart only begins with ourselves. Also one has to understand that everyone is different from the other people, so there should be different approaches to different people for persuasion. The values and needs of a person have to give special importance in this case. These qualities ultimately drive people to do well. And this has to be the ultimate motive in a successful persuasion program.
Persuasion helps to both adjust the goals of a person and the steps of him to reach there. And being a good persuader one needs to establish his credibility. He has to understand the audience’s demand exactly and must deal with the root elements. The most important thing, in this case, is establishing contact with the audience and asking for a response from them directly. Any successful program will have a very good response from the audience. The persuader has to remove the fears from the people along with other things. In the final analysis, we can say that persuasive thinking is nothing but a form of ethical thinking with newer avenues and scopes. This is one of the very effective psychological treatments in this competitive world.
Reference list
Kirby, GR., and Goodpaster, JR. (2007). Thinking. Fourth Ed. NY: Pearson Prentice Hall.