How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 383

social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and
others' emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information
to guide one's thinking and actions."[7] Emotional intelligence includes
emotional management, personal motivation, empathy, self-awareness,
and social skills.
When you are persuading someone, emotions provide the springboard for
a successful execution of your argument. In fact, I would even say
emotions are the energy and very fuel of the persuasion process. Without
tapping into your audience's emotions, there is no strength or energy in
your message. Emotion is a power you can harness and use in practically
every aspect of persuasion. Remember, logic is important, but emotion
helps you catapult an otherwise dull or flat exchange to the next level.
Consider the following advantages of emotion over logic:
1. Arousing the emotions of your audience engages your listeners
and distracts them from your intention to influence and persuade.
2. Emotion requires less effort than logic. Logic solicits cognitive
effort, whereas emotion is automatic.
3. Presentations aimed at engaging the audience's emotions are
usually more interesting than logical ones.
4. Emotion-based arguments are often easier to recall than logicbased arguments.
5. Emotion almost always leads more quickly to change than logic
does.[8]
You must know when to create positive or negative emotions and when to
dispel negative emotions. You have to find ways to tap into your
prospects' emotions, such as hope, love, pride, gratitude, and excitement.
If you can do this, you can inspire anyone. Decide ahead of time what
emotional climate you want to create, capture those emotions within
yourself, and you'll be surprised how you can transfer those emotions to
your audience.
[7]P. Salovey and J. D. Mayer, "Emotional Intelligence: Imagination,
Cognition, and Personality," reprinted in Human Emotions, J. M. Jenkins,
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