How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 388

Chapter 15
Your Persuasion Checklist
The Inside Secrets of Maximum Influence
Overview
Before anything else, getting ready is the secret to success.
—HENRY FORD
To be an effective persuader, you cannot use the same techniques for all
people all the time. You have to customize your message to fit the
demographics, interests, and values of your audience. This chapter
presents what I call the Persuasion Checklist. It will help you to
effectively adapt your persuasive techniques to your target audience. The
foundation of the Persuasion Checklist is rooted in a solid understanding
of human psychology, the ways to handle resistance, and the methods of
effectively structuring a persuasive argument. This is the knowledge
necessary to make the Persuasion Checklist work in any persuasive
situation.
All battles are first won in the mind. You have to be mentally ready to
persuade. Prepare yourself by knowing as much about your audience as
possible. The persuasion process can be thought of as "persuasion
engineering." You have to draw up the blueprint for your persuasive
techniques instead of "flying by the seat of your pants." It's like reading
the roadmap before you drive. You need to understand where you are
going, what route you should take, what the driving conditions will be,
etc. Persuasion operates the same way. Just remember the three D's:
discover, design, and deliver:


Discover what your prospects want and need to hear.



Design and structure a winning persuasive argument.



Deliver the message with passion, compassion, and purpose.

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