Maximize Your Influence

It is common sense to realize you have to keep your audience's attention in order to persuade them.  If you lose them, you lose your chance for them to understand and accept your proposal. We know from our own personal experience that we tend to let our minds naturally drift when we are listening to other people.   Another helpful tip is the primacy and recency effect.  You should strategize the sequence or order of your presentations.  Sometimes you should go first in the persuasion process.  Sometimes you should go last.  Join me for this week’s podcast as I explore The Primacy vs Recency vs Von Restorff Effect.

Great persuaders can maintain the attention of their audience. Research shows that people’s attention spans are getting shorter and shorter.  The moment you lose their attention, you can no longer persuade them. You could have a great Website, be a sharp dresser, publish a great brochure, or have any manner of impressive credentials. The reality is, however, that the number-one persuasion tool is you, and a big part of how you present yourself is through your communication. Long gone are the days of counting on the subject matter to speak compellingly for itself, compensating for your inadequacies as a presenter. Nowadays, you’ve got to get inside your audience’s minds, and you’ve got to get there fast.

It is not your new goals that will cause you to fail this year – it is how you motivate yourself to stay on track to keep your goals.  Motivation is everything to a great persuader.  Motivation is critical not only for achieving the big goals but also for making all the little steps in between.   Unlimited Long-Term Motivation Join me for this week’s podcast on how to consistently stay motivated to achieve your goals.  The great news is this is also the same formula you can use to motivate your prospects.  This groundbreaking research will help you stay motivated and achieve all your goals. 

Do you know when it is time to shut-up? Are you talking too much? Do you data dump, vomit or do the show up and throw up? Upward Physical Movement Brings Back Happy Memories Many times, when we are trying to be persuasive, we want to highlight all the perks and plusses. It's only natural. Wouldn't helping someone see the potential gains of your product or service be a good thing? Yes, but here is the issue: Your audience will buy for their own reasons and only their reasons. They don't care about why you like the product or service. They don't care how much you know about it—don’t bury them in detail. The more you spout off about features, the more your audience mentally checks out. Santa Sweater Walmart Article

We have all heard that during the persuasion process you need to focus on getting the “yes” from your audience.  Does that work?  Is that true?  The answer is – it depends.  Great persuaders look for times when they can get affirmation from their audience.  They engineer their persuasive message to get as many verbal, mental, or physical "yeses" as they can throughout their presentation.  And there is good evidence to support this practice. Listen for all the answers!

The objection you get the most is the objection you still have. So you need to go back to the drawing board.  Do you really believe in your product or service?  Do you really believe it's worth that price?  Do you really believe it's helping out, changing lives and making the world a better place?  You have to believe in your product or service. What Your Desk Reveals About Your Personality Join me for this week’s podcast as I take a deep dive into objections and how you are manifesting objections and creating unnecessary resistance.  I focus on The Fake No - The False Perception of Resistance.

Do you have RBF?  I sure do.  I have it bad.  Do you know what RBF is?  Well the nice version is resting brat face.  The “B” is actually a word that is a little harsher.  (I will let you google it.)  What is RBF?  Well, it is when you are neutral or unemotional – your face looks mean and upset.  You look unapproachable.  In this state, you will have a harder time with influence,  building trust and creating a connection.  This is more common than you think.  So, how do you fix this RBF? Neuroscience Says Doing This 1 Thing Makes You Just as Happy as Eating 2,000 Chocolate Bars Join me for this week’s podcast on How Your RBF Hinders Influence, Likeability, and Trust.  I explore where RBF comes from, why it exists and how to fix it.  I also take a deep dive into how RBF affects mood and how mood can destroy your ability to influence others. Articles from show:  RBF : CNN, testRBF , Photofeeler  Worst Product Names        

One of the biggest surprises in 20 years of influence research is the importance of self-esteem.  We have to understand human nature and ego. Now, what is Self-esteem? Basically a simple definition is how much you like yourself. So what do we need to know? You need to understand the trend, that self-esteem is at a all-time low. Two out of three Americans suffer from low self-esteem and I'll put it this way. We all suffer from low self-esteem in some aspects of our life. Is it in a swimsuit? Is it public speaking? Is it closing? What is your area? You have to massage their esteem while you persuade.  If you don’t – You will always get the no. Another reason is low self-esteem is a cause of bullying, threats, and intimidation.  Join me for this week’s podcast as I discuss "How to Stop The Bully:  How to persuade difficult and aggressive people."

Are you perceived as competent? Are you sure? You could be the smartest person in the room, but your verbal and nonverbal behavior could tell your prospects something else.    Competence is your knowledge and ability in a particular subject area. Competency exists on many levels. When we are observing someone from a distance, or when we are meeting them for the first time and our experience with them is very limited, we subconsciously perceive and assign them a certain competency level.   You are more likely to believe polls when your candidate leads   Can you really do what you say you can do? Can you deliver? Does your audience think you have the skills, the knowledge, and the resources? Whether or not you have this deeper level of competence becomes glaringly obvious as people interact and work with you.   Listen to Episode 312 to find out the answers!    

A great persuader can connect with anyone in thirty seconds or less. First impressions take only seconds to form, but they last a lifetime. This is a critical skill to develop because the cement dries fast. 7 Simple Behaviors That Make You More Attractive Do your prospects like you?  Are you sure?  How do you make sure you’re really connecting? You want to be friendly, but not fake. You aim to be engaging, but not annoying. You’re enthusiastic, but not overbearing.  What are the 2 rapport building biggest mistakes? Listen to this Episode to find out!