hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're going to learn about persuasion the
psychology of leading people now let's begin are you a persuasive person do you know how to lead
people in your favor most people don't understand how persuasion works so they don't recognize when
they're being influenced they're pushed and pulled by the tides of every conversation
they fall victim to unconscious cues cognitive biases and persuasive tricks like it or not
the world is full of people trying to persuade you trying to lead you one way or the other you
may be convinced that you control your behavior but you don't have as much control as you think
the simple truth is persuasive people rule the world they're leaders artists and entrepreneurs
they create the trends concepts and patterns that define our culture because persuasive people
don't just create ideas they use persuasive tools to spread their ideas and change the
way people think when discussing persuasion many people get suspicious because the world
frames persuasion and manipulation as the same thing well why is that because both persuasion
and manipulation take advantage of people's trust in every aspect of your life trust and distrust
govern your decisions you cross the road because you trust that a car will stop at a red light
you lock your front door because you don't trust other people around your belongings
you buy products from a store because you trust that those products aren't going to break in
other words your entire life is built around trust because trust is so important establishing trust
has become a critical skill to be a salesman for example your customers have to trust your advice
to make a friend you need someone to believe the things you say if other people are involved trust
can make or break your success but where does trust come from why do we trust some
people and not others at a foundational level you establish trust by proving that you're trustworthy
by showing people that your words match your actions now of course that isn't the only way
to gain someone's trust otherwise persuasion wouldn't exist persuasion and manipulation use
subtle cues and special language to create trust both persuasion and manipulation establish a
trustworthy dynamic with another person but what do you do with their trust do you take advantage
or do you follow through just imagine this scenario your friend asks you for a favor they
need you to drive them across town now you don't want to but your friend says they'll buy you lunch
this sounds appealing so you drive your friend across town and when you get there you're
expecting a nice lunch but your friend leaves you behind now is this persuasion or manipulation
when you manipulate another person just think about your goal you manipulate someone for your
own personal gain you're taking advantage by making them believe something that isn't true
alright going back to our example your friend gained your trust by offering to buy you lunch
but they misled you on purpose they used your trust to take advantage of you and then failed
to honor their word in other words a manipulative person establishes trust
with no intention to follow through okay let's try another example now imagine your friend
invites you to go camping you're on the fence but your friend makes a really convincing argument
over and over they tell you how fun this trip is going to be they tell you about hiking through
the mountains roasting marshmallows and looking up at the stars suddenly this camping trip feels more
appealing so you say yes the next weekend you and your friend go camping you hike you roast
marshmallows and you look at the stars but you also get bitten by mosquitoes and you struggle
to sleep on the rocky ground overall the trip wasn't as fun as your friends said it would be
is this persuasion or manipulation this time your friend is being persuasive not manipulative
when you persuade someone you aim for a common goal this goal works in your favor but you're
not the only one who stands to gain when being persuasive you're encouraging a decision that's
mutually beneficial you're establishing trust and reinforcing that trust now looking at our example
again how did your friend get you excited about camping they gained your trust by highlighting
the best experiences they focused on the most fun activities your friend left out the bad stuff but
they never lied they didn't purposely mislead you they simply changed their approach the goal of
persuasion is not to take advantage of people persuasion uses cues and signals to achieve a
common goal so how do you become a more persuasive person how do you use persuasion to lead others
most importantly what techniques can you use to be persuasive in your daily life for the rest
of this video we're going to talk about five persuasive tricks you can use to lead people
without losing their trust number one sources of interest persuasive people know that interest is
everything you can't persuade anybody without creating interest just think back to our last
example how did your friend change your opinion about camping they created interest they talked
about activities you'd enjoy you became interested in those activities so your interest changed your
opinion interest can change someone's mind it can grab their attention or it can hold them back
interest is the reason anyone listens to you if you want to be persuasive develop interest
right away otherwise your persuasive tactics will never work ah but what creates interest what does
interest look like people are the most interested in things that benefit them it may be profitable
exciting or even entertaining but a source of interest will always benefit the other person
to be persuasive lean into their interest emphasize how much or how often they're going
to benefit and when you highlight these points of interest people are much more likely to say yes
but remember that persuasion is not the same thing as lying do not lie to create interest
otherwise you're manipulating instead of persuading persuasive people build interest
by approaching the truth in a clever way number two core communication do confusing concepts and
language make you more persuasive when trying to persuade someone you should simplify concepts as
much as you can persuasive people will boil difficult ideas down to their core they can
explain complicated concepts to anyone because they focus only on the things people care about
just imagine for example you're thinking about buying a tv a salesman may show you a huge list
of prices and products you immediately feel lost right but the salesman points to one product and
he says this tv is exactly what you're looking for and just like that this salesman reduced a bunch
of confusing information into one persuasive idea number three limited editions this is a common
persuasive tool in the world today everyone wants something that's one of a kind limited edition
rare or unique whether it's technology or clothing we're all looking for some way to stand out the
moment something becomes rare it gains value and persuasive power creating scarcity is easy you
simply offer a smaller quantity but you have to know when and where to use this trick think about
the most expensive watches in the world these watches are exclusive and personalized their
brand names and unique appearances make them stand out in other words their scarcity gives them value
people are willing to spend huge amounts of money on these watches why because they're
buying something no one else has these watches may be worth a lot less than their price tag
you may find an exact replica for half the price but the original is rare and scarce so people
are more willing to invest number four persuasive imagery which is more alarming the word car crash
or an image of an actual car crash obviously the image is more powerful when you use imagery your
message gains a greater impact and that makes you more persuasive so if you want to persuade another
person use imagery to amplify your message don't just tell them show them bring your idea to life
when people can visualize your message you're more likely to make an impact but what if you
can't use pictures or videos well you don't have to use imagery to create imagery storytellers for
example are very persuasive people they lead others by painting a picture in their minds
creating mental imagery this mental imagery feels real so people latch on to their ideas
number five persistent fishing even the most persuasive people run into roadblocks but
they know that persistence pays off persuasion can be a long fight you may lose a few battles
but you only need one yes to win the war if you're persistent your only enemy is timing timing is one
of the most important persuasive tools you have to catch someone in the right moment or state of mind
if someone is not willing to listen well today is not your day no matter how persuasive you
are your methods will fail but tomorrow is a new day today this person wasn't ready to listen but
tomorrow their eyes and ears may be open and your message may finally stick so if you're persistent
you'll find the right time that's why persuasive people try again and again the more shots you take
the more likely you are to hit your target just think about all the commercials and advertisements
you see on a daily basis imagine seeing the same fast food commercial every single day
time after time you roll your eyes until one day you're hungry for fast food
when this commercial pops up it feels like the answer to all your problems
you ignored this commercial day after day but good timing makes all the difference hey thank you for
watching top think and be sure to subscribe because more incredible content is on the way