Hello and welcome. If you have ever wanted to learn how to exercise influence or persuade
others, then this video is for you. For the best advice for communication skills in the
workplace, please subscribe and hit the bell. Hello, my name is Michael Gibbs and I've been
in the technology industry for 25 years.
I'm one of the first few thousand Cisco certified internet experts and I've been helping people
enhance their technology careers with soft skills training for almost 15 years now. In
the coming weeks I will be producing numerous videos on how to exercise influence and ethically
persuade others in the workplace.
Now, before we begin this video series, I want to start with Dr. Robert Cialdini's work
and his six principles of persuasion. And I'd like to start here because his work is
very well researched and has been demonstrated to be effective in a wide variety of environments
and we are a big fan of his work.
The first principle I would actually like to describe is the principle of liking. Now,
what this really means is if people like you, they're much more likely to be persuaded by
you or do what you want them to do. So let's take an example from our own personal lives.
For example, I love my wife. My wife wants me to do something, I say yes. And she doesn't
have to ask very hard.
I mean, if she puts a container of chickpeas on the kitchen table, I know she wants me
to make her hummus, for example. And where I'm going at here is when people like you,
they'll be very happy to do whatever you'd like them to do. So, let's think about this
in the workplace. This is where soft skills and interpersonal communication skills become
critically important because if people like you, they'll be much more likely to help you
in both your personal and your professional lives.
So when you interact with others, do it in a manner that makes people feel good about
themselves. Be honest with them so they can trust you. Look for reasons to help them versus
reasons to say no to their requests and really just try and create an environment where you
bring out the best in others.
The next principle I would like to discuss is the principle of reciprocity. And what
this really means is that people have an innate desire to help those that have already helped
them. So when you help someone else, not only you're deepening the relationship, but you're
actually making them in some way, shape or form feel compelled to help you.
So, let's talk about what this means. If you help someone, they're going to appreciate
it. And let's face it, the size of the favor, the size of the help actually matters.
So, when you help someone, don't devalue the help you've provided them. And what I mean
by that is let's say someone asked you for help with a technical project and you've put
a lot of time and effort into this. When they say thank you, do not say this is nothing
because you devalued it and definitely do not say no problem. Because the second you
say problem, you're already the person feel bad about the request.
Instead after someone thanks you say, "I was more than happy to help you. Your friendship
or your partnership or whatever means so much to me, and I know you would do the same thing
for me." So what you've done is you've placed a value on the favor you've done for them,
and in some way, shape or form, you've actually compelled them to help you in the future.
The next principle I would like to describe is the principle of scarcity. And what we're
talking about here is people find things that are scarce resources much more valuable. So
think about things we find valuable, gold, diamond Bitcoins, or your expertise. So what
makes gold more of value than aluminum?
Well, there's much less of it and people perceive a higher value. So we should do the same thing
with your expertise. So, we're all busy people and no matter where you work, people are going
to ask you for help. You want to help them, as I've discussed before, but you don't want
to look like you're doing nothing because people will value you more if you're a scarcer
resource.
So somehow you need to let them know that you're scarce while still being able to offer
to help them. So if someone calls you and you're legitimately in a meeting, send them
a quick text or a quick email that says, "I got your message. I'm quite busy right now.
You matter a lot to me and I will get back to you as soon as I can and I will definitely
help you with your request."
Wow, you've done a lot of things, you've shown them they're valuable, you've made them feel
good about you, you've planted the seeds of future reciprocity and you've made your value
go up by being scarce. Please comment below and let us know your technology career goals
so I can produce more videos to help you in your career.
The next principle I would like to discuss is the principle of social proof. And what
we're referring to when we say social proof is that people like to make decisions that
are in line with what other leaders in a similar position would automatically do. So let's
say you have a network architecture that you're proposing, or you want to purchase something
for your network or your infrastructure. Instead of just going to your manager and suggesting
that they buy this or do this, show them the design, tell them the benefits of the design
and then let them know that other chief information officers across the industry have been making
similar decisions that's in line with your proposed solution and it's enhanced their
business by whatever.
Maybe it's decreased downtime, maybe it's increased performance, maybe it's given them
a competitive advantage in their business. But let the person, the decision maker know
that you're recommending a solution that's in line with what other professionals in the
same position would actually do and your results will be much better.
Now, another critical principle is authority. And what this means is people are much more
likely to listen to an expert in their field from someone that's not an expert. Now, I've
spent a lot of time on social media and I have seen more videos on YouTube from the
expert, 20 year old life coach. And let's face it, it takes at least 10,000 hours to
become an expert at anything.
So what this means is in your everyday life, if you're an expert, let people know, maybe
your email signature will have your credentials on it, or at least your business card should.
And when you're describing a solution or a design or a proposal, let people know that
that's your area of expertise.
And conversely, do not pretend to be an expert on something you've not seen. Just because
you've heard a podcast or watch a YouTube video does not make you an expert on a topic
and don't claim to be. By claiming to be an expert where you can actually demonstrate
it, and by claiming to be a non-expert where you are not an expert, people will develop
much more trust in your capabilities and much more trust in working with you because they
know you're the right person for the right job and you'll help them.
Now, if someone asks you to do something that's outside of your area of expertise, that's
okay. Let them know that you're not an expert on this. Let them know that you'd like to
reach out to certain experts to help you make the best decisions along the way. Let them
know you'd like to go to training or let them know you'll do absolutely anything you can
to make sure that you deliver the best solution and get access to the best resources.
Another interesting principle is the principle of consistency or commitment. And what that's
really about is people are likely to do things that are in line with their past decisions
and their values. So, if you're going to ask a request for someone, if possible, ask something
that's in line with their values. But let's say how we can actually use this consistency
and commitment to our advantage in the workplace.
Let's say you're up for promotion. And in order to obtain this promotion, you need to
have five vice-presidents across the organization vote for your promotion. My recommendation
is not just to put five vice presidents' name down and then give them to your manager. My
recommendation would be to call each vice president one by one, have a conversation
with them, remind them how you've been helping them in their organizations, and then tell
them that you're up for promotion and that you would really like to be able to ask them
to vote for your promotion.
And if they say yes, and most likely they will if you've shown them how well you helped
them in the past due to the principle reciprocity. Say, "Thank you so much for your support,
I will mark you down as a yes and I will let my manager know that he or she can reach out
to you." And you've done two things. You've now put something in a position where the
person feels compelled because they've agreed to help you, and it's now in line with their
value, is in line with their commitments.
So by doing that, you can ensure people stay committed to the things they're going to tell
you, at least in many cases. Did you know business meetings can be an incredible opportunity
to stand out from the crowd and help enhance your career? Please download my free how to
act in a meeting guide. The link is in the description below. If you liked this video,
please like, comment and subscribe to my channel so I can produce more videos like this for
you.
And please visit my other social media pages, the link is in the description below. Thank
you so much for watching, we'll see you on the next video.