2. Use stories to convey your message.

Stories are an extremely effective way to persuade. However, many people are too obvious with their stories, and as a result they come across as giving a sales spiel. The best way to use stories as a persuasion tool is to simply tell your listener about something that is similar to your concept (an analogy).

For example, suppose you want to convey the idea that your product will give the person peace of mind. First, determine what that idea is like…what is similar to having peace of mind? You may decide that “relaxation” is similar to the concept of peace of mind. If so, what conjures up images of relaxation to you? To this you might reply that a day at the beach equates to relaxation. If so, then tell a story about a day at the beach.

Here’s another example: Let’s say you’re trying to motivate your staff to try something new and you want to convey the idea of being open to discover new ideas. What is that idea like? What is similar to discovering new ideas? For many, it’s similar to being surprised. So then, what else elicits a surprise? How about opening a present? Tell a story about that.

The point is to pinpoint what you want to convey, decide what that idea is like, determine what else is like that main idea and then tell a story about the similar concept, idea or thing. This indirect approach works.

Realize that persuasion does not involve tricks, gimmicks, lying or anything unethical. When you use persuasion techniques you are merely employing simple psychology concepts to make your message more credible and believable. And for persuasion to truly work, whatever message you’re conveying must be based in truth and delivered with the right intentions. After all, you’re persuading someone to your point of view, not conning someone to do or think something questionable.

With that said, what follows are the persuasion principles that will give you an edge so others adopt your ideas with ease.

1. Aim at a narrow target.

When attempting to get someone to adopt their ideas, many people do a data dump on their listener. They give every possible fact, figure and feature in hopes that some of the information will stick and persuade the other party.

However, if you want to be effective at persuasion, then you need to keep your focus during the conversation as narrow as possible. So rather than talk about everything possible that might persuade the other person, find out what’s important to your listener and then persuade on those points only.

The best way to uncover what’s important to the other person is to ask. That’s right…simply ask, “What’s important to you about… [insert whatever topic you’re addressing].” Then listen to what your listener says and speak only to those points.

If asking such a direct question doesn’t seem appropriate for your situation, you can couch your question within a statement, such as, “I was talking with someone the other day about [insert your topic], and they told me that _______ was the most important thing to them about [insert your topic]. That wouldn’t be important to you, too, would it?”

So your statement could sound like: “I was talking with someone the other day about buying a car, and they told me that gas mileage was the most important thing they considered when purchasing a vehicle. That wouldn’t be important to you, too, would it?”

Allow the person to answer and give you the information you need. Then you can gauge how to direct your conversation based on their response.

(This was sent to me by Mike Hagen, a respected voice in the MLM community)