How Can I Persuade You? Let Me Count the Ways
Persuasion has become an art in today’s society. Each day, people are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of messages attempting to persuade them in some form or fashion. Advertising, political campaigns, interpersonal persuasion, and organizational persuasion are just a few of the ways these messages are delivered. But persuasion can take many forms. It can be purely logical or appeal to the emotions; it can even be manipulative or seductive. This paper describes the differences between persuasion, manipulation and seduction and how different audiences respond to these types of messages.
Persuasion is about invoking change in attitudes or behavior or both. It is about making people believe in something that they do not already hold to be true and to change their behavior accordingly. There are several different theories about how persuasion works. Persuasion can appeal to logic, emotions, peer pressure, or simply exposure. But one thing is certain about persuasion. Attitude change must happen before behavior change can happen. Seiter and Gass report that “attitudes are important because they are thought to correlate with and predict behavior” (2004, pg. 47). Therefore, in order to persuade an audience to change behavior, persuaders must first seek to change attitudes.
There are several important factors to consider when persuading an audience. One is to understand the target audience’s interests, beliefs, and abilities. Nickitas (2009, pg. 73) explains that “It’s essential to craft the debate and package around the composition of the targeted audience’s interests.” Knowing what motivates the audience and preparing an argument or presentation around those motivating factors will provide more successful results. Nickatas explains that messages must be prepared that appeal to the interests and expectations of the target audience.
Another factor to know about your audience is to understand their fears. Consider the situation where funding for a program is expected to be cut, people could lose jobs, and services could be cut or eliminated. By knowing the elements that make up these concerns, an effective persuader can craft a message around these fears in such a way as to alleviate these concerns. It is best to address them directly and present alternatives that people can relate to and feel better about. Nickatas states that “effective leaders understand emotional turbulence and the need to soothe uncertainty” (pg. 73). When the audience feels that their concerns are being addressed, they will be more open to hearing about the alternatives, thus their ability to understand the message is increased.
A third factor to consider is establishing common ground. This requires knowing the target audience and where they stand on the issues. From that vantage, the persuader can identify areas of common interests or concerns and develop messages that will lead the audience from that point of commonality into new areas yet undiscovered or considered. Common ground provides a starting point from which the message can be developed to improve the ability of the audience to shift their thinking.
Credibility is critical for effective persuasion. It is vitally important for the persuader to present him- or her-self as an authority on the subject. The audience needs to believe that the persuader is an expert and has detailed knowledge and insight. Credibility can be established by sharing credentials that include experience and education. People are more likely to be convinced of something if the persuader has a degree in the subject or a closely related field and experience that demonstrates positive contributions to society. A job applicant needs to demonstrate how his or her experience relates to the position for which s/he is applying and will provide value to the organization. In today’s competitive job market, job applicants must be able to establish their credibility in unique ways so as to persuade the organization to offer the job. A candidate for political office needs to establish credibility with her constituents by providing her track record on how she has responded to the issues that are important to the people.
Akin to knowing the target audience and establishing credibility is the ability to convey the message in a meaningful way. McElhaney (2009, pg. 25) relates how important it is to simply “tell a story” to get people to draw their own conclusions that are consistent with the behavior desired. He repeats what Lloyd Paul Stryker said that “No point is ever better made when not directly made at all, but is so presented that the jury itself makes it.” In the courtroom, when trying to persuade a jury to believe in the guilt or innocence of the defendant, telling a story that the jury can relate to from personal experience is the best way to obtain a favorable judgment.
While these factors are important for persuasion to be effective, there are subtle differences in persuasion techniques that can actually exploit the audience positively or negatively. Manipulation is best described as an attempt to get people to do something they ordinarily would not do using “artful or unfair means” (Merriam-Webster, 2010). In interpersonal communication, the following story comes to mind: A teenager wants to borrow the car for the evening. He knows his mother generally does not like him to go out driving at night so when he gets home from school he does all of his homework and lays it out for her to see when she comes home from work. Next he cooks her favorite dish for dinner, setting the table with great care, lighting a candle and playing her favorite music. When she comes home, he greets her with a hug, shows her the homework and dishes up the dinner. Immediately after dinner, he washes the dishes and cleans up the kitchen. Then he asks her for the car. His hope is that she will feel so good about him that her concerns about his driving at night will be alleviated or she will feel guilty if she says no. She gives in and gives him the keys. She has been manipulated.
In manipulation, factors like credibility and understanding your audience are exploited in such a way that the persuader takes advantage of the person or people s/he is trying to persuade. In the case described above, the son knows that his mother is tired at the end of a long work day and he uses that to his advantage as he crafts a message that will get him what he wants. His message included a variety of actions (doing the homework, cooking dinner, cleaning up) that are intended to make her feel good about herself and, more importantly, about him. By doing these things, he has established that he is responsible (credible) and therefore worthy of the car keys.
Another persuasion technique is seduction. Seduction is about creating desire in another, and is typically considered part of sexuality, luxury, and power (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2007). On the surface, this has a negative connotation, yet Denning explores how seduction is used to bring about organizational change (2009). He explains Jean Baudrillard’s theory that the “seducer typically thinks he is the active party but in fact is in thrall to the seducee. The genuine seducer has to devote all his attentions to the seduction for a period to accomplish the seduction, and in the process, is effectively enslaved by the seducee until the seduction is successful.” At the conclusion of a successful seduction, the seducee has a new identity.
For true organizational change to take place, leaders must be so committed to their vision that they are completely enthralled with the process of creating change. These leaders possess courage, passion, imagination and analytical skills that are beyond the norm for most people (Denning, 2005, pg. 13). They are able to use these traits to actually seduce management and others to transform the company into a new and different organization. As Baudrillard points out, seduction happens slowly over a period of time. In the same manner, organizational transformation can take years to accomplish.
Persuasion, manipulation and seduction are three ways to create changes in attitudes and behavior. An effective persuader needs to understand the interests and expectations of the target audience. The persuader will know the fears and concerns of the people s/he is trying to persuade and develops messages built on common ground. S/he must have the knowledge and experience to establish credibility in order to attain the audience’s attention. Then the persuader needs to be able to tell a story that enables the audience to draw their own conclusions that are consistent with the goals of the persuader. There are different ways to persuade an audience. Manipulation is getting somebody to do something they normally would not want to do and seduction involves creating desire. Each of these techniques can be used in positive ways to achieve the goal of behavior and/or attitude change.
References
Denning, S. (2005). “Transformational innovation: A journey by narrative.” Strategy & Leadership, 33(3), 11-16.
Denning, S. (2009). Storytelling and seduction: Jean Baudrillard. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://www.stevedenning.com/Business-Narrative/storytelling-and-seduction.aspx
McElhaney, J. (July 2009). “The arsenal of persuasion” [Electronic version]. ABA Journal, 95(7), 24-25.
Merriam-Webster. (2010). “Manipulation.”In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved January 24, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/MANIPULATION
Nickitas, D.M. (March-April 2009). “Leadership and artful persuasion” [Electronic version]. Nursing Economics, 27(2), 73-74.
Seiter, John, S. and Gass, Robert H. (2004). Perspectives on persuasion, social influence, and compliance gaining. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (March 7, 2007). Retrieved January 21, 2010, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/baudrillard/
