You may not always be aware of all the persuasion efforts that go on around you all day.
Every day people are subjected to persuasive messages. It has been calculated that each person sees more than 300 of these messages each day. The majority of these messages come from advertising mediums including the television, radio, newspapers and magazines, billboards and on the internet and social media.
Persuasive messages take many different forms including the more recognisable ones of commercials and advertisements that aim to make you want to buy things. Other forms of persuasion include those social messages that encourage you to take specific actions such as losing weight, avoiding drugs, stopping smoking or ‘going green’ campaigns.
When you think about it the amount of persuasion we are bombarded with every day is almost overwhelming.
While some of these messages are helpful, the daily dose of ‘Buy this!’, ‘Buy that!’ can get very annoying for everyone.
Even children are targeted by persuasive messages. Cereal manufacturers advertise free toys on the outside of their boxes so children will pester their parents into buying them. Then there are those car commercials just making you want to go out and buy that brand new car!
So how can you manage to resist all of this constant persuasion?
Well, first of all, you need to be aware of the fact that you are being persuaded. This will help put you into a defensive mode and make resisting much of it easier.
You can easily recognise this situation when you are at the car dealership or dress shop looking at cars or outfits. Immediately a sales person is attempting to persuade you to buy that new car or outfit. When this happens ask for a time out or back away from the situation. Tell the person you just want to look and you are not ready to make a decision yet. If necessary walk away from the situation.
Another way to master resistance includes not shopping for items when you are tired or hungry. If you do, you may be rushed into making a decision that you will regret later on.
This also applies when a work colleague is trying to persuade you to do or say something that you are not sure about. If you are tired, or angry about something which has happened, it is easy to rush into a decision you may later regret. Be firm about taking your time to make your decision so you have the opportunity to consult others and consider all the options. There is nothing worse that a leader who is swayed by the last person they spoke to.
Want to know more?
And if you want to know more about Persuasion for Busy Leaders, check out our guide here… http://kmginfo.com/go/persuasion
Messages are conveyed in a wide range of ways, not just by our words. Any conflict between all these messages which are being conveyed simultaneously by different means will make it much more difficult to get your message across successfully. This becomes especially important if the organisation is involved in any crisis or controversy but it is also central to your marketing andpositioning strategy.
