Overview

Persuading others to see your viewpoint or to consider your ideas in part of a larger dialogue is one of the most important aspects of communication. You will need to persuade not only subordinates but also peers, supervisors, managers, clients, and customers. Anyone in a position of authority will need to earn trust, loyalty, and cooperation from subordinates in order to do a good job, and these all require forms of persuasion.

Persuasion is not something you "do to" someone. It is not a manipulative act, a trick of argument, or something slick done by marketing and public relations people. Surely these people become adept at certain techniques that can lead to persuasion, but in an age of interactivity, people are far less likely to sit passively and be "done to." They will want to talk back, challenge you, and interact and dialogue with your ideas.

Often persuasion is not a simple matter of yes or no. You may write a proposal for funding a project. Rather than accepting or rejecting your proposal, the funding agency may send you elaborate feedback and encourage you to revise your proposal and reapply.

Not everyone can be persuaded in the same fashion, so you will need to consider multiple points of entry and common ground across different audiences and cultures. Knowing your audience (see Chapter 3) will help a great deal, especially when communicating in a global context. But you also will need to negotiate successfully, which means learning how to listen, knowing what to ask for, and how to ask for it, and being able to compromise.