According to businessdictorionary.com, persuasion can be defined as the...
“Process aimed at changing a person's (or a group's) attitude or behavior toward some event, idea, object, or other person(s), by using written or spoken words to convey information, feelings, or reasoning, or a combination of them.”
And, as you are probably aware, all communication is Persuasion…
Whether you are selling a product, service or idea, trying to motivate yourself to pick up the phone and call a potential client, asking for a date from the cute girl at the end of the bar or trying to convince your kids to do their homework.
Take for instance… if you were to make a simple passing comment such as…
“Today is a beautiful day.”
Just by the act of saying those words, you have shifted your listener’s attention to the weather and created a picture within their mind.
Now, they might be thinking…
Wow, its so nice out…life is great... or…
Maybe...
What, are you crazy? Who cares about the weather? Have you seen the news? The world is falling apart.
Two totally different images. Two totally different feelings you conjured with one small sentence.
Because...
Every communication… no matter how innocent the sentence seems to be… has the power to make a difference… to influence… to persuade… to change the path of your listener.