Everyone persuades his/her friend to do something everyday. Or in many cases they get influenced very easily. Humans are extremely flawed when it comes to resisting something they really want to do, but unfortunately can't because of a conflict. But at the end they do it anyway! Why? Well here is an example.
1) X: Hey Y, what about going to the gym today?
2) Y: Am afraid I can’t, I have got to study for at least 2 hours today
3) X: why don’t you study right after the gym? , we will finish at 5 Pm, you will still have time, i can study with you too
4) Y: Well, my back hurts a little
5) X: But gym is the best cure forback pain , you will feel great right after we finish
6) Y: but my car is out of fuel and I don’t have money
7) X: I will come and pick you up, get ready in 10 minutes
8) Y: okk!!
2) Y: Am afraid I can’t, I have got to study for at least 2 hours today
3) X: why don’t you study right after the gym? , we will finish at 5 Pm, you will still have time, i can study with you too
4) Y: Well, my back hurts a little
5) X: But gym is the best cure for
6) Y: but my car is out of fuel and I don’t have money
7) X: I will come and pick you up, get ready in 10 minutes
8) Y: okk!!
So Y was convinced. But how did this happen! Well X did four very important things; He shook Y's belief, undermined his knowledge base, provided proof, and most important spoke confidently.
X was very assertive about going to the gym with Y, and he distracted Y from his plan for the day: STUDY. X told Y that they could study after working out. He made it clear to Y that they had plenty of time left to study. This strong support made Y feel that X knew what he was talking about and everything would be fine. Already X is successful with persuading Y because Y gives another excuse about his back, not anything about studying! Again with proof and confident speaking X gets to Y and convinces him that the gym will actually help his back. A positive for Y.... All in all, the more clues you can provide to strengthen your argument, the less skeptical the other person will be and so the easier they will be convinced.
Surprisingly, this strategy of persuading someone is EXACTLY like the American Revolution. For example, although colonists were getting frustrated with Britain, they still were reluctant to fight for independence. The big turning point came with the Boston Massacre. Newspapers depicted this event worse than it actually was! Patriots who desperately wanted independence, like Thomas Paine, took advantage of this and persuaded the colonists easily. Thomas Paine's Common Sense (note the title Common Sense. It makes the reader feel that this is the most logical thing to do and if he/she doesn't do it he/she is not intelligent) used the 4 steps of persuasion above to persuade the colonists to fight for independence. The pamphlet had a very strong and confident tone, it provided proof, made the reader think that "wow Thomas Paine a very important person is saying this. Maybe he is right?"
It is very interesting to see how the strategy of persuading someone has stayed the same throughout the years and in several different situation. These 4 strategies can work with anyone for whatever reason if it is convincing a person to fight for independence, or to go work out at the gym.
X was very assertive about going to the gym with Y, and he distracted Y from his plan for the day: STUDY. X told Y that they could study after working out. He made it clear to Y that they had plenty of time left to study. This strong support made Y feel that X knew what he was talking about and everything would be fine. Already X is successful with persuading Y because Y gives another excuse about his back, not anything about studying! Again with proof and confident speaking X gets to Y and convinces him that the gym will actually help his back. A positive for Y.... All in all, the more clues you can provide to strengthen your argument, the less skeptical the other person will be and so the easier they will be convinced.
Surprisingly, this strategy of persuading someone is EXACTLY like the American Revolution. For example, although colonists were getting frustrated with Britain, they still were reluctant to fight for independence. The big turning point came with the Boston Massacre. Newspapers depicted this event worse than it actually was! Patriots who desperately wanted independence, like Thomas Paine, took advantage of this and persuaded the colonists easily. Thomas Paine's Common Sense (note the title Common Sense. It makes the reader feel that this is the most logical thing to do and if he/she doesn't do it he/she is not intelligent) used the 4 steps of persuasion above to persuade the colonists to fight for independence. The pamphlet had a very strong and confident tone, it provided proof, made the reader think that "wow Thomas Paine a very important person is saying this. Maybe he is right?"
It is very interesting to see how the strategy of persuading someone has stayed the same throughout the years and in several different situation. These 4 strategies can work with anyone for whatever reason if it is convincing a person to fight for independence, or to go work out at the gym.
Very interesting blog post! I thought your X and Y example at the beginning was a very clever example which perfectly set you up to talk about the American Revolution and the persuasive writers of that time. I also liked how you explained the four things X did to convince Y because those four things usually apply in most cases when trying to persuade someone of something. Great job overall once again!
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