Persuasiveness: A Self-Test

Persuasiveness: A Self-Test

(Source: All About Communication, International.)

To what extent do you do the following things when you urgently want to persuade
somebody of something and he/she appears resistant? (Consider your behavior both
at work and in your private life.) Use the following scale:
0= never 1=sometimes 2=often or always
1. Repeat points___
2. Get louder___
3. Use more forceful language___
4. Talk at great length___
5. Become insulting___
6. Spell out the logic of your arguments___
7. Interrupt objections or explanations of the other person ___
8. Immediately argue against objections ___
9. Accuse the other person of improper motives for resisting or disagreeing ___
10. Ask loaded (rhetorical) questions (“Don’t you think…,” “Why would anybody…?”
etc.)_
11. Pout, look hurt or exasperated, etc.___
12. Bring up past (related or vaguely related) incidents or non-compliance___
13. Empathize or sympathize (“I can see what you mean…,I’d feel the same if I were
in your position.’’) etc. ___
14. Listen to each point or objection___
15. Speak enthusiastically, but without “railroading” or overwhelming the listener ___
16. Watch your own body language to avoid signals of aggression or wimpiness
17. Be brief in making your points and stop often to check for concurrence with your
listeners ___
18. Watch the other person’s body language for signs of disagreement___
19. Ask focused questions aimed at:
- unearthing all obstacles or objections, including those, the other person is
trying to hold back for various reasons___
- finding conditions under which agreement would be possible___

Evaluation: If you have many ratings of 1 or 2 for items 1-12, you’ll benefit greatly
from working on your persuasion skills and attitudes. If your 1 and 2 ratings occur
more in items 13-19, you have sound habits that should give you a good chance of
persuading people to your point of view.