Inspirations

THE POWER OF PERSUASION
Lessons in persuasion...

• Speak briefly. Always keep important presentations concise -- and effective. Work hard in advance to keep them short.
• Begin on common ground. Start by stressing the beliefs and desires you share with your audience. Without being condescending, indicate that you understand and sympathize with their needs.
• Keep your demands to a minimum. Make only one or two points in any presentation. Most people's attention spans are too short to absorb more.

Better:Imply that you have more information than you have been able to tell your audience. Your goal here is merely to spark your audience's imagination, not to satisfy it.

THE POWER OF MAKING OTHERS FEEL GOOD

• The art of pleasing is to be pleased. Dazzling others with your accomplishments may seem like a way to win people over and achieve grander status. But you can actually achieve greater power and influence by mastering the ability to make others feel good.
• Be truly interested in what others have to say. Teach yourself to be visibly involved when others talk. Concentrate on their topics, and ask questions about their accomplishments and interests. Don't abruptly shift the focus of conversation. It can hurt the other's feelings.
• Make the other person look good. Create the impression that the other person asked a good question or that he/she is interesting. Concentrate on what's being said, not on what you want to say.
• Convey a sense of having infinite time -- even when you don't have much. If you are pressed for time, let the other person know early on. Then it is a fact. But if the other person senses your impatience from your hasty manner, negative feelings about you will result.

THE POWER OF DECISIVENESS

• Realize that most decisions are reversible. If your decision was a bad one, it almost always can be changed -- if not immediately, then over time. There are always valuable lessons to be learned along the way.
• Avoid blaming others for your mistakes.It's habit that becomes addictive since it absolves you of any wrongdoing or responsibility. Blaming others also keeps you from taking action.
• Start by making small, less important decisions first. The big ones will be easier later.
• Do it -- even if it means doing it badly. It's more important to take a position than to put up the perfect defense against error. The first three tries might be done badly, but they will surely lead to a fourth, more successful try.

THE POWER OF SHOWING MERCY

It pays to forgive and forget. A person's entire nature is often determined by whether he is guided by mercy or not. Being without mercy could often pull one down from greatness.

• When you show mercy toward others, you make friends forever. By showing mercy, you are relieving people of the need to be perfect in your presence. You are telling them that they have room to err -- or to look foolish. Such generosity is rarely forgotten. People without mercy become off-putting and make lifelong enemies because of their coldness and lack of humanity.
• Mercy is an easy road to a great sense of exhiliration and power. Refrain from any act of power at another's expense -- and see how you feel. Practice by forgiving a blunder by a loved one or colleague. You'll feel stronger and more self-confident in your judgment and wisdom.
• Being merciful toward others will give you tremendous emotional ease and personal freedom. By letting go of grudges, you lessen the risk of hypertension and other maladies that can end your life prematurely.
• Mercy toward oneself is also important. The person who is pitiless toward himself feels desperately insecure over one trivial fault after another.

Without feeling mercy toward yourself, you cannot feel self-love. The elation of empowerment that comes from forgiving yourself is, in itself, matchless.

---

<< Previous Page | Next Page >>
Inspirations Home

Suggestions or your own contributions welcome !

Send me e-mail to: jo9@onebox.com