Key Concepts Covered

1. Ancient Science of Persuasion in 6 Principles
   1. Principle of Liking – People like those who like them. Uncover real similarities and offer genuine praise.
   2. Principle of Reciprocity – People repay in kind. When giving something, you are increasing the probability of you getting back something back from the others too.
   3. Principle of Social Proof – People follow the lead of similar others.
   4. Principle of Consistency – People align with their clear commitments; make their commitment active and public.
   5. Principle of Authority – People listen to experts – expose your expertise, don’t assume it is self-evident.
   6. Principle of Scarcity – People want more of what is limited.

2. Channels of Persuasion

1. Interest Based Persuasion – Trade Interests and Needs
2. Authority Based Persuasion – Using Rules to Get Obedience
3. Politics – Acting in Concert
4. Rationality – Offering Reasons and Evidence
5. Inspiration and Emotion – Visionary Persuasion
6. Relationship – Rapport and Relationship

3. Art of Neutral NO – Choose ONE main reason and stick to it – instead of several smaller/weaker reasons, always have ONE that’s the one you are using.

1. Not Harsh
2. Not Aggressive
3. Not Apologetic
4. Not Reluctant
5. Not Heavily Buffered
6. Not Overly Nice

4. What NOT to do when refusing

1. Don’t give too much to read by mixing messages and adding emotions
2. Don’t weaken your no with weak reasons upfront
3. Don’t give misguided empathy
4. Don’t sound like at battlefront
5. Don’t give false hope
6. Don’t avoid staying with No – practice it more

5. Special Focus: EMAIL

1. Increased Contentiousness – More susceptible to disruption, distrust, competition. All due to physical distance.
   1. Can be of advantage: Lean media may prevent emotional flow; But needs to be paced properly
   1. Unmask yourself – show you are human
   2. Think what to unmask – potential bias
   3. Unmask the other – human there
   4. Pace – Think – use email’s asynchronicity

1. Diminished Cooperation – Constrained, reduced social awareness, less understanding of interests and priorities.Focused inwardly, self-interested
   1. Can be of advantage: Parallel processing – interactivity – more information – increased participation. Pie-expanding opportunities – discussing multiple issues – thinking of synergies
   2. Use interest-related language often
   3. Take the stage – explain, argument
   4. Request multiparty feedback 
   5. Use bundling – issues
   6. If other party ignores some points, point out to “omission” and call their attention
   7. Think where you want to type response – phone, tablet, desktop?

1. Reduced Integrative Outcome – Reduced cooperation implies lower rates of integrative outcomes. Potential for deadlock higher than in face-to-face
   1. Can be of advantage: Potential for logrolling and prioritisation
   1. Time to allow for reflection and cooperation
   2. Use multimedia attachments (charts, presentations) – expand lean media
   3. Frame – every message is an opportunity

1. Diminished Privacy – Parties sharing information with wider circles. Beyond your control – may be due to someone’s intention or technicality
   1. Can be of advantage: Allows consulting with others optimally; Ease of spreading information. Consider each address field carefully – to, cc, bcc
   2. Use at your advantage – refer to history as needed
   3. Don’t write anything in an email that you wouldn’t want to be shown on the news
2. Diminished Trust – Less of a Rapport – Less of a Trust. Perception of being less skilled in detecting deception online. Errors more prone to be interpreted as deception
   1. Can be of advantage: Being more prudent and conscious; Pace the trust-building
   2. Build Rapport
   3. Take the time for social lubrication
   4. Mix media, – write, meet, write, call, write, etc
   5. Show e-empathy

1. Increased Misrepresentation – Fundamental attribution error – negative actions/statements interpreted as negative intentions and character. Absence of visual cues and fewer clarifying questions asked by negotiators
   1. Can be of advantage: If consulted, clarified, crafted with care. Focus on understanding, not jumping to first conclusion
   2. Increase social presence – real person opposite
   3. Write clearly and clarify more than you do in face to face
      • Don’t overload
      • Use “In summary” sentences to highlight main points
      • Use Subject Field carefully and intentionally – it is a frame!
      • Avoid emoticons – especially early in correspondence
      • Think to answer from phone or desktop/laptop
   4. Waiting / Perceived delay – manage both sides
   5. Be careful with humour!
   6. Recognise when to stop emails and dial phone!

1. Diminished Commitment & Investment – Less motivated, minimum commitment as opposed to standing up, dressing up for meeting, etc. Emailing during “garbage time” – when commuting, when not having other stuff
   1. Can be of advantage: Lower cost of negotiation. Good for conflict-averse negotiators
   2. Stay on top. Keep counterpart engaged. Regular Contact but not getting pushy.
   3. Bridge time gaps: “as per my email/as I wrote on” etc
   4. It may be you – you may be under-investing in email feedback.
2. Diminished Focus – Media-related confusion, diminished concentration and low cognitive retention. Multitasking or Noise decrease focus
   1. Can be of advantage: If you are organised, use it against opponent. Refresh memory checking history
   2. Focus: close any other tabs/browsers while reading or writing emails
   3. Beware of costs of distraction when emailing during “garbage time” like commuting
   4. Go mobile – intentionally = take your negotiation to a place where you feel comfortable!

Task to Prepare

Each student – individually will be required to provide an example of one of the six principles of persuasion. Just choose one principle individually and think of the example to illustrate that principle. Each student will have about 2 minutes to speak and 1 slide to prepare and present.

Make sure the slide is considering all the points of proper visual communication as covered previously. Make the messages simple and explain with examples. Do NOT just provide definition. Actually this task is NOT about putting definition of a principle. Instead – think of a situation, case, scenario, or a story where that principle is well-illustrated. This could be something that happened to you, or something from a movie, or any situation in real life. This could be a situation where you were persuading someone or when someone else was trying to persuade you. Looking forward to your interesting stories.