What Most People Don't Know About Persuasion

If you're like most people, you would love to be more persuasive. Having more influence makes you more valuable in the marketplace.

Here's the thing: people, your audience, your prospects, your potential employer, all of these individuals decide whether to allow you to persuade them.

It's their choice, not yours.

Your job is to make the choice easy: being credible, likable, trustworthy.

The thing is, people take all of 7 seconds to make this decision about you.

People take in your attitude, your posture, the way you dress, your mannerisms....and make this huge judgment about you. And yes, they know you're not supposed to judge people.

If you trust yourself, accept yourself, and like yourself, then others will do the same. And if they don't, they're not your people anyway.

37 Paths to Being A Better Speaker

1. Join a civic group or community service organization.

2. Practice with your family and ask for feedback. (You'll get blunt honesty from your kids.)

3. Go to TED and listen to one talk every day or so.

4. Join Toastmasters.

5. Write down your purpose first.

6. Create hunger for your topic.

7. Write an outline.

8. Give a talk in a non-threatening (for you) environment.

9. Tell your audience why your topic is important to you.

10. Don't apologize, unless you REALLY mess up.

11. Hire a coach. ;-)

12. Speak about topics you care about.

13. Focus on your audience.

14. Make it shorter.

15. Learn a new word every day.

16. Watch movies and pay attention to how stories are told.

17. Eavesdrop.

18. Use short sentences.

19. Stand up straight.

20. Visit a museum for inspiration.

21. Listen to what people are complaining about.

22. Stand up straight.

23. Breathe deeply.

24. Keep yer hands out of yer pockets.

25. Write your ideas for future talks in your journal.

26. Have someone record your presentation and watch it afterwards.

27. Do the research.

28. Put the quantitative stuff on a hand out.

29. Think of a better example.

30. Make a list of 10 new metaphors.

31. Appreciate your audience.

32. Relax.

33. Ask speakers you enjoy for their suggestions.

34. Challenge yourself to be more creative with your visual support.

35. Get a makeover.

36. Take notes.

37. Have fun with it. It's your show.