Metaphorize Your Way To Persuasion-Success

 What do the following have in common?

Headline: "To save lives, inventors had to change minds" (by Robert Davis in USA Today, July 30, 2003, page 1B)

Quotation:  "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." (by Albert Einstein)

Fact:    The word "prejudice" comes from two Latin words: "prae" meaning before.
And "judicium" meaning a judgment. When others prejudge us, they don't give us a chance. They show prejudice by forming an opinion that doesn't give us benefit of the doubt. In short, their minds are made up without being opened up.

Opinion: "I quickly became convinced that good police officers are the greatest communicators in the world." (by George Thompson, author of Verbal Judo)

Answer: They all show the value of persuasion skills.

But it's not just inventors and scientists and cops who need to persuade others. It's you.
And me. And anyone who interacts with others on a daily basis. Want to succeed at your current level? Want to move ahead in your career? If so, you need to improve your ability to persuade. Never doubt that your success depends on your ability to influence others.

For example, you need to motivate your team. You need to make way for change. You need to develop morale. You need to convince others to get along. You need to persuade staff members to support the mission. You need them to give 110% of their effort. You need to have customers choose your produce. You need to develop trust.  You need to get others to accept new policies. You need to defuse conflicts.

Success with these "needs" and with many others depends on your persuasive talent.
There's also the need to have your ideas listened to and then adopted. Think about those who excel at this. Such people usually have great  success in their careers. But...they are probably no smarter than you are. Chances are, they've had the same opportunities you've had. It's quite possible they are not "connected," either. What makes them, then, so influential?

The answer often lies in their ability to persuade others. Master-persuaders are not born. They're made. You can make yourself into a persuasion-meister by studying the styles of those who are very, very successful at the influence game.

While there are many tools they use, studies show most successful persuaders make use of metaphors. If you don't yet have one that fits the work you do, create it. And--in case you've forgotten your high school English--a metaphor is simply a comparison between two things not usually compared. Here's an example from Peter Silas, head of Philips Petroleum: "We can no longer wait for the storm to pass. We must learn to work in the rain."