One Thing You Must Do To Be Convincing At Work
A framework to always come up with convincing arguments
A successful persuader always gives you one reason after another to do something. The question is — how to come up with all those reasons?
I am watching House of Cards for the 3rd time. The show is filled with negotiation tactics.
Let’s take this example: Frank wants David to be part of a “coup” to bump away David’s boss, Birch.
Organizing a coup is never easy. And David is not an aggressive man.
In order to convince David, Frank did:
- Tap into David’s ambition
- Lay out a plan
- Pause when pressured
- Mention peers
- Compliment David’s core
Frank first says to David,
“You ought to take better care of yourself. You’re never going to be Speaker (Birch’s role) unless you do something about it. The only way you can become Speaker is when Birch loses his district or retires. ”
Frank is tapping into David’s ambition. This applies to the workplace too. Trying to convince your boss to do something? Start with the grand goal she wanted.
David, as expected, isn’t moved and says he’s very satisfied with where he is.
Frank ignores David’s no. This is important — you’re gonna get a lot of Nos. But the best thing to do is ignoring the No and keep going. Keep coming up with your reasons. The more grounds you can cover, the more likely you will succeed in persuading.
So Frank goes one step further, laying out a specific way to achieve the goal of making David the Speaker. Frank says,
“If you want it, and I know you do. There’s a way. All you need is a simple majority. We can get at least 205 votes from G.O.P. After that, all you need is 13. You and I make another 2.”
At this point, being conservative as he is, David is starting to question Frank’s “ridiculous” idea, “Are you out of your mind?”
Under such pressure, Frank isn’t backing down. To diffuse the tension, Frank replies with a simple but effective “pause” sentence:
“Just consider it for a moment.”
We have kept going. But the tension may have built up too if your opponent hasn’t resonated with any of your reasons yet. It’s critical to diffuse the tension first.
Frank then continues. This time he uses another argument about their peers:
“The Republicans would love a chance to knock Bob down a peg or two.”
Mentioning peers is a must in any negotiation. In Frank’s example, he’s using the peers, i.e. G.O.P. to add weight to why his plan will work. At the workplace, this is equivalent to mentioning how other departments or stakeholders are behind your idea. Another way to use peers to persuade is when your idea seems too bold — it isn’t if your peers are thinking of doing it.
“Bob will not play ball with the White House. But you’re a reasonable man, David. We can work with you.”
Finally, compliments — another must in negotiations. Your opponent ought to feel special and that she/he is the best fit for the job. Therefore, try to compliment them on something they’re proud of. Something special. Something other people don’t normally compliment them on.
Tapping into ambition and giving compliments often go hand in hand.
The framework starts with tapping into ambition/goal. Then you lay out a plan, pause when pressured, mention peers, and close it with compliments.