When it comes to being persuasive and assertive about what you want, there are certain psychological techniques you can actively employ to influence people and outcomes for the most beneficial results.
Indeed, the power of negotiation and persuasion can get you far – both in your career and personal life. But, what are some of the most effective psychological techniques for negotiation and persuasion, and how can you best use these skills to elicit the results you want to achieve?
Stay with us as we explore this fascinating concept further.
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Business and Negotiation: Persuasive Skills to Employ in the Business World
In the business world, being able to persuade others to see concepts from your perspective can dramatically influence the course of your career. To become more effective at business negotiation, it helps immensely to understand the psychology of human behavior, and how it can influence business proceedings. Completing a business psychology degree can assist with this, as it will teach you some of the most effective psychological tools and techniques to use to negotiate with others in your favor.
Some of the psychological tools that are essential to business dealings include:
Developing Attractive Interpersonal Skills
Charm and charisma go a long way in the business world. Indeed, it is a common fact that people like to deal with people they like. That is to say, if you let your personality shine and learn how to build positive relationships with others, it will become easier to communicate, influence, and negotiate with them.
Using Persuasive and Positive Language
When communicating with your business associates, try using language that is positive, inclusive, and collaborative. For example, try speaking in the plural first person (“we”) when discussing future actions and potential achievements. This will help make your desired outcomes appear mutually beneficial for all parties.
Maintaining Control of the Conversation
An important business negotiation technique is to ensure that you are leading the conversation in a direction that is beneficial to you. If the person you are negotiating with goes off track or sidesteps onto unrelated tangents, make concerted efforts to rein the conversation back to the focus point. You can do this by taking control of the metaphorical wheel and steering it back to where it needs to be.
Social Influence: Using Effective Negotiation in Your Personal Life
The power of persuasion and negotiation is not just useful in the business world. You can also use certain psychological tools and techniques to influence those around you in your personal life. Some of these social skills include:
Managing Confrontation and Tackling Unpleasant Conversations
That many of us prefer to avoid confrontation or having unpleasant, uncomfortable conversations. This is especially true if you are non-confrontational, and tend to shy away from confrontation.
However, avoidance – while often appearing to be the easy route – is not always the best tactic. Indeed, the people in your life will come to respect you more if you learn to tackle these types of difficult situations head-on, rather than sweeping them under the rug. The more you do this, the more competent and at ease you will become. As you gain confidence, it will become easier to negotiate and diffuse confrontational situations by dealing with them straight on.
Resolving Issues and Disagreements
Another important psychological skill to develop in your social life is learning how to perform effective conflict management. Resolving issues and disagreements is central to having a peaceful and stress-free social life. Needless to say, if you spend your life arguing with the people around you, you will not be happy or at peace. By learning how to actively listen, resolve issues together, and cooperate with others, your life will be much simpler, more peaceful, and happier.
Undoubtedly, developing effective social and interpersonal skills is essential to communicating with other humans. What many of us don’t realise, is that some specific psychological tools and techniques can help us communicate and negotiate more effectively.
Of course, these skills can be extremely helpful – both in our personal lives and in our careers. But, regardless of how you choose to use these psychological tools and techniques, the power of persuasion and negotiation cannot be negated.