Building Trust For Persuasion
How To Build Trust To Persuade PeopleÂ
- If you appear to have nothing to gain you will appear more persuasive.
- Indirect persuasion is very effective!
- Make yourself an expert at something!
In the last article we looked at the importance of trust in persuasion. In this article, we will look at ways of developing that trust.
Acting Against Your Own Self Interest
Because acting in your own self interest (i.e. doing something only because you will benefit) causes a perceived lack of trust, one way persuaders can appear trustworthy is by doing the opposite, acting against their own self interest.
If we are convinced that someone has nothing to gain from their actions, or perhaps something to loose, we are much more likely to see that person as trustworthy and be persuaded by them.
For example, if someone was running a sponsored marathon where all the money they raised went to charity, you would most likely be more willing to sponsor them than if they were going to keep all the money themselves.
The key point to remember here is that when we think someone is doing something only to benefit themselves, we are less likely to go along with what they say or do.
If however we perceive that person as engaging in a selfless act, where they act for the benefit of others, we are more likely to be persuaded by them.
Hidden Persuasion
Corporations face the same credibility problems as individuals, and often much worse. People seem to have a natural distrust of large organisations, as they are commonly seen as functioning only to serve their own needs.
To get round this barrier, large corporations often create “front groups”.
These are simply hired groups of experts who publicly promote what the corporation wants, whilst at the same time claiming to speak for the public interest.
Some even claim this occurs with news organisations who promote a certain political agenda, by supporting the favoured candidate.
This is why you should always be weary of any “experts” you see on TV who clearly support the policies of large organisations or governments.
Often these “experts” have simply been hired to promote the party line, whilst appearing as though they are unbiased and independent.
Indirect Persuasion
One of the best ways to increase trustworthiness and decrease bias, is to convince the other person that you are not trying to persuade them.
For example, suppose someone gave you a “hot tip” on a horse which was going to be racing soon. Would you place a bet?
You might, however if you were to accidentally overhear someone talking about the best horse to bet on, chances are you would be more likely to place a bet.
This occurs because when we believe that we are not being purposefully influenced, we naturally assume the information to be more truthful and less biased, than if someone was purposefully trying to influence us.
You can take advantage of this via indirect persuasion, whereby the less obvious your persuasion attempt appears, the more persuasive your message becomes.
This principle can be seen on both TV advertisements and entertainment programmes. The use of a hidden camera gives the appearance that something is real, not staged and truthful.
There are many comedy shows which use this hidden camera style with great success. The reason these shows are so successful, is that we believe what we see to be real, which makes the comedy even more funny.
Films are also starting to use a hand held camera perspective, such as ”The Blair Witch Project” and “Cloverfield”, because it gives an added sense of realism and believability to the film.
Turn A Negative Into Positive
Another way to increase trust is by admitting a negative and turning it into a positive. People tend to be very skeptical when you tell them good things about you, as anyone could lie about themselves.
However, people find negatives far easier to believe, which is something you can use to your advantage.
A good example of this can be seen with an Avis rental cars advertising campaign. For years, Avis had been claiming they were the “finest in rent-a-cars”.
The trouble with this slogan was that Hertz rental cars were recognised as the market leaders, so how could Avis have the “finest cars” when they were no.2?
As a result, people did not believe this slogan, and Avis were loosing money year after year.
However, Avis soon changed its advertising strategy by admitting it was no.2. Their new slogan became “Avis is No.2. We try harder”.
The advertising claims were now seen as credible, and after 13 years of loosing money, Avis began to make money.
In persuasion you can use this technique by presenting a negative, which triggers an instant agreement in the other persons mind. Once you have done this, you must then quickly shift to a positive that will convince them.
People Believe Negatives More Than Positives
Remember, you can tell someone all the good things about you, but they will most likely either be highly suspicious or reject what you say completely.
Negatives are often instantly accepted as facts, and if used correctly, can be a powerful tool in your persuasion arsenal.
However, do not go on and on about how bad you are. You are not trying to put yourself down, or make yourself look stupid.
The purpose of using negatives is to make yourself appear trustworthy. Once people believe you can be trusted, persuading them becomes far easier.
A similar technique you can use is to openly admit the weaknesses or disadvantages associated with your proposal.
This is an excellent persuasion technique because it disarms the listener, by suggesting to them that you are an honest person and someone who can be trusted. Once you can be trusted, they can then be persuaded.
Others Ways To Increase Trust:
- Be reliable. Do what you promise and publicise your achievements. We distrust unreliable people and discount everything they say.
- Be rational. Its much easier to trust someone who make decisions based on reason, rather than emotion. Simon Cowell is a good example.
- Be Receptive. Its much easier to trust someone who is receptive to our needs and concerns.
- Don’t oversell or exaggerate. Under-promise and over-deliver. People will not trust you if your words do not match up with your actions.
- Promote yourself. Use someone who is already trusted to associate themselves with you somehow. The trust that person has earned will spread to you.
Make Yourself An Expert To Increase Persuasion
Once trust has been established it is much easier to build the second pillar of credibility, that of expertise. An expert is simply someone who is regarded as being exceptional or highly skilled in a particular field.
For example, doctors, dentists and lawyers could all be called experts, because they are highly trained at what they do.
Typically, experts demonstrate their expertise to us through their subject’s technical language and terms, writing books, qualifications, publishing articles or giving television and/or radio interviews.
However, you don’t have to be a doctor, dentist or lawyer to be seen as an expert, these are just examples. Anything in which you have a detailed level of knowledge and understanding, can help you to be seen as an expert by other people.
As an expert, people will hold your words in high regard. They will listen to what you have to say, and in most cases, agree with you. This will make persuasion a lot easier.
Ways To Increase Your Expert StatusÂ
If you don’t feel you are currently an expert at anything, here are some tips on increasing your perceived level of expertise.
- Publish articles or a book relevant to your field of interest.
- Persuade someone who is recognised as an expert in your field to publicly endorse you.
- Speak at events relevant to your field.
- Publicly celebrate any success you achieve, to show your ideas are right.
- Learn to speak the language of your field.
- Attend courses and seminars in your field, to keep you up-to-date with new developments.
- Read 1 hour each day in your subject of interest.
