How To Use Personality Types When Persuading

In this article we will look at how to determine what type of personality someone how, and the various persuasion techniques you can use on that personality.

Determining Personality Types

Here are some questions you can ask to discover someones personality type:

1 – Does the person I want to persuade usually prefer to talk about an issue out loud before acting (extrovert), or prefer to reflect on a problem before talking and acting (introvert)?

2 – Does the person I want to persuade pay attention to specific and detailed information (sensor), or respond to the global or big picture (intuitive)?

3 – When making a decision does the person I want to persuade base a decision on the quality of facts and evidence (thinkers), or consider the impact on people’s values and feelings (feelers)?

4 – Does the person I want to persuade prefer to proceed quickly once a decision has been made (judger), or prefer to keep their options open (perceiver)?

Play Detective Before Trying To Persuade

As a persuader you are not going to know the personality type of everyone you meet. Therefore, rather than trying to persuade someone immediately it is far wiser to carefully observe the person, looking for any clues which may suggest what type of person they are. 

This can largely be done by asking carefully crafted questions, and listening closely to what the person says. A big mistake many people make is trying to persuade too soon, before ascertaining the personality type.

So play detective, and make sure you have enough evidence to suggest a personality type before you start trying to persuade them.

Remember, people have different personality types, and different people prefer to be persuaded in different ways.

Your success as a persuader is therefore largely determined by your ability to identify a persons personality type, and persuading them in a style that is effective for that personality.

Persuasion Strategies

Once you have identified a personality type, there are certain strategies you can use. Here is a reminder of the scales and their preferences.

1. How and where we get our energy from (E) Extrovert – (I) Introvert scale.
2. What type of information we pay attention to (S) Sensor – (N) Intuitive scale.
3. How we make decisions (T) Thinker – (F) Feeler scale.
4. How we resolve issues (J) Judger – (P) Perceiver scale.

Persuading Different Personality Types

On a social level the most important scale to consider is first scale, where a person gets their energy from.

For example, if you wanted to do something with your partner it would be a good idea to determine whether they are an extrovert or introvert.

If they are an extrovert then you may want to choose activities which involve being around lots of other people. Such as going to a nightclub, a restaurant or a sporting event.

If your partner is an introvert then you may want to choose something more intimate, such as a quite night in together perhaps watching a film, or having a picnic on a field together.

The fourth scale, how a person resolves issues, is most useful when making deals, coming to conclusions or disagreements.

However please remember that although people tend to have an overall preference for each scale (e.g. introvert or extrovert) they are rarely solely confined to that preference.

What this means is that although a person may predominantly be an introvert, they may also be bit of an extrovert. So keep this in mind when picking your influence strategies, and be prepared to be flexible.

Personality Types And Persuasion

When it comes to persuasion, what you really need to concentrate on are the 2 middle scales: What type of information a person pays attention to and how that person makes decisions.

(S) Sensor – (N) Intuitive

(T) Thinker – (F) Feeler

When you narrow it down to these two scales, you will find that there are only 4 possible personality type combinations:

ST, SF, NT and NF

By focusing on just these four combinations you come up with four key influencing strategies. To be effective, choose one of these options.

Persuasion Strategies

To Persuade ST:

Concentrate on the evidence, and present a step by step logical analysis. Focus on the evidence.

To Persuade SF:

Concentrate on the details, and show how these details will affect the people involved. Focus on the relationship.

To Persuade NT:

Present an overview first, and offer a series of well analysed practical options. Focus on the logical possibilities.

To Persuade NF:

Present the big picture, and demonstrate how your proposal will impact peoples lives, values and feelings. Help the other person realise their vision.

Adopting Personality Types 

As a final note, please remember that people with the same or similar personality types tend to get on well together, establish rapport quickly and communicate well together.

However the more different your personality types are, the longer it will take to establish rapport and the more difficult it will be to communicate effectively.

It is therefore in your best interest as a persuader to identify a person’s personality type, and “adapt” yourself to be more like the person you are trying to persuade/influence.

If you would like more information on personality types, please see this personality website.