Persuading Uninformed People

• Information can be biased when persuading uniformed people.
• Persuade people who support you by energising them.
• You can’t persuade everyone, so your target persuasion carefully!

An uninformed person simply lacks knowledge or expertise of a subject. As a result, they don’t know enough to make an informed decision.

This group can be very easy to persuade because if a person is uniformed, you don’t have to weigh up the pros and cons of an issue, meaning you can bias information in your favour.

Establish Your Expertise 

To start persuading an uninformed person begin by establishing some credibility, such as by displaying some expertise or detailed knowledge of a subject.

If the person thinks you know what you are talking about, they will place greater value on what you say.

There is a natural tendency people have whereby they will listen to and accept what an expert is telling them. So if you have any experience or qualifications in a subject, use them to showcase your expertise.

Stating Your Proposal

To make your argument, keep your main points to three, and make sure they are easy to understand and backed up with credible evidence. Again, because this person is uniformed on the issue, you can bias the information in your favour.

So don’t become overly concerned about presenting a balanced argument, although you may want to add some negatives about your proposal to make it appear balanced. However make sure these are minor negatives, and don’t detract from your overall persuasion attempt.

To establish an emotional link, use the techniques that I discussed in previous articles such as story telling, metaphors and analogies. Use descriptive language to paint a picture in their mind, and get them to actively think about what you have said.

If you provide an opportunity for the other person to ask you questions, and answer them convincingly, your perceived credibility will also increase.

Persuading People Who Support You

This is by far the easiest group to persuade, as they already agree with what you have to say and hold the same or similar point of view.

The first step for successful persuasion is to reignite that persons enthusiasm, by inspiring them with success stories or past victories. Your aim is to get them feeling good again, and use that energy for your persuasion.

This technique is commonly used by politicians when speaking to their supporters. The leader will get the audience excited by telling them how far they have come, or what they have accomplished, and then make their proposal.

Because this person already supports you, you don’t need to prove your case or present a balanced argument. So focus on the benefits and advantages of what you can offer, and provide a detailed plan of action of what you want them to do.

If you feel someone may attack your ideas in the future, inoculate yourself against that attack.

Persuading A Mixed Group Of People

When dealing with groups of people you will very rarely find they are all supportive, neutral or hostile. Most audiences contain a mixture of these subgroups, and so it is unlikely you will successfully persuade them all.

Who Should You Persuade? 

When attempting to persuade a mixed group of people, you therefore first need to decide who you want to persuade.

The most effective subgroup to target are those who are in the majority. Those who are largest in number. The reason you should target your persuasion at this subgroup is for two reasons:

1 – They will provide you with the largest support or opposition.

2 – By successfully persuading the majority of a group, you create an interesting phenomenon called “group think”.

This means that individuals in a group are more likely to think and behave in the same way that the majority of the group think and behave.

Broaden Your Message

Whilst appealing to the majority of a group certainly does have its advantages, this does not necessarily mean you should ignore other members of the group.

If you want to try and make your message appeal to as many people as possible, then you can always tailor different parts of your speech to suit different types of people.

The best example of this can be seen with television advertisements for children’s products such as toys, games and food. The advertisers know that whilst the children may want their product, it is the parents who have the money.

To appeal to both audiences, the advert usually has a message for the child, and another for the parent. This is called 2 sided advertising, whereby your message is designed to appeal to multiple subgroups.

However be extremely careful when trying to appeal to everyone in a mixed audience, as you may end up alienating everyone. There is a good saying that sums this up:

“if you try to be everything to everyone, you will end up being nothing to no one”

So target your message to the most influential majority, and tailor your message to target other subgroups if necessary. But don’t try and please everyone, otherwise you will fail.