Persuasion skills training for managers and professional people

To be successful persuaders it’s essential for us to be good not only at getting people to listen to us but also at listening to them.  Both aspects of communication are equally crucial. 

Many managers and professional people are trapped in the belief that the best way to persuade someone to your point of view is to present it clearly and forcefully.  They assume that anyone intelligent and rational must see reason if you present it well.  They get frustrated and discouraged when people seem unable to see reason.  They don’t seem to realise that the key to persuasion lies not in how well you put your point across, but in how you respond when you meet with resistance.  After many years of doing persuasion skills training we are convinced that the most crucial, as well as the most difficult, persuasion skill is how to handle objections and resistance, and that has to do with listening (see listening skills and listening with empathy).

On the London based "Skills with People" course you’ll learn there’s much more to persuasion skills than learning to present your ideas clearly and forcefully.  Although the title of the course is not Persuasion skills training, you’ll see from Skills with People course contents that Persuasion skills training could be the title.  (See also Influencing skills and Selling skills, and Sales Training).