The Power to Influence By Tom Wood

A great speaker named Sisarow when he spoke people were ready to go to war. He stoked their emotions to action.

The Power to Influence
By Tom Wood


1. Build rapport

Building rapport is building trust consciously and unconsciously.

2. Discover and listen

You have to ask questions to understand where people are coming from.
You have to listen with genuine interest.

3. Expose the problem

People take action to solve the problem.
we clean the car when it's dirty, we go buy food when we are hungry. We listen to music when we need to escape.
Finding out what the problem is and exposing it is the first step in creating that need, that desire to take action. Expose the problem.

4. Expose the solution and make it simple

People will not take action if they are confused. You almost got to make it step by step clear how your solution will solve their problem. And they have got to feel like they can do it. When you give a solution is has to be simple.

5. Appeal to emotions.

All actions come down to emotion. Some people say that emotion is energy in motion.
Facts tell, stories sell. If you want to create emotion tell stories. Sisarow knew the value of stories. He created emotion and that emotion created action.


6. You must ask for action

You have to have the confidence to ask people to take action. Like a waiter that is not connected to the outcome when he or she asks if you want some coffee. You have to ask like that.

Great influencers used these six principles and there are many more.

Book recommendation: By Robert Cialdini. Influence The psychology of persuasion