Influence skills are an essential element of success in both your professional and personal life. These skills include active listening, storytelling, building rapport, empathy, confidence, credibility, and creating trust. It doesn’t matter if you are leading a team, negotiating, or building relationships—every interaction requires influence. The better you become at these skills, the more successful you will be in these areas.
If you want to influence and persuade others to gain more opportunities, become a charismatic leader, or increase your salary, you need a charisma coach. Book a discovery call with a charisma coach today to learn the art of charisma. Click the button below.
The Foundations of Influence Skills
The key influence skills you need to understand are credibility, logic, and emotion—three powerful elements that can change the minds of even the most stubborn people.
Credibility
We trust those who have credibility. For example, we believe doctors about our health because they have the coveted status of “Dr.” However, would we trust their advice on fixing a car? Likely not, because they lack credibility in that area. You need credibility to successfully influence someone.
Emotion
Emotion is often overlooked in debates, yet humans are not always logical or rational. Appealing to someone’s emotions—such as through storytelling—can be a powerful way to persuade. Politicians, for example, often use emotion to win votes, even from people who may not fully agree with their policies.
Logic
Data, statistics, and evidence are critical components of persuasion. Humans often look for evidence to confirm their beliefs. For instance, car companies highlight data comparing their products to competitors’ to make a logical appeal that their car is better.
Powerful Persuasion Techniques
Let’s break down some of the key techniques you can use to build credibility, use emotion, and harness logic.
Sharing Personal Stories
Storytelling is an underrated influence skill. Sharing anecdotes from your life helps others connect and empathize with you. For example, a news report stating 100,000 people died can be acknowledged as bad, but hearing a personal story about a breakup might feel worse because humans relate more to personal stories than statistics.
Social Proof
People need reassurance that the decision they’re making is the right one. Imagine a politician who wants your vote—they build credibility by demonstrating social proof, such as highlighting endorsements, past successes, or experience. Similarly, in a job interview, sharing your qualifications, relevant experiences, and case studies boosts your credibility and helps influence the employer.
Stats and Data
Stats, data, and evidence are powerful tools for persuasion, but the issue is that 99% of people rely solely on them, neglecting credibility and emotion. The truth is, you should use data and stats to enhance your argument, not to make it entirely. Use numbers sparingly to complement your other points.
Examples of Influence Skills
Let’s look at examples where influence skills are used effectively:
Gun Control
This is a hot topic that can divide opinions. Watch the full clip to see what elements are used to influence the audience:
Vaccine Debate
Another controversial topic—notice how RFK Jr. uses his influence skills to address tough questions:
Climate Change
Finally, examine how different presidential candidates influence voters on the topic of climate change:
Next Steps
If you want to improve your influence skills, consider working with a charisma coach. A coach can help you develop soft skills like storytelling, building rapport, creating strong first impressions, boosting confidence, and understanding personalities.
Charisma coaching involves video analysis, open-floor discussions, and real-time activities to sharpen your skills. If you’d like to work with a charisma coach, book a discovery call below.
