Margaret’s Persuasion Coach Blog

I bought Influence—the Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert B. Cialdini thinking this book would provide additional fodder for my interpersonal persuasion toolkit. Instead, I got a valuable warning about how the people Cialdini calls “compliance professionals”...

Clients and students sometimes ask me how they can motivate themselves to invest in time to prepare for a consensus-seeking conversation. In my experience, actually doing the preparation a few times produces such memorable results that we no longer have to work at...

Chapter 9 of Bridges to Consensus gives many reasons to take a think break before responding to a difficult statement or committing to an agreement. An article in the August 2011 issue of Psychology Today inspired me to reflect on another reason: our inclinations can...

Looking for a doable New Year's resolution? Would you like one that yields immediate payoffs so it keeps you motivated? Here's a plan for you. At the beginning of each month in 2012, I'll suggest a simple way to practice just one consensus-building or communication...

To all my blog readers:   If you’re frazzled, may you relax with a hot cup of something warm and mellow.   If your relatives annoy you, may you retreat to a hot, sudsy, aromatherapy bath.   If you miss friends or relatives, may your heart be brightened...

What do you do when someone's ignorance or denial of things they'd rather not believe hampers your efforts to reach consensus with them? In “Reality Lite,” Psychology Today, Nov.-Dec. 2011, Dr. Raj Raghunathan explains that an upbeat mood makes a person more open to...

A few weeks ago, I had an enjoyable opportunity to observe some pros in the area of clear verbal communication when I listened to a football game via live streaming radio on my computer. I noticed the differences between the way TV and radio broadcasters call a game,...

No, I'm not talking about the next presidential election, but rather, about a charitable endeavor by General Mills. The last box of Cheerios I bought invites the purchaser to vote on one of two programs within the Susan G. Komen Foundation—the treatment assistance...

I recently watched an episode of Nature I had recorded from PBS, “My Life as a Turkey.” Not a life I could lead, but an amazing example of how one man met a huge communication challenge. This story can teach us a lot about dealing with our fellow humans.   The...

When an election worker tried to bite off a voter’s nose last week, the news spread like wildfire. Most readers, no doubt, saw a man out of control. I saw something else as well, extreme resistance to wrong making.   Those of you who have read Bridges to...