Margaret’s Persuasion Coach Blog
A Corona Coping Booster Shot
With my last post, I said the next would be about “There’s Science and Then There’s…” However, I was moved by a phone call from a client who said she felt we should be able to look to our leaders for hope, something like what Churchill did for the British during WWII. But she isn’t getting what she’s looking for.
Recognize Corona Misinformation: Don’t Drink Poison Social Media Kool-Aid
A few weeks ago, I heard that the government was putting National Guard troops in place to quell riots and looting in connection with COVID19…Later that day, the Mayor of Houston, along with the Chief of Police, held a news conference exposing this story as a hoax started via social media.
Coping with Corona–Hope and Tips
At this exceptional time, I deviate from my general policy of keeping this blog mostly devoted to persuasion, consensus building and related communication skills. I want to help others cope with COVID-19 and all it’s offshoot issues. I hope you find these hopes and tips helpful.
Turning Straw into Gold–or Bad Ideas into Good
Don’t censor the bad ideas. They can inspire good ones. If we temporarily ignore the problems with a bad idea and look for what’s good about it, we can often modify the idea so it retains the good part without the problem. But if you leave the bad idea out of your notes, you might lose sight of it forever.
Broken Pipes and People Skills 2: Resistance to Being Wrong
During my “broken pipe event,” I both witnessed and experienced a dramatic two-part demonstration of how casting someone as wrong can work against you…[I]irresistible instinct or not, wrong-making on steroids lost this mother pretty much any empathy the restaurant staff or the other diners might have had for her.
Broken Pipes and People Skills I: Noticing the Positive
I had a leaky pipe event (more of a gusher, actually), and believe it or not, the people skills I teach–persuasion, consensus and communication–helped me handle it… I was awakened before 7:00 AM by the smoke detectors, yet I didn’t see or smell any smoke, but rather, water…
Helping Children Build Consensus
Those of you who have followed this blog from its early days, might remember my posting, several years ago, of a real life success story: Consensus Success in a Volunteer Group. Gracie, the lady who shared the story with me, has now reported another success, one in which she helped three children, ranging in age from ten to six years of age, practice consensus building.
Book Excerpt: The Persuasion Power of Paraphrasing
You might imagine that, when I teach a 1.5 hour mini-workshop on persuasion, I would cover the most basic element of my persuasion/consensus building system–uncovering and talking about what’s behind the things people say they want, their ultimate interests. But we require more than 1.5 hr. to assimilate that skill…So for a short persuasion workshop, I focus on one of the persuasion skills I personally use most, such as paraphrasing. Trainees can learn enough from a short session to practice paraphrasing on their own.
Springing Into Fall
Fall weather energizes us to do what we’ve been putting off. Our first cool fronts of the Fall blew through last week. In October on the Gulf Coast, “cool” can mean daily highs in the low 80s or upper 70s (as opposed to 90s). But the second front gave us a low in the 50s. A spurt of energy to catch up on things I’ve been putting off arrived with the front.
Hope for Real Conversations
For talking about touchy topics, complex situations, or emotionally loaded matters, texting is all but hopeless…So you can understand my concern that many young people have grown up texting…However, I recently came across two encouraging reports.