During a recent stint in the library, I noticed that many books with the subject category of ‘influence’ were really more about persuasion.
Thereare important differences between ‘influence’ and ‘persuasion’:
Persuasion is a more direct, short-term activity and requires a larger emotional component. Influence is more indirect, longer term and depends more on logic. Persuasion mainly involves one way communication, whereas influence is often multi-directional.
There is an interesting post and discussion on this at Saying What You Mean, and a thought-provoking acronym from Brian Ahearn that covers both persuasion and influence: He says that influence is about
P. E.O.P.L.E.:
Powerful
Everyday
Opportunities to
Persuade, that are
Lasting and
Ethical
Many of us put a great deal of time and effort thinking about persuasion and not nearly enough into influence. If you are not very articulate, you will probably find it easier to focus on influencing rather than persuasion. At least it is a more gradual process that you can plan and execute.
So look for those everyday opportunities and use them to build your influence.
Thank you for referencing the post on Saying What You Mean! Sound advice to focus on influence instead of persuasion. In business today, building trusting relationships is the key to long term success. Most persuasion techniques leverage nuances of social psychology to gain short-term compliance. They do not contribute to longer term relationships.
–Nicole