How To Influence People:
Persuasion And Influence
Lesson In A Grocery Store
Michael Lee
http://www.20daypersuasion.com/

They’ve been together for almost thirty
years, and still my mother knows how
to get my father to do what she wants.
She really knows how to influence
people.

Because it’s not just my father she has
twisted around her finger. Her
neighbors and, at one point, even a
random woman in a grocery store, has
fallen under my mother’s influence.

It happened just a few weeks ago when
we were shopping for groceries. I drove
over to my parents’ house for a visit and
was immediately roped into helping her
buy groceries from the supermarket
(see how quickly she got me to do her
bidding?).

Anyway, we were passing by the baby
aisle when she saw a young mother
(around my age, probably) browsing
through different brands of powdered
milk.

Her baby, who was probably around a
year old, was playing with some sort of
rubber toy in her stroller. My mother
adores babies and so went up to the
woman and chatted up with her.

Aside from knowing how to influence
people, my mother is an easy person to
like. She has the kindest eyes in the
world - except when she’s mad at me or
my father - so it isn’t difficult to trust
her.

She played with the baby a little bit and
told the woman about how I used to be
cute at that age, too. They chuckled in
unison.

The woman was about to put Brand X
Milk Powder in her cart when my mom
suggested Brand Y instead because it
apparently has better vitamins. And
would you believe it, the woman
actually switched brands just like that.

She really does know how to influence
people. But what is it about her that
gets other people to accept whatever
she tells them?

My father and I actually had a nice, long
conversation about that. Her secret on
how to influence people isn’t really a
secret.

My mother is just a really likeable person.
According to my father, she has always
been like that, even when he first met
her. Chatting people up is very natural
for her.

In the middle of our conversation, I
realized that what my mother has is the
ability to build rapport with other
people. And rapport is one of the keys
on how to influence people.

With rapport comes trust. People are
more likely to be influenced by those
who they think understand their point
of view or share their opinions.

When my mother chatted that woman in
the grocery store up, she already
established a rapport by letting the
other woman know that she herself is a
mother and she had gone through what
she is going through now.

To build rapport with another person, it’s
important for you to be sincere and let
others know you are just like them. Put
others’ needs first before yours. Be a
friend.

It’s that easy. Now you know a secret on
how to influence people. How would
you apply this to your life?

Presentation By:
Michael Lee
Persuasion Expert and Author
http://www.20daypersuasion.com/