Archive: Persuasion
Accomplishments or Potential to Achieve: Which is More Persuasive?
If you want to persuade your superior to promote you over someone else, you could emphasize what you have accomplished, or perhaps something else might be more convincing. It’s seems intuitive: By highlighting achievements, you assume you will reduce an...
Persuasion: Make Your Expertise Known
If you are trying to persuade someone on a topic that you are knowledgeable about, convey your expertise up front. People who try to make a decision while listening to expert advice often stop analyzing and simply accept the recommendation. People often seek expertise...
Use Short, Vivid Stories to Influence an Audience
We know that stories can be entertaining and inspirational, but they also can be persuasive, for a reason many people are not aware of. When an audience focuses on a story line, they pay less attention to the subtle message intended to influence them. We persuade...
Persuasive Writing: Change the Frame of Reference
The key to persuading an audience is your ability to overcome resistance, because persuasion is rarely necessary unless the audience doesn’t like your idea, doesn’t believe your message, or doesn’t like you. If resistance is the big obstacle that stands in the...
Be Persuasive: Present Your Request as a Future Commitment
If you want to persuade someone to do you a favor, you’re more likely to succeed if you present it as something that is a few weeks or months away. People usually don’t think clearly about future obligations. The issue is psychological distance. People have a...By Ken O’Quinn
Focus on Them
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers
As a contributing author in this book on leadership, Ken offers insights and tips for managing difficult conversations, providing effective feedback, and being authentic. Order here.
Perfect Phrases for Business Letters (McGraw-Hill)
Provides the right words and phrases for any situation - quickly. The book was reprinted in Japanese because of high-volume sales there.
TD at Work — Business Writing for Managers
The Association for Talent Development invited Ken to write this 22-page booklet for the TD at Work series.
Current Blog Post
For Emphasis, Save Strong Words for the End
Simple and direct is the reliable go-to sentence structure of English, but if you edit closely and notice that certain …