Page 120 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

WhY MUST I kNOW hOW TO INFLUENCE AND PERSUADE OThERS? 109

Think about those people in your professional world who you consider
to be highly trustworthy. How did those people make that impression on
you? Our guess is that the people you are thinking about are trustworthy
because they deliver on their promises, they have provided you with help
when they didn’t have to, they found ways to connect you to people who
would be good for your career, they took the time to see the world from
your perspective, or all. Ultimately, people who are trustworthy can be
relied upon and demonstrate goodwill by considering your needs and
well-being. If you want to be more persuasive, then you should look to
others whom you consider trustworthy and model your behavior after
those people. Here are a few other things you can do to enhance your
trustworthiness:
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• Share personal stories (when appropriate) to show that you
can trust others enough to confide in them.
• Confirm others’ feelings in a way that demonstrates that you
understand their perspective.
• Work to establish common ground with others.
• Be sincere and authentic.

The other side of the credibility coin is expertise. It is important that
you demonstrate to others that you are an expert in your area. When
Jason talks to his class about expertise, he asks his students, “Who is the
communication expert in the room, and how do you know that?” Typi-
cally, at least one of the students will speak up quickly and say, “You are
because you told us about your education and work.” If you want to have
influence over others, you should let them know that you are the expert
to whom they should listen. In Chapter 1, we told you about impression
management. You have some degree of control over how people think of
you. In addition to simply telling others about your expertise and devel-
oping a reputation as an expert, you can use your knowledge to gain
influence at work in other ways. Recent research suggests that you can
use your expertise to (a) create a means for helping key decision makers
evaluate complex information in your area of expertise, (b) share informa-
tion with other experts while learning from their expertise, and (c) help
others interpret the results of complex information.
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