persuasive

[bartholomew]

Hi guys
I was wondering if you could help me. I am going for a job interview and I think one of the questions will be: Can you think of a situation in which you were persuasive?

Could you give any suggestions as how to best answer this question?

[joko]

persuading people to give, donate, lend etc money is one of the hardest things, so if you have managed to secure sponsorships, donations etc for anything, mention this

(you could make a joke about persuading your wife to marry you or something, depending on the mood)

[buildersmate]

Think of a couple of situations before the interview where you demonstrated persuasiveness, then practice the words. Describe the situation, what action to took, the type and style of words and actions used, and the outcome. That's generally what interviewers are after. Depending on the seniority or job type, you could consider learning about 'science' behind influencing skills. Otherwise ignore this bit! Features to consider when considering an influencing attempt are the energy used, the style you adopt (the words) and the non-verbal behaviours that accompany the words. All three need to be reasonable congruent to be effective. Energy is in 2 forms - Push or Pull. Pushing is about achieving what you want, getting it 'in spite of' others wishes, being decisive. Pulling is about gaining long-term commitment, appreciating the others point of view.
There are two styles for Pushing - Convincing by Logic, and Stating Expectations. CBL is about putting proposals that are rationale, take account of options and use reasoning to seek the demonstrate that the answer can't be anything other than XYZ - you take the person down a logical journey. SE informs of demands (needs), sometimes offers rewards or punishments. Parents pretty quickly discover with offspring that SE doesn't work as the youngster grows up. Nevertheless SE can be appropriate in a command structure. It doesn't create long-term commitment. The two Pull stylers are Developing Common Ground and Painting a Verbal Picture. PVP is best demonstrated by politicians and great leaders - Martin Luther King I have a dream speech is often quoted. It focuses on the end goal, rather than the stepping stones to get there. Timeshare and DGlazing Salespeople may use this approach. The less extreme Pull style is DCG. This seeks to stress the benefits, find out where the points of agreement are, and where the differences are. Commercial negotiating uses this style. Hope that helps.