I think that I’m a fairly adept at persuasion, especially in regard to topics that I am knowledgeable on. My strengths including using data, being friendly and personable, engaging with the ideas of others to incorporate them in my plans, and considering and being prepared for counter arguments.

Throughout my career, much of my success can be attributed to using data to support my ideas. When starting a new job, one of the first things that I do is try to find the people who can give me anecdotal data about what is happening at the company. While I’m learning about employee perspectives, I’m also building relationships and trust with new colleagues. Next, I figure out who can help me find and access the systems data that will help me verify whether what I’ve learned from my colleagues is true or if there is space to change minds. Depending on the point I’m trying to make, I practice my pitch, often writing it down so that I can review it. Where possible, I incorporate any of the data through charts, graphs, or a single poignant statistic that will help me make my argument. Writing it down also helps me think about any potential counter arguments that might come up. Something I learned from reading Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan is that by considering the counter arguments and pre-empting them, you can often times completely nullify that argument from the beginning.

Where I struggle with persuasion is when a counter position is presented that I hadn’t considered. Depending on the topic and how well-versed I am, I can sometimes overcome those objections, but it can definitely leave me floundering for a good response. To work on this shortcoming, I can try to give myself more time to research my positions and stress test them. Of course, I’m you can never be totally prepared which is why it’s also important to consistently and continuously learn and build mental models that can help you arrive at a rebuttal quickly!

I also don’t think I’m great at identifying the emotional triggers that can help drive my points home. I definitely lean on the logical arguments and neglect the emotional appeal. One way to help develop my pathos while I’m formulating my arguments is to ask myself “How will my position benefit or affect people?”