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The Science of Persuasion in Public Relations

August 15, 2013

If you’re in the business of public relations, then you’re in the business of persuading people.

This happens at two levels:

1 - the wider PR practice – the reason for media interaction and coverage is so we can reach an organization’s PR goals. In essence we’re persuading the target audience to act in a way that is congruent with our objectives.  Most often for the clients we represent this is persuading a group of people in a set geography to purchase a given product or service.  Of course, when we move into crisis communications, then this objective is often to change the perceived opinions a group of people have about an organization.

2 - at the day-to-day level, if we’re a PR pro that interacts with the media to gain coverage, then we are simply trying to persuade reputable journalist to listen to our message and include it in their reporting.

Either way, we’re in the business of persuading.

So, wouldn’t it be great if we could increase our persuasiveness?

As it turns out, there is quite a considerable amount of scientific research that can make us more effective atpersuading others.  It is scientifically validated and often doesn’t cost us any money to implement.

Want to know what the 6 main drivers to increased persuasiveness are?

To sum up – they are:

• Reciprocity
• Scarcity
• Authority
• Consistency
• Liking
• Consensus

I could write about them for a long time, but better still, watch this fantastic video and in under 12 minutes you’ll have mastered how to ethically increase your persuasiveness.  A much needed skill in the world of PR.

How good are you at persuading?

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