Five Steps of Effective Persuasion
Effective Support Raising and Partnership Development
Since Greek and Roman times skilled communicators have known that people resist change. They have also know that people go through five distinct stages of resistance before they make a change. Jesus, the Apostle Paul and others in the Bible understood these stages. They organized their preaching and teaching so their listener and readers could come to a decision in a natural way. (For examples, see Jesus’ discourse with the Samaritan woman in John 4:7-24; Paul on Mars Hill, Acts 17.)
In my training you will gain practice in anticipating the five stages of resistance every audience member goes through, and the five effective responses to these stages.
| Five Stages of Resistance* | Five Effective Responses* |
| 1. Rejection | Gain attention through affirmation |
| 2. Indifference | Gain interest based on need |
| 3. Skepticism | Gain conviction based on evidence |
| 4. Procrastination | Gain desire through visualization |
| 5. Fear | Give reassurance and an opportunity to respond |
Not everyone in an audience will manifest each of these attitudes but we can best assume the majority of people will. Therefore, it serves you well to anticipate all of them in every presentation in which you want people to stop doing, start doing or do something differently.
The five responses can become a structural framework for all your spoken and written communication to persuade. They apply to preaching, evangelizing, fundraising, recruiting volunteers, personal witnessing or motivating people in any way. You can use them in writing memos, reports, work papers and newsletters. They are worth writing down, memorizing, keeping on a card in your wallet, posting above your desk, and storing in your computer.
In my training you will gain skill in organizing the elements of your presentation is such a way that it naturally responds to the five stages of resistance. It will allow people to discover truth and respond to it in logical sequence. Once they discover truth, they own it and they unconsciously begin to adjust their thinking and behavior accordingly.
* I am indebted to Mr. Claude Bowen for this specific wording of the five attitudes and responses.
Filed in Dynamic Speaking Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.