Five

The power and art of persuasion is something that has always interested me. And, yes, I consider it an art. It is an art because if you can be really good at it, you can get people to do things that they may not necessarily want to do without them even knowing it. You can get people to believe things that may be entirely false.

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that I'm quite good at getting people to do what I want. I honestly think that being, or sometimes just seeming, sincere is the key. If you can make people believe that you really believe in what you're saying then they will almost always go along with it. You have to choose your words carefully. You have to tell the truth while sometimes leave other things out.

The real key, though, is to never lie. Leaving things out and lying are two completely different things. If you are caught in a lie, you've ruined your credibility with that person for a long time, if not forever. I think it's part of human nature to believe others. Sure, at times we can be skeptical but who wants to go through life questioning everything we're told? We want to trust in what other people are saying.

So, if you can say something with a straight face, no matter how ludicrous it may seem, someone may have a hard time not believing you. For the longest time, a friend of mine and I had at least five people convinced that we were half sisters. The people that believed us had know us for a few years, known where we came from and knew other members of our families but we were able to persuade them of something that wasn't true.

BUT there is a tricky part.
The tricky part is using one's powers of persuasion for good, not evil. This is where I relate it to public relations. The general view of PR professionals is that they use this power for evil. To convince people of things that aren't really true or downplay something negative at any cost. When persuading friends to do things, like give you a ride or buy your dinner, there has to be some limits to what you'll say and what lengths you'll go to to get your way. The same goes for public relations, reputation management and crisis communication. The truth about the situation has to come first, then you fill in the details as necessary.