Passage Two

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

The art of persuasion means convincing others to agree with your point of view or to follow your course of action. For some of us, persuasion is an instinctive quality and the power of influencing comes naturally. For the rest of us, persuasion skills can be learned and developed over time.

Employers place a great value on employees with persuasion skills because they can impact several aspects of job performance. Besides, teamwork and leadership rely heavily on the power of persuasion to get things done. Without persuasion skills, employees may not be as committed to or convinced of the importance of an organization’s vision and long-term mission. Effective use of persuasion skills will not only help get your coworkers excited about your ideas, it’ll also help you motivate them to achieve a common goal.

In order to learn the art of persuasion at the workplace, you need to understand how to handle conflicts and reach agreements. Good communication is the first step in effective persuasion, but logic and reasoning are just as important. Before you can get somebody on-board with your goal, you should help them understand why they should pursue it. Using visual aids to back up your ideas can help communicate your ideas better and make compelling arguments so your listeners will come to a logical choice and become fully committed to your ideas and plans.

Successful persuasion skills are based on your ability to have positive interactions and maintain meaningful relationships with people. In order to sustain those relationships, you must be able to work in their best interests as well. Your coworkers are more likely to agree with you when they succeed alongside you. The more they achieve and the greater progress they make, the more they trust your judgement and strength.

We persuade and get persuaded every day—we’re either convincing or being convinced.

A vast majority of people prefer collaboration and teamwork over traditional organizational structures; no one likes to be told what to do or to be pushed around. Therefore, organizations and leaders should adopt powerful persuasion skills to bring about necessary changes.