The Golden Rule of Persuasion

7th July 2020

The Golden Rule of Persuasion:

If you want someone to DO something, you have to ask them to DO something.

(Apologies if this is too advanced for a Tuesday morning).

And this means that, if you want your comms to persuade someone to DO something, they must end with a Call To Action.

But most don’t.

Look at the last email you received. I imagine it ended with something like "should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call".

But that didn’t ask you to DO anything. So you didn’t DO anything.

What about the most recent webinar you saw. Was the last slide "thank you", "any questions" or "summary"?

If so, none of them asked you to DO anything. So you didn’t.

And yesterday’s meeting? Was the last agenda item "any other business"?

If so, that also didn’t ask you to DO anything. So you didn’t.

So, although the Golden Rule is obvious, people often forget it when they communicate.

So next email, end with "please can you DO (action). And then I will (my action)".

Next presentation, head-up the final slide "next steps" and list their actions.

Next meeting, replace "AOB" with "Actions arising".

Which is why every Tuesday Tip ends with an…

Action Point

  1. Next communication, end by asking them to DO something. That way, they’ll DO something!
  2. For more tips on how to master this, and other critical stuff, go to andyboundsonline.

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