Persuasion & Good Communication

Someone will argue with me “Why to write an article about communication? All you need is a sender, a receiver and the message, right?”. Although the concept might be quite simple, it has been proven that communication is difficult to master. Due to this fact, people often face different problems in their daily communication, relationships and work. Once people cannot understand a message, how you can persuade them or influence a decision? In this article, I will focus on the communication and persuasion in a professional environment.

Speak Globlish

Nowadays, companies consist from people with different backgrounds, cultures, languages etc. They have to work all together and participate in different meetings and take decisions. When they cannot communicate properly and understand each other then the wrong decisions are taken.

A few years ago a great real-life example was presented to me. A French company hosted a very important meeting in north of France. People from England, Germany, China, US, Italy and France were invited. The meeting started in English and after 3 hours of discussions decisions were taken. Yet, after some weeks the people that participated in that meeting applied different decisions at their end. Simply because they interpreted the messages differently. It seemed, also, that people who came from countries like Germany, China or France somehow understood each other better compared to the ones from US and England.

Jean-Paul Nerrière introduces a new concept called Globlish, a light version of English, simplified and understandable to non-native English speakers. At his book “Don’t Speak English, Parlez Globish!” Jean-Paul explains how no-native speakers can communicate with others by using a limited to 1,500 well-known words and a rudimentary syntax applied both in a business content or daily life.

I started applying this idea when I participate to meetings with a group of people from different countries. During the presentation I give, I find out that it is easier for me to pass the messages while using simple English. Also the audience is able to receive the messages and understand them better.

Persuasion

Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, explain in his book, Rhetoric, how a writer or speaker strives to inform, persuade or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. According to Aristotle there are 3 modes of persuasion:

The first mode depends on the personal character of the speaker (Ethos), the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind (Pathos), the third on the proof or apparent proof provided by the words of the speech itself (Logos).

Let’s take a closer look on these 3 modes:

Ethos: Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character when the speech is so spoken as to make us think him credible.

This mode of persuasion is about the character of the speaker. There are different ways to establish your ethos as a speaker. The speaker should prove his experience, expertise and reputation. In this way the speaker inspires authority and credibility. And all comes down to the conclusion that a person’s life persuades better than his word.

Pathos : Secondly, persuasion may come through the hearers, when the speech stirs their emotions.

This mode of persuasion is about knowing the audience’s emotional state. It is important that the speaker has prior knowledge about the audience and establishes a connection with them. In practice, this can be achieved by using storytelling, humour, figures and media during a presentation. This way the audience will be less likely to judge the speaker and a bond between both parties will be created.

Logos: Thirdly, persuasion is effected through the speech itself when we have proved a truth or an apparent truth by means of the persuasive arguments suitable to the case in question.

During a speech, the speaker should establish rational arguments for his theory or approach. The speaker must be objective and support his thoughts with facts, data, scientific explanation, proofs and real examples. This way the audience will follow easily the speakers reasoning.

Conclusion

As a speaker, try to communicate with simple and understandable English. In order to convince your audience rely on your personality, learn your audience and present them you logical arguments. The combination of the above will make your communication effective and the audience willing to follow your lead.