Persuasion: Who, What, To Whom - Essay Example

Persuasion: Who, What, To Whom The Characteristics of a Persuader Persuasion is not as easy as we thought. There are only a few people who are giftedwith the ability to change other people’s minds. Some people will be easily caught by that person’s charm, but some really have their way through words. Mortensen (2008) listed different characteristics that a persuader should possess. While some are expected and evident, some are actually quite surprising. The list includes being informed, educated, knowledgeable, honest, organized, cooperative, adaptable, good listener, resilient, great communicator, hardworking, punctual and many others.

The point is, it does not only take a perfect face to persuade people. Character and will is still an important factor. We do respond positively however to those who have great physical characteristics and approachable person because it gives us the impression that they have good intentions or that they are speaking for truth. The bottom line is that people who are attractive have the power to persuade but it does not mean that those who are not could not have the ability too. Skills are really an important factor in persuasion.

Take time to hone these skills and you will be successful in persuading others.The Characteristics of the MessageNow that the characteristics of a persuader have been discussed, the next thing that should be thought about is the message itself. Even if you have the personality and the skills, but your message is empty, it still won’t make any sense. You could not possibly persuade someone without having any clear message. The way someone delivers the message to us also creates the environment and the impact on how well we can accept the thought that is being inflicted on us.

Whitehead and Kitzrow (2010) characterized a strong message as the one that contains arguments, to which people can favor their thoughts after thinking about the message. The impact that the message is sending is an inherent factor that would influence the behavior and the way of thinking of the person receiving the message. The same is true with a sleeper effect. Kunda (1999) has described a true sleeper effect as the one that creates a delayed persuasive impact which is more effective than the immediate impact.

It only means that the message has been delivered to the receiver very well and it has penetrated the mind of the receiver. He or she would think about the message later and find that it actually means something. Not every message can do that. Others are just something that passes by and are easily forgotten. But if the message has been formed around a great argument and it has been delivered with utmost sincerity and credibility, then it would mean something to the listeners.The Characteristics of the AudienceIt does not happen very often when all of the people in the same group agree on a certain idea or that they all affirm to the message.

Surely, there will be one or two of them who will think otherwise. This may be attributed to the difference in age, gender, culture and everything else. However, the Elaboration Likelihood Theory has a more effective explanation to this. As Martell, Meyer and Witte (2001) stated it, the difference to the way people accepts messages is because of how they process the message – through a peripheral route or a central route. If someone processes the message peripherally, they are mostly affected by the cues of the person delivering the message such as the appearance.

On the other hand, the person that processes the message centrally studies the arguments very well and evaluates the contents thereafter. This is the part of the persuasion process to which the persuader could not control. However, he may find ways through the listener to make him or her listen to his arguments more than just checking out for what he has physically.References:Mortensen, K. W. (2008). Persuasion IQ: The skills you need to get exactly what you want. New York: AMACOM.Martell, D.

, Meyer, G., & Witte, K. (2001). Effective health risk messages: A step-by-step guide. California: Sage Publication.Kunda, Z. (1999). Social cognition: Making sense of people. Massachusetts: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Whitehead, G. I. & Kitzrow, A. P. (2010). A glorious revolution for youth and communities: Service-learning and model communities. Maryland, UK: Rowman & Littlefield Education.