Rapport Building

Influencing Magically: Projecting Your Authentic Self

This year I will be continuing my workshops focused on Influencing Magically.  Much of the work is based on the application of Evolutionary Psychology, NLP and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

In 2007 I ran a series of well attended events for the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Chartered Institute of Banking in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness, The Junior Chamber in Glasgow and several private sector clients in Edinburgh.  From Autumn until the end of 2007 my Workshops spread down to Milton Keynes and London.

Influencing is a huge element of Managing the Process of Change

I originally started running these workshops in the USA working with CNH Global, a Multi National Construction Equipment producer with $6billion turnover and 30,000+ staff worldwide – now owned by Fiat Group.

Influence, Personal Resilience & Power: Core Skills for the Change Maker

Perhaps surprisingly, the workshop had nothing to do with selling or influencing people to buy.  It was however focused on maximising the presentation of self in influencing in the context of change management.

I had been working with the VP of Manufacturing Strategy and he was in charge of AMQE which was the Manufacturing and Quality Engineering arm of the business, which decided how best to produce and manufacture products in over 70 Plants spread throughout all five continents.  Their job was to sell ‘how to manufacture and organise’ specific products such as Tractors, Construction Vehicles to all the Plants Managers.

Technical Expertise + Influence = Change Mastery

AMQE comprised over 200 highly skilled and intelligent Engineers mostly qualified to M. Eng or PhD status.  Their focus had been to sell the technical solutions to Worldwide management Teams, not always with 100% success.

It was not their technical skills letting them down – rather their Influencing and Change Management skills.

By working closely with my Client, Ian Millar, who headed up AMQE as VP, we devised a rigorous programme that would provide the strategies and skills needed by the AMQE teams when negotiating production and assembly of products with Plant Managers.

The result was an intensive programme which has now evolved into Influencing Magically – which can be employed in any context where influence is critical.

Successful Influencing must be using your own authenticity – not relying on guile or quick win tactics, but  it’s based on mutual trust and respecting the people you wish to influence.

The Benefits of the Programme include

• Focus on your personal traits to be your 'authentic self' when influencing others

• Build your authentic self confidence

• Identify the traits of an effective communicator

• Banishing fear of public speaking

• Learn how to quickly establish rapport with a wide variety of people

• Develop strategies to influence - assess key objections to your proposals even before you present them to an audience

• Learn how the brain and the mind works so as to accept your suggestions and proposals

• Apply the most recent research evidence on how to communicate directly to influence the behaviour of others

• Learn key methods to influence at the conscious and other than conscious level

• Learn how to use and apply 'body language' to reinforce your spoken message

• Understand how to deal with the objections of specific personality types

• Self-assess your authentic self using six interpersonal influencing strategies

The Material we cover includes:

• Your authenticity and projection to the world

• Building your self confidence on the real you

• Developing new strategies and rejecting the fear of public speaking

• What makes an effective persuader and how do we use our skills and behaviours to best effect?

• Understanding how the brain works in receiving information

• Starting with the end in mind

• Changing the behaviour of others

• Workshop sessions

• Preparing your case to influence well in advance

• Focus on multiple processes of influence

• Secrets of body language

• Reading and influencing others

• Examine personal objections to your proposals

• Reading the audience, identifying specific personality types, and handling the objections of your audience to your message.

• Examine your own persuasion strategies Communicate hypnotically - at the subconscious level.

• Learn to create and manage a strong and positive personal image.

• Using simple personality 'profiling' to aid the process of influencing with integrity

• Applying the principles to Workshop sessions

These programmes can be designed ‘In-House’ or are run as Open Events.

‘In-House’ events can seriously impact the change agenda for the better and are recommended o maximize effectiveness.

Read this article on Influence››