LIKING: THE MAGIC BULLET

Likable communicators are more persuasive. We try to please the people we like and find attractive.

Communication's expert Roger Ailes, who advised both Presidents Reagan and Bush, argues: "If you could master one element of personal communications that is more powerful than anything we've discussed, it is the quality of being likable. I call it the magic bullet, because if your audience likes you, they'll forgive just about everything else you do wrong. If they don't like you, you can hit every rule right on target and it doesn't matter."[1]

Friendship and Persuasion

If you've ever been to a Tupperware party, you'll understand how compliance professionals exploit our natural desire to say yes to those we like most.

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