Persuade

4Demonstrating Logic

“Most of us, in our civilized society, rely too heavily on reasoning capacity to make things happen. We've been raised to believe that logic will prevail. Logic, in and of itself, will rarely influence people. Most often logic doesn't work.”

– Herb Cohen, You Can Negotiate Anything

When influencing or persuading, most people lead with logic when, unfortunately, decades of research indicate they should not. This may be the reason that famed American author Herb Cohen suggests in the quote above that “most often logic doesn't work,” because decisions are rarely made without emotion. However, there is a time and place for logic because it is an important step in the influence process. Thus, understanding when and how to convey your logic to be the most persuasive is crucial.

Why is demonstrating logic important if most people rely on their emotions to make decisions? Because demonstrating the logic behind the decision helps people feel confident in the decision. It allows them to justify it.

Let us think about this for a moment. You are pitching your spouse on seeing a specific movie you want to see instead of the movie your spouse suggested. After you have engaged his/her emotions by comparing it to a movie that he/she enjoyed, you might want to share the reviews on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes. The reviews will not be the reason he/she accepts, but it will be what helps him/her justify the choice. But if you always do this and your spouse never ends up liking ...