How To Persuade And Influence People

1. Illustrate the problem and associate pain to it.
2. Preemptively deal with any objections that you have researched and you know that your audience has.
3. Convince them that your plan of action is actually consistent with the type of person that they are and the type of person that they want to be. It's a logical extension of their current value system, not a deviation from it.
4. Paint the heaven that happens if they go in the direction you want them to.
5. End with an "ask." You cannot force them to.

Introduce the problem that you have in your organization and associate pain to the status quo. 

When people don't want to change, the first step is not to tell them how wonderful it will be when they change or start to do anything else. The first step is to get them moving and to do that, you have to make them associate the status quo, the current action, or inaction that they are taking with serious pain. 

And do it before people actually bring them up. You do not want to have to wait until after you talk for people to say, "Well, you didn't cover this or you didn't cover that," or "How are we supposed to do this?" You need to preemptively handle any objections.

Put yourself into the shoes of the people you're trying to convince. Why did they think it is impossible for them to change? Why did they think it isn't a good idea for them to change? Cover that and deal with those objections first.

The more you can preemptively address the objection, the less strong the objection becomes. 

You do not want to be convincing people that they need to make massive changes, because people naturally resist change.

You need to make people feel like it is part of their identity to change. And the way that you do this is not by preaching at them, showing them stats and statistics. You give them ownership of the argument. They don't have to give up their most deeply held values and beliefs. They just need to see things from a slightly different perspective.

Detail (explicit detail), what it would look like if things went well with your new plan, so that you don't just have people running away from a status quo of pain, but you have them running towards something that is really exciting.

If you're trying to get people on board, you cannot drag them. You need to say, "I need your help," and ask at the end, because it is an ask.

You cannot make anyone do anything, that is not what persuasion is. It is getting them to want to do things, to take ownership over an idea that maybe started in your head, but that you helped cultivate in theirs