Convincing people involves seeing the world through their eyes.
It is what Chris Voss might call Tactical Empathy. According to Covey, there are 12 distinct things you can do to help avoid an argument. The most obvious one being, avoid it. Dive in and see which of the tactics below might work for you:
Avoid it – Try not to get into an argument in the first place. Arguments only serve to make people even more sure that they are right and you are wrong.
Be respectful – Try to avoid telling someone they are wrong, it will just make them defensive.
Admit you are wrong – We may fear it will make us look bad but it can work in our favour.
Be friendly – Unloading your anger on to someone else is unproductive.
Get them saying yes – Try to get people to say yes, the mere act of saying yes makes us feel more agreeable. This is covered in detail in Getting to Yes
Listen – Let the other person do the talking so they can talk themselves out
It was their idea – When you have an idea, make the person feel like they came up with it
Look at it from their perspective – Try understand the reason for the persons reaction
Be sympathetic – Rather than arguing, show sympathy for the other persons predicament
Appeal to noble motives – Give people an opportunity to do the right thing and showcase their integrity
Be dramatic – No matter how great your idea is, you have to catch people’s attention
Throw down a challenge – People love an opportunity to prove their ability to excel and win
