Persuasion Or Sneakiness? | Negotiation

By KenrickCleveland
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Word Count: 473

A student of mine recently called me out on an example of presupposition I used wherein I used the relationship between a student and teacher to illustrate my point. She suggested (nicely) that maybe my use of the student/teacher relationship was a little sneaky and maybe I was trying to persuade my students.

I get this a lot. People find out I'm in the persuasion business and they assume I am attempting to persuade them, no matter what the situation. I've definitely had some struggles with this for many years. People feel they can't trust my sincerity because, 'After all, he's one of the top persuasion experts in the world. . . isn't he trying to persuade me?'

I've gotten used to this sort of thing, though at first I'll admit it upset me. People will believe what they want to believe.

I am always genuinely myself. And I've done my best to stay un-jaded. My intention, at all time, is to operate with integrity and not to work with ulterior motives.

Ulterior is what lies beyond what is obvious, evident and apparent. This can be framed as negative, especially if the motive is deceptive or concealed, but ulterior motives don't have to be sneaky.

I have no problem with ulterior motives that are supportive. Ulterior is behind the scenes. When I use my skills to help clients stay involved with me, especially because I know that I'm really giving them a valuable service, then I don't see any lack of integrity in that whatsoever.

To my student who is so suspicious, I say that I know the people I work with are gaining great insight and value whether I persuade them to work with me or not. I would suggest, you will find the same is true for you.

This is sort of humorous to me and I just thought I'd show a little bit of what goes on in my mind and how I deal with unique problems I deal with all the time.

When I was younger, I'd often find myself asking the people I was studying under if they were using persuasion on me. I wanted to see how they made decisions.

It doesn't mean I'm actively attempting to do it, though I know full well that my intention is to not only provide information but entertainment. Not only information and entertainment, but longevity for my clients and me to be work together.

That's going to come out. These are my intentions. And my intention is to help and help and help some more. As long as that is comprehended then I feel really satisfied and I think this is something you might want to examine in your own life because it will be something that comes up from time to time and it's nice to have thought it through so that you know where you stand on it.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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