{"id":32,"date":"2025-09-23T02:10:28","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T09:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.showcasemarketing.com\/ideablog\/?p=32"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:10:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T21:10:14","slug":"practice-of-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.showcasemarketing.com\/ideablog\/practice-of-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"The Imperfect Practice of Influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inner workings of our minds is fun to think about but difficult to understand.<\/p>\n

I have deep interest in neurology, neuropsychology and behavioral science research. Many interesting studies are in current circulation\u2026my personal favorite at the moment is The Behavioralist Meets the Market: Measuring Social Preferences and Reputation Effects in Actual Transactions<\/a>–more on that at a different time.<\/p>\n

In the absence of compelling and all-encompassing theories of the mind, the imperfect practice of influence is delegated to artists, politicians, salesmen and li’l ole me. Here are a few things I\u2019ve learned from my own research:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Facts matter.<\/strong> Unless you are a philosophy undergraduate pondering the meaning of life, facts are extremely persuasive. The sun rises in the east. A one way bus ride costs $2.50. No argument.<\/li>\n
  2. Know your audience.<\/strong> Different people in different circumstances respond to different stimuli. No single technique works in all cases. For an audience of one, aim squarely at the individual\u2019s core need. For an audience of many, plan on using multiple strategies to connect with a variety of segments.<\/li>\n
  3. Be realistic about outcomes.<\/strong> Influencing perceptions and behavior is hard\u2026just ask the quirky wannabes trying out for a reality TV show like \u201cAmerican Idol.\u201d\u00a0 But successfully changing perceptions through influence is achievable\u2026just ask Donald Trump or Barak Obama.<\/li>\n
  4. Practice humility.<\/strong> Factual arguments don\u2019t persuade 100% of the time. Baseball batters are heroes if they can hit a ball three out of ten times. Influencing others is even more elusive than hitting a baseball.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I maintain my sanity by celebrating every interaction and cherishing each win. Today is another good day because it included the practice of influence!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The inner workings of our minds is fun to think about but difficult to understand. I have deep interest in neurology, neuropsychology and behavioral science research. Many interesting studies are in current circulation\u2026my personal favorite at the moment is The Behavioralist Meets the Market: Measuring Social Preferences and Reputation Effects in Actual Transactions–more on that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-persuasion","category-observations"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Imperfect Practice of Influence | Bill Freedman's Soon to be a Major Trend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The practice of Influence is elusive and hard, but you can win by using these four tactics in your persuasive communication.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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