Definitions Of Persuasion: The Six Principles Of An Effective Speech

The objective of this essay is to describe the six principles of persuasion used to develop effective speeches. The principles are known as reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consensus, liking, commitment and consistency. These principles increase the effectiveness of the message that you want your audience to take away from a speech. Each principle places focus on the expectation of the receiver. The first principle is reciprocity. Reciprocity is defined as; “A situation or relationship in which two people or groups agree to do something similar for each other, to allow each other to have the same rights, etc. : a reciprocal arrangement or relationship.” (Merriam-Webster). This is an important principle as the essence of exchange …show more content…
Scarcity is defined as; “The quality or state of being scarce; especially, want of provisions for the support of life .” (Merriam-Webster). This principle is based on the perception that if you do not get it now, you may lose it indefinitely. This is a critical technique for sales people. It is used to motivate the consumer, not by what they stand to gain, but by what they stand to lose. If the item is perceived to be one of a kind or limited in quantity, the consumer will be enticed to purchase it on the spot. The third principle is authority. Authority is defined as; “The confident quality of someone who knows a lot about something or who is respected or obeyed by other people.” (Merriam-Webster). The application of this principle requires intimate knowledge and endorsements of the product or service. The purpose of this principle is to establish credibility and security to the consumer. The objective is simple. If the consumer is confident that the person representing the product is credible and knowledgeable, then it is perceived that the product must be of …show more content…
As a project manager in a weak matrix environment, resources generally do not report to me. Instead, I must persuade them to collaborate and work through a plan to meet the desired objective. My character and integrity are tested on a daily basis as resources look to me to guide them and persuade others to complete their tasks for milestones to remain on track. I recall a time when I had to implement the principles of persuasion to influence various groups to complete a project milestone. For example, when preparing for integration testing, the front end user interface was connects to the development environment. In order to test the product properly, the user interface requires connectivity to the test environment. The task was estimated to take sixty-five hours of work across five resources and the planned milestone was three days away. Thus, delays to this task, would impact the critical path, thus impacting the overall timeline of the project. To expedite, I scheduled a two hour meeting, that included a motivational speech, with the responsible parties. Then, I took center stage and immediately started with an authoritative principle. I shared statistical information that illustrated the impact and importance of this specific phase by applying this principle which, increased credibility and