Tailors a presentation or discussion to appeal to the interest and perspectives of others.

Anticipates the impact of an action or other detail.

Uses experts or other third parties to influence.

Recruits or assembles opinion leaders to assist in changing the minds of others.

• Before a meeting, prepare by looking over the agenda and thinking about contributions you could make.
• Practice being persuasive.  Videotape a role-play, review it and give yourself feedback on your approach.
• Notice how others influence.  Pack a colleague that excels in influencing and use them as a model.  Ask them to coach you and/or give you feedback.
• Memorize these steps and use them in a presentation, then try to use them in a more informal meeting.
  • State the facts.
  • Explain your thoughts and feelings about the situation.
  • Clearly state what you would like done.
  • Listen to others' responses.
  • Calmly address concerns.

• Get feedback from trusted others on how persuasive and influential you are.  Ask them for suggestions on improvements.
• Get feedback from trusted others, or through videotape, on how your speaking style affects your presentation.
• Before a presentation, think about others' needs and views.  Write them down.  How can you address these in your presentation?
• List the three points in your presentation that are the most important.
• Prepare by role-playing your message in your mind, or by presenting it to a trusted colleague.
• Pay attention to the reaction of your audience as you deliver the message.  Listen carefully to what is being said.

• Identify someone who uses different techniques to influence than you do.  Try some of their techniques.
• Do some brainstorming and list a number of ways that you could act to influence a situation; then consider which are most likely to be effective.
• When giving a presentation, give a brief synopsis of the information you will be discussing before you present your ideas.
• When you are faced with a challenging problem, adopt a "can-do" attitude and approach challenges from a problem-solving perspective.

• Take on a leadership role where you will have to influence through others.
• Think about how your goals and tasks fit into the goals of your organization, and communicate this to others.
• Initiate a new idea, objective, and/or project within your work group.
• Create a clear vision of the type of leader you want to be, and live that vision.
• Ask for feedback from others who did not support you, and find out what you could have done to persuade them.
• Support a colleague who is trying to influence a decision.

• Encourage employees to be well-prepared for meetings and have a discussion about their strategy as part of that preparation.  Provide required background material beforehand.
• Debrief meetings and provide employees feedback on how they could be more effective in making presentations, and encourage them to seek feedback from others.
• Encourage employees to identify and focus on the key points in their presentation.
• Encourage good listening skills in the work group.

• Have employees take on leadership roles where they have to influence others.
• Invite employees to observe and eventually participate in negotiations.