Bu siness skills: b et ter me etings 1 — 21 business englisch bu sin es s e n g L is

 
Comprehend. 
The first step is not to 
talk, but to listen. We need to understand 
the interests of others before we can pitch 
our own. And we have to demonstrate 
that we are open to others, and care about 
them, before we can expect them to be 
open to us. These two basics are missing 
in many discussions.
LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS
To deepen your understanding of influence, 
read Robert Cialdini’s book 
Influence: The 
Psychology of Persuasion (Harper Business). 
The book reviews the social science of 
influencing behaviour and outlines six core 
principles that have been proven to succeed. 
Integrating these six persuasion principles into 
your influencing strategies can make you a 
more effective leader of yourself and others.
core principle
,
Grundprinzip,
wesentlicher Grundsatz
outline sth.
,
etw. umreißen, darlegen
review sth. 
[ri(vju:]
,
etw. betrachten
 
Connect. 
Robert Cialdini’s first princi-
ple of influencing is “rapport”, or connect-
ing with others (see box below). This is 
based on the idea that we are more likely 
to be able to influence people who like us 
than people who are indifferent or hos-
tile towards us. Remember: relationship 
precedes task.
 
Calibrate.
Based upon the first two 
stages, we have to design an influencing 
strategy that we feel will succeed. These 
can diverge wildly, depending on the per-
son and context. Crisis situations may 
require us to bark out orders to save lives, 
while discussions to increase someone’s 
job responsibilities may require sensitive 
negotiation over a period of time. 
 
Communicate. 
Without competent 
messaging — the appropriate use of lan-
guage, tone, energy, rhetoric and pacing — 
people will not listen to what you say. The 
fact that you can talk does not make you 
a communicator. It just means you are ca-
pable of making a noise with your voice.