So, far we talked about our first strategy which is the minimize the biases that enable the others to influence us. We use several examples, we use social proof, we use availability and we use the liking to illustrate that strategy of minimizing those biases.
0:23
Now, I want to talk about the second strategy for protecting yourself, and that really is to flip the influence tactic on the other person. So, the idea here is, when they use the influence tactic on you, you can You can actually reverse the tactic and use the same tactic back on them to protect yourself from that influence. So, let me give you a few examples. I'm going to go back to liking to begin with. So, we talked about, for example, the engaging in dialogue prior to backing requests. And how to minimize the impact of that dialogue by minimizing the, The opportunity for dialogue. But in this case, I wanna talk about how people draw on similarities to use the liking effect to influence us. The idea of drawing on similarities is finding those areas in life. Could be personal, could be professional, where we share a common bond. We have a similarity in common and drawing on that to create this relationship and this notion of liking between us, therefore making it more likely that you will comply with a request or my influence attempt, but we can actually flip that strategy of drawing on similarities on the other person, so when the person tries to influence you.
1:41
Draws on those similarities you can actually reverse that by refocusing the conversation on differences.
1:51
So, if I'm trying to influence you, and I draw on some similarities, I make similarities that you and I have in common, and I make those particularly, salient, or make you aware of those similarities, you can in return, refocus the conversation on yes, we do share those common similarities but we also have some important differences, and making those differences salient or aware actually, Reduces the likelihood of that liking effect having its impact on you in terms of influence. Let's go back to social proof for example. In our earlier segment on social proof, when we were talking about using it as an influence tactic, we talked a lot about showing Similar others are doing what you're asking of this person. So, everybody else is doing this, therefore you should too. Or showing that others have done the same thing and succeeded, so really drawing on their success. Sharing testimonials of others who are similar to you. So, those are ways in which I can use social proof as an influence tactic. But at the same time if you want to protect yourself from that influence, you can actually flip that tactic on the person trying to influence you. For example, if we just take these here, rather than showing what similar others are doing, you can actually show that similar others are not doing what, in this case, I would be asking of you. So, if I give you a couple of examples of people who I think are similar to you and They're buying the same thing that I'm trying to get you to buy or they're taking the same action that I'm trying to get you to take. You can very quickly think of and offer examples of similar others who are not doing those same things or not buying that same product or service. To minimize the impact of social proof as an influence tactic.
3:46
Another thing that you can do is share examples of others who have taken that same approach, and instead of succeeding, actually failed. So, if I'm trying to influence you, I give you examples of people who have done this, and they succeed. You turn that around and give me examples of people who have done the same thing and failed. Again, minimizing the impact of social proof. As an influence tactic.