Opinion: It is important to understand the effect of persuasion in our daily lives.

As you think about your everyday norms, a sight of two people in a store, one dressed in
a proper uniform with a polite smile spread across their face, as they articulate the qualities of a
subject in an orderly manner to the customer standing nearby, must be a quite familiar set of
circumstances. As you’re reading this, the scene should most likely appear vividly in your mind
from recent encounters of your own. And most importantly, you might already know that the
salesman has developed, through their career, an idea of a skill we all know as ‘Persuasion’.
Persuasion is an advantage that revolves around all of our daily lives. Persuasion signifies the
action of trying to change or influence your audience’s beliefs, attitudes, motivations, intentions,
or ideas “in an atmosphere of free choice” (Cherry.K). If you would take a moment to look
around, you would see that persuasion plays a significant role in many elements of your life,
other than the instant of considering or purchasing a product.
What you might have not realized, is that persuasion has a more substantial impact on
you and your relationships than you think. In our present society, communication and
cooperation is the key component of all interactions and relationships. In our time, messages and
words are being transmitted so quickly and easily that many people have overlooked the
importance of analyzing and fully comprehending the words passing through. Consequently,
people often find themselves yielding in situations with half-truths, lies, misleading information,
or unreasonable and illogical arguments (Why Persuasion is Important).
Look a little closer and Persuasion is just to the corner of your eye
According to the Department of Communication of the Indiana States University,
understanding how persuasion functions and how it affects you in your everyday life, will not
only help you improve your own persuasive skills to use in your interactions, but will also help
you become “better consumers of information” and help you gain “a better grasp of what
happens around us in the world” (2016). I sometimes find myself lost in others persuasive skills,
suddenly being pulled into a fast conversation, and ending up with results that I haven’t yet
processed out in my mind. At one point, I ended up buying two products and signing up for a
membership at a skin product store that I have never purchased before. The saleslady was so
sweet-spoken with warm smiles and soft gestures that I had fallen into her persuasive tactics. “A
young lady like you must be so busy during this time of the year with all your school work!
What a surprise to see how amazing your skin is! Oh but I do think that a good water essence
would help with the small details of your pores as well! Our latest essence in the new set is just
perfect for your skin type!” Her flattery along with my flat sense of denial concluded the trip to
the mall with my friends as a simple tragedy for my wallet. To put it another way, persuasion can
come to us all in the simplest approaches. Many parents are great and effective persuasive
communicators who develop a skill into convincing their children into following their words. My
parents had proved that to me themselves when they had brought me to whining tears of disgust
after talking me into finishing those red and mushy tomatoes as a child.
In addition, research from the “Hidden Effects of Persuasion”, states that through
experiments, it has been proven that when there appears to be zero effects from persuasive
communication, implicitly apparent are small and continuous effects on the audience’s attitude
(Zakary L. Pablo Briñol, Richard E. Petty). To clarify, even when the occurring persuasive
communication appears to have failed in influencing the audience, or when the audience’s
response has shown no change and resistance towards the influence, hidden effects of this
occurrence actually has a greater impact on the audience’s original attitude despite the visible
response (Zakary L. Pablo Briñol, Richard E. Petty). The persuasive techniques might have not
been able to change the audience’s answer or change their perspective, but it has opened another
perspective and throughout time, the audience’s attitude has shown progress towards gradually
following the persuasive skills. In the end, persuasion is inevitably and undeniably one of the
most powerful tools an individual can hold and develop.
“Persuasion is not a science, but an art” - William Bernbach
“Persuasion was one of the basic liberal arts to be mastered by any educated men”
(Britaanica). In other words, in our current present, no matter who you are, where you are, or
what you do, persuasion will invariably be an advantage in communication and relationships, as
you are not only conveying a message to your audience, but your purpose is to show your
perspective of the world to them. By proclaiming to them your point of view, how you see
different sides of a topic, or how you chose to interpret an idea, you are influencing their minds
and attitudes into believing your words and perspective (Why Persuasion is Important). The goal
of persuasion does not revolve around selling a product or just gaining someone on to your side
of the argument. It is to help set a clear and helpful base of knowledge and reasons to why a
person should take action and how it will benefit them. It defines as profoundly more than the
common, obstructive, and deceptive interpretation of using persuasive skills to at most delude
someone for an inferior act. The skills of persuasion are the essentials to getting a clear hold of
the issues you are facing in our society, and the key to helping others see what is beneficial to
them. Utilize it for the better in all of us: persuading others to follow their passions, or help the
world by choosing green choices to save the environment, or maybe just persuade someone that
tomorrow may not be as awful as today was. “To be persuasive, we must be believable; to be
believable, we must be credible; to be credible, we must be truthful,” quoted Edward R. Murrow,
“the most influential and esteemed figure in American broadcast journalism during its formative
years'' (Britannica). We are not pressuring or corercing them into believing us, only opening
another door for them to see other possibilities.
In every moment of your day, persuasion appears here and there, sometimes engaging
you into an idea that would impact your decisions, mindset, and relationships. But as you learn to
analyze and comprehend those persuasive techniques you face, and fight back using your own
knowledge and skills, you’ll find yourself in a wiser and wider perspective of the world. The art
of persuasion is not making profit or a Sports Gym membership out of it, but the good in using
those effective skills into improving ours and others’ life quality.

References

Cherry, K. (n.d.). How Today's Approach to Persuasion Differs From the Past. Retrieved from

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-persuasion-2795892

Department of Communication, I. S. (2016, August 18). Introduction to Public Communication.

Retrieved from

http://kell.indstate.edu/public-comm-intro/chapter/11-2-why-persuasion-matters/#:~:text=

First, when you study and,more successful at persuading others.&text=Second, when

people understand persuasion,constantly fighting for our attention

Edward R. Murrow. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-R-Murrow?utm_campaign=b-extension&u
 tm_medium=chrome&utm_source=ebinsights&utm_content=Edward R. Murrow

Why Persuasion Is Important. (n.d.). Retrieved from ​http://www.scienceofyes.com/

Zakary L. Tormala, Indiana UniversityPablo Briñol, Universidad Autonoma de MadridRichard

E. Petty, Ohio State University. (n.d.). Hidden Effects of Persuasion. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303169073_Hidden_effects_of_persuasion