If you want to impose your ideas but people won’t listen to you, here are 5 steps that can help you sound more convincing.
Avoid conflicts
In case of a conflict, you may feel eager to come up with facts, solid arguments and explanations to support your ideas. Winning a conflict can make you feel victorious, but what is your benefit of proving the other that he is wrong? He will only despise you for hurting their pride and most likely, he won’t change his way of thinking. The best strategy you can adopt in a conflict is avoiding it. Although you may be right and have all chances to prove this, you should stay away from conflicts, and don’t impose your ideas if nobody asks for your opinion.
Respect other opinions
If you don’t agree with your interlocutor, you can expose your point of view in a polite manner. Use phrases like: “I think”, “I imagine”, “I might be wrong, but…” which suggest that you are not imposing ideas, but these words inspire the other to be as sincere as you. When you have a friendly approach and use such remarks, your opinions will be more easily accepted than when you impose your ideas.
Make people say “yes”
Listen to what the others have to say and focus on the aspects that you agree with. You can adopt a method of asking questions on the topics that you agree, questions that can be answered in the affirmative by your interlocutor. The Socratic questioning technique was based on asking questions that require affirmative answers, and this technique helps the people think independently and reach the answer using their own reasoning. In this way, people can see your way of thinking.
Cooperation
People tend to believe ideas that they discover themselves more than ideas that are given to them. Instead of trying to change people’s opinions, you’d better make suggestions and let them discover for themselves what is best for them. It’s important to let them express their ideas freely and expose your own in form of remarks. They will consider these, adopt them and cooperate with you more than when you impose your ideas.
See things from their perspective
The most useful thing to do when your view is rejected is putting yourself in other people’s place. It’s important to understand how people feel and why they have certain reactions, and admit that, under similar circumstances, you would have done the same. Consider both your feelings and theirs, learn to see things from their perspective, and you will save energy and avoid useless arguments.
Don’t impose your ideas by contradicting people, but listen to their ideas, focus on the aspects that you agree with, use suggestions and cooperate in a conversation to reach the desired conclusion.
