Five Ways To Get Others To Agree With You

If there was one thing that was vitally important for you to learn, it would be communication. There's little we do in the modern world that doesn't at least somewhat relate to communicating with others. Often, we are trying to get others to agree with us -- to see our view on why we should have a job, or a relationship, or even the last piece of cake in the fridge. Here's five tips that will allow for your success on all those occasions!

1. Be an active listener

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Face it, we've all been there. Someone comes up to you, and begins talking about their day. You can feel yourself, slowly dozing off... automatically saying "yes" and "uh-huh" to every 3 words they say. Suddenly, they stop, and you know you're finally in the clear.

This is what we call passive listening, which involves cycling words through sensory memory without actually taking anything in. The problem here is that people tend to be very good at being able to tell when someone is listening to them, or "listening" to them.

When you actively listen -- that is, take in every word with focus -- you'll begin to notice two things. First, is that you'll actually know what people are talking about (duh). This allows you to better take that information, and use it to your advantage at a later point -- or otherwise just be able to think of a good response. However, the second thing that happens is a little bit of magic: people will like you better! That's because your facial attention will make it clear that you really are listening to them, and they'll respond to it with happiness.

2. Give a genuine smile

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There's few things people like less than dealing with someone who's mopey. In some occasions -- like depression -- there's nothing the person can do. However, most of the time it's just that we don't feel like smiling. Because we aren't used to it, we go into conversations with straight faces, which can really throw people off!

Instead, try to go into conversations with a smile. People will see you as someone who is much more friendly, sociable, and agreeable -- plus, there's some minor scientific evidence that exercising your smiling muscles makes you happy as well!

3. Understand their perspective

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A big, big issue that people have when they get into arguments, is that they immediately go on the offensive. They try to persuade the other person with facts and logic on how they are right and the other person is wrong... even when they don't even know why the other person thinks what they think!

If you ever want to get other people to agree with your more, start with understanding why and how they think what they think, then proceed to try and convince them. It'll save you a lot of time.

4. Assume no malice

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Perhaps this one pairs very well with #3, but you shouldn't always assume that the person on the other side of the fence from you has bad intentions. It isn't impossible that they do, but it's highly unlikely -- much more unlikely than you think! Rather, assume that the person is just seeing the world from a different point of view. Or, if that's too hard for you, assume that they're just a little misguided. Either works.

5. Boost them up

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My final tip involves the fact that everyone likes to feel liked and respected. This is, without a doubt, the easiest shortcut there is to getting people to like and agree with you. If you follow the previous four pieces of advice, then learning how to boost up others and cull negativity is the cherry on top of a well founded communication strategy!