10 Essential Persuasion IQ (PQ) Skills for Exceptional Success

 PQ Skill #1: Mental Programming. No feat can be achieved unless it is first conceived. Beyond cultivating positive attitudes, great persuaders consciously train their minds to visualize success, learn from and then let go of mistakes, and change self-defeating feelings.

 PQ Skill #2: Understanding How Your Audience Thinks. Great persuaders develop an intuitive sense of other people’s emotions. They understand human nature, including subconscious triggers, knee-jerk objections, the laws of persuasion and how moods affect persuasion.

 PQ Skill #3: Instant Rapport and Social Synchronization. Aware of how much first impressions count, great persuaders can connect with anyone in 30 seconds or less. They aim to be friendly, helpful, and respectful, as well as genuinely enthusiastic.

 PQ Skill #4: Establishing Automatic Trust. Great persuaders overcome skepticism and doubt by putting others’ interests first. They reinforce their trustworthiness through character, competence, credibility, confidence, and consistently matching their words and their actions.

 PQ Skill #5: Command Attention with Power and Authority. Great persuaders leverage different types of power and authority, and know which to use in different situations, to put others at ease.

 PQ Skill #6: The Ability to Influence Others. Great persuaders possess most, if not all, of the seven characteristics pivotal to influencing other people: charisma, passion, empathy, vision, optimism, attitude, and self-esteem.

 PQ Skill #7: Consistently Motivating Yourself and Others. Great persuaders rely on inspiration, rooted in emotions and vision, to re-charge their self-motivation and renew their commitment to success. They motivate other people to move out of complacency by tapping into a combination of internal drives and external pressures.

 PQ Skill #8: Advanced Presentation and Communication Skills. Great persuaders are great communicators. They work to excel at public speaking, storytelling, and humor, with the goal of keeping their audiences mentally engaged and entertained, as well as informed.

 PQ Skill #9: Preplanned Anticipation. Great persuaders never just “wing it.” They take the time to research, rehearse, set objectives, and prepare ahead of time, every time.

 PQ Skill #10: Self-Mastery and Personal Development. Great persuaders recognize the value of investing in continuous learning and growth. They read books and attend seminars. They seek out advice from experts and guidance from mentors.

Adapted from PERSUASION IQ: The 10 Skills You Need to Get Exactly What You Want by Kurt W. Mortensen (AMACOM 2008).