How to change others opinion

2024-09-11 414 words 2 minutes

Contents

Sometimes in communication we have to try to convince people that our idea is more effective than others. This is often difficult because:

some people associate to be wrong at to be incompetent and competence is one of the basic psycholgical needs.
other people have values different from us. Therefore they really think that they idea is better simply because they are evaluating the idea basing on different values.
some people do not consider all the aspects of a problem. Therefore they have a limited point of view and basing on their point of view, the idea they propose is maybe better than the others.

In various articles are reported the following suggestions to change others opinion:

begin trying to comprehend the root causes of the disagreement before trying to persuade.
Depending on the root causes, use one of the following strategies:

When to use	What to do
when other people use objective reasons	Use Critical thinking and present your counter-arguments.
when other people are not persuaded by your arguments	Try to understand why they are not persuaded and what emotions they are feeling. Then gradually try to convince them explaining why it is beneficial also for them and reassuring their fears.
when other people have values different from yours	Sometimes there isn’t much to say or do. Use empathy, if it is ethical, try to explain why your conclusions respects also the values of the other person.

Reframe your arguments using arguments that resonate with other people’s values. For example, if you are talking to someone who values economic growth, orient your arguments considering the benefits of your idea for the economic growth.
When logical arguments do not work, use storytelling. It is proven to be useful to reduce the resistance to change opinions.
Use Motivational Interviewing that it is a proven to be useful to reduce resistance and encourage reflection on the other person’s own motivation.

In conclusion the way to change others opinion is mainly to:

Focus on the other person. In particular their reasons, motivations and emotions.
Reduce resistance and help the other person find their own motive to change their opinion.

References