on your terms
. I want you to form your own
conclusions: you’ll hold on to them more strongly. I try to walk jurors up to that line, drop them off,
and let them make up their own minds.” Thoughtful questions pave the way for jurors to persuade
themselves. According to Aronson, “in direct persuasion, the audience is constantly aware of the fact
that they have been persuaded by another. Where
self-persuasion
occurs, people are convinced that
the motivation for change has come from within.”
By asking people questions about their plans and intentions, we increase the likelihood that they
actually act on these plans and intentions. Research shows that if I ask you whether you’re planning to
buy a new computer in the next six months, you’ll be 18 percent more likely to go out and get one. But
it only works if you already feel good about the intention that the question targets. Studies show that
asking questions about your plans to floss your teeth and avoid fatty foods significantly enhances the
odds that you will actually floss and eat healthy. These are desirable actions, so questions open the
door for you to persuade yourself to engage in them.
*
But if I ask about your plans to do something
undesirable, questions don’t work. For example, are you planning to eat some chocolate-covered
grasshoppers this month?
After thinking about it, you’re probably even less likely to do it. In the examples that we’ve
covered so far, the givers were selling desirable products to interested customers. When Bill
Grumbles was selling HBO, he had customers who were open to a better cable product. When
Kildare Escoto and Nancy Phelps sell glasses, they have patients who need new frames or lenses.
How do givers change the minds of audiences who aren’t so receptive?
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