A coach is a person oriented to facilitate change in their clients. The process by which the client achieves her objectives usually goes through a restructuring or enrichment of her cognitive maps through which the client represents the reality in which she thinks she lives.
People differ in our ability to influence others, and knowing the non-directivity of coaching it can be interesting to know some factors that make one source have a greater persuasiveness than another.
Studies carried out by teams of social psychologists show that there are two main characteristics associated with sources with the greatest persuasive power: credibility and attractiveness.
Source credibility
Hovland and his colleagues suggested that the more credible a source was, the greater its effect on attitude change, but what is it that makes a source credible? Research results have shown that the credibility of a source basically depends on the competence and sincerity with which it is perceived.
Competence refers to whether the recipient considers that the source has the knowledge and ability to provide adequate information and mainly depends on:
Education, occupation and experience.
Fluency in the transmission of the message. When it comes to verbal messages, as the presence in the message of repetitions, vocalized pauses, articulation difficulties and other onset of lack of fluency increases, the competence with which the source is perceived decreases.
The citation of sources that enjoy a certain authority or prestige increases the competence with which the issuer is perceived.
The position defended by the issuer. When the message emitted by the source clearly violates the expectations that the receiver has (and the clearest example is when the source speaks against his own interest), then the competition with which the sender is perceived increases and, consequently, your credibility.
The sincerity of a source depends, among other factors, on:
- It is perceived as lacking in profit motive, Its lack of persuasive intention, The attractiveness it exerts on the recipient, That it speaks against the preferences of the audience and that it does so without knowing that it is being observed.
Sources are especially perceived as sincere when they speak against their own interest.
Fountain appeal
In general, the most attractive sources in the eyes of the audience have a greater persuasive power. This can be due to a number of reasons.
First, an attractive font may determine that the message is paid attention, while a less attractive font may not avoid going unnoticed.
Second, the attractiveness of the source can influence the acceptance phase, as the receiver, through the process of identification, may want to wish, think, or act in the same way as the source. People tend to associate physical attractiveness with other positive characteristics, such as honesty, sincerity or credibility.
Perhaps you consider that your objective is not to persuade, but if that were your objective: what aspects of those we have mentioned could improve your persuasive capacity?
