Introduction
The main theme of this work is very broad and covers the different persuasion techniques.
Persuasion is one of the many types of communication that exist, the best way to begin to define persuasive communication is by first giving a definition of communication.
A rather superfluous and generalized definition of what communication is would be to say that communication is the action or process through which there is an exchange of information of any kind between two or more individuals. It should also be said that this process is dynamic, transactional, which affects both the sender of the message, and who or who listens and receives it. It can be added to this definition, in addition, that communication is a symbolic key to personal abstractions.
Communication is a strange, rather exotic field of human communication.
This field is usually applied on a plane that escapes our consciousness, so that we are influenced and manipulated to a greater extent than we generally realize, when it comes to the patterns of our daily life.
We often hear about the power of specific communicators. We also know that those who control information are very powerful. When we speak of the power of the spoken word or of a certain speaker we are only acknowledging what sages and experts have known for years, we recognize that communication that influences others is a powerful weapon.
The main problem is that persuasive communication is a tool that can be used for good or bad ends, but in one sense or another its power is great. Therefore, although communication fulfills other functions, a more detailed review of those techniques and the basic elements of persuasion, as well as their social influence, will be presented. Within the communication there are two categories which stand out widely, these are the one that is communication by nature, that is to say, the one that has a purpose solely destined to inform a certain question, matter or opinion to a third person; and the one that develops other functions, that is, convincing someone that one thing is better or more convenient than another, that tries to convince or change attitudes or thoughts of this or that person.
These two categories differ in a matter that lies in the concept of intention, that is, the basic question of whether a source has to intentionally adopt a conduct intended to produce some effect.
The objectives of the present are: to know the different types of persuasion as "persuasive communication", to identify the sources that use this type of communication and to identify the way in which we can defend ourselves against it, and to be able to use it for our own benefit.
To achieve these objectives, the following information will be analyzed.
Development
A long time ago it was a question of defining what were the best techniques to persuade a person and that it was persuasion itself within those ideas there were many opinions, one of which was made by a character named JORGE E. PEDREIRA who said they were many persuasion techniques that had been developed over time but that all reached the same end that was to persuade the individual instead of other opinions.
The only thing they did not say that persuasion technically does not brainwash but is the manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without the manipulated party being aware of what caused their change of opinion, which for our point of view was more scientific But as if you want to hit the subject, let's get into it in order to understand and understand each way of thinking of our knowledge partners, let's start with our journey.
Persuasion is not technically the same as brainwashing, but it is the manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without the manipulated party realizing what it is that has changed their mind. I would like to have time to introduce you to some of the thousands of techniques used today, but the basis of persuasion is always access to THE SAME BRAIN. The left half of our brain is analytical and rational. The left half is creative and imaginative. This is a simplification, but it serves what I mean. The idea is to distract the left brain by keeping it busy. Ideally, the persuader generates an altered state of consciousness, moving one from beta alertness to alpha; this can be measured on an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine.
An example of a left brain distraction. Politicians use these powerful techniques all the time; Lawyers use some variations that I am told they call "tightening the loop."
Think for a moment that you are watching a politician give a speech. First, you must create what is called a " state of assent." This is making statements that listeners agree with; they must even nod their heads while speaking to show their assent. Then come the "truisms." These are generally facts that can be disputed, but once the politician has the audience nodding, chances are all in favor that the listeners will not start to think for themselves, and will therefore continue to nod. Finally comes the suggestion. This is what the politician wants us to do, and since we have been nodding all along, we can be persuaded to accept the suggestion.
Interleaving technique
Another technique is called INTERCALING TECHNIQUE and the idea is to say something with words but to sow a subconscious impression of something else in the minds of the listeners and / or viewers.
For example, suppose you are watching a television commentator say the following: "SENATOR JOHNSON is helping the authorities fix the stupid corporate mistakes that contribute to the nuclear waste problems." It sounds like a statement of fact, but if the announcer emphasizes the right words and, especially, makes the right hand gestures when pronouncing the keywords, it can leave you feeling that Senator Johnson is stupid. That is the subliminal message of the statement, and the announcer cannot be accused of anything.
Subliminal cues are hidden suggestions that only your subconscious can perceive. They can be auditory, hidden behind music, or visual, scattered in an image or projected onto a screen so quickly that you don't see them consciously, or cleverly incorporated into an image or design.
Many subliminal audio signals on reprogramming tapes contain verbal suggestions recorded at low volume.
Can we be persuaded without even realizing it? Many people believe that this kind of influence is possible. One study tried to test the effectiveness of subliminal self-help tapes. Subjects listened to tapes to improve memory or to boost self-esteem. Half of them had the labels on the tapes changed, so that they believed they were improving their memory when in fact they were listening to tapes to improve self-esteem. The results showed that there was no improvement in self-esteem or memory, according to the researchers' measurements, however the subjects claimed to have improved their memory or self-esteem if they believed they listened to tapes to improve them, whether it was true or if the labeling was changed.
Subliminal auditory information cannot influence us for the simple reason that we do not hear it and because it appears mixed with other sounds. The most that subliminal persuasion can do is make something more like us because its image has been repeatedly presented to us and because the familiar tends to appeal to us more than the unknown. However, the impact of this type of persuasion fades as soon as we consciously process that information, which erases any vague sensations we may have.
What we know and what we consciously want is more powerful. In addition, it has been seen that although the subliminal image of a package of popcorn on a cinema screen can increase sales, a normal advertisement increases them much more.
Vibrato
The vibrato is a tremolo effect that emit some voices or musical instruments, and its cycles per second cause people into an altered state of consciousness. At one period in English history, singers whose voices contained pronounced vibrato were not allowed to perform in public because listeners entered alpha states and had fantasies, often of sexual content.
One of the main uses of ELFs is communication with submarines. Dr. Andrija Puharich, a highly respected researcher, set up an experiment to warn US officials of the Russian use of ELFs. Volunteers were "plugged in" so that their brain waves could be monitored. They were sealed in a metal room that could not be penetrated by any normal signal.
In the early 1960s, as a teenager, Dr. Patrick Flanagan appeared on the list of the best scientists in the world in Life magazine. Among his many inventions was a device called the Neurophone: an electronic instrument that can successfully program suggestions through direct contact with the skin.
Using that device, you don't see or hear anything; It is applied to the skin, which according to Pat is the main source of sensations. The skin contains more receptors for heat, touch, pain, vibrations, and electrical fields than any other part of the human anatomy.
A simple way is to place a black frame every 32 frames of the film being projected. This creates a rhythm of 45 per minute that is only perceived by the subconscious mind - the ideal rhythm for generating deep hypnosis.
Ads or suggestions that contain this type of projection are more easily accepted. The high percentage of viewers who have sleepwalking abilities can accept these suggestions as orders, provided they do not ask the viewer to do something contrary to their morals, their religion or their self-preservation.
I have only touched the tip of the iceberg. If subliminal messages are combined under the music, hypnotic visual effects, sustained musical rhythms, inducers of trances. We have extremely effective brainwashing. Every hour that you spend in front of the TV you are more suggestible. And, in case you think that the law does not allow these things, you are wrong. It doesn't! There are a lot of powerful people who prefer things to stay the way they are. Maybe they have a plan?
They were developed by a researcher named Robert Cialdini and they work in many different situations. They apply only when the receiver is in "lazy mode" (the heuristic thinking that we will talk about later).
1. Comparison: if others do it, you should too. Some television series include a background laugh, since it has been seen that, in these cases, people laugh more. Beggars often put a few coins in the bowl, because people are less willing to drop coins if it is empty.
2. Attractive. According to Roger Ailes, advisor to the campaigns of Presidents Bush and Reagan, "if those who listen to you like you, they will forgive you almost anything." Attractive people are more persuasive and get things done more easily. This is because we tend to agree with the people we like and think that they are right.
3. Authority: if the source is an authority on the subject, it is usually believed. It consists of using dentists to advertise toothpastes or veterinarians to advertise dog food. In the US an actor was used to advertise painkillers playing the same role as a doctor that he did in a famous television series. And it worked! Which shows that there are a lot of lazy brains out there.
4. Commitment: when we take a position we must maintain it. If we see an advertisement for a product that interests us at a good price and we are willing to buy it, it is difficult for us to change our mind even if when we arrive at the store they only have an identical but more expensive product.
5. Reciprocity. A small gift accompanied by a subscription offer to a magazine can persuade us to subscribe to it. That is, they give us something and once we accept it we are forced to give something in return.
6. Scarcity: if it is scarce it is good. People tend to feel more persuaded to buy something when it comes to a sale, when they only have a certain period of time to buy it, if their number is limited, it is a special weekend offer, etc.
Modern persuasion techniques
According to the results obtained by the main investigations of the pioneers in the psychological and sociological study of persuasion (H. Lasswell, B. Berelson, P. Lazarsfeld, CI Hovland and E. Katz, 1930-1960), the factors that directly influence on the greater or lesser success of the persuasion, and also on the greater or lesser resistance to their psychological pressure have to do with:
The stimulus variables from the source or the issuer The greater or lesser capacity of the issuer to be able to set in motion the basic mediating processes: attention, understanding and acceptance of both the formal message and the content. Reception situation factors (how, where, when) of the persuasive message. Variables of psychological predisposition of the receiver that were important as key elements with respect to achieving greater acceptance and credibility of the message and the persuasive source.
Studies reveal that both ideological and commercial persuasion tend to contain mechanisms of influence that are much less effective than what is assumed from broadcasting and creative agencies as well as from the media, except perhaps in certain moments and situations of economic or political tension.. In modern times the knowledge of many persuasive effects of social communication is carried out primarily through the application of the techniques of content analysis of the message or speech.
Recently, a greater understanding of the effects of persuasion has been linked to a developmental variant of content analysis: text analysis (SJ Schmidt, TA Van Dijk).
Point of view of Jorge E. Pereira
It is common to use, in marketing classes, as a didactic exercise, the question: Is it possible to persuade through personal messages, radio, press, etc.? It's a well-worn question that doesn't have just one answer. You can have as many answers as there are people. The behavior does not depend exclusively on one element. It depends on the circumstances in which the actors of the interaction are found and those of the people who interact at a given time in a specific environment. Many are the persuasion techniques that have been developed over time. They were perfected by friends of wisdom to be used by rulers, military men, clergymen and conspicuous who needed to persuade their audiences.
Personal selling is a form of persuasion. This is a key to open a door. The sale has been correctly called persuasive communication. An attempt was made to introduce the word "communication" (communication / persuasion), to name personal selling, unfortunately without success. Marketing itself is no more than a complex system of communication with the market, whose purpose is to persuade certain groups of the advantages of a product or service. The most exaggerated technique of persuasion is torture. It was long accepted as "evidence" in court, until not long ago. In this way the enemies were persuaded to accept that they were wrong and guilty.
Millions of women were burned to death after the Inquisition made them accept that they practiced witchcraft, when they only applied ancient healing techniques. Many women continue to die or be seriously harmed because they differ from the opinions of those who live with them, who try to persuade them of something at any cost. Apparently torture has recently become fashionable again, to persuade those who disagree with it of the advantages of Western democracy.
Final comments
There are different ways and techniques of how to persuade people, however personally I consider very important the difference that establishes that Persuasion technically is not considered as brainwashing but is the manipulation of the human mind by another individual, without the manipulated person is aware of what has changed his ideas and consequently his way of thinking.
In the development of this work, only some of the most important techniques and means of communication today are addressed, taking into consideration that historically there have been a great diversity of techniques and means of how to do it.
The basis of persuasion always serves to access the right half of the brain. The left half is analytical and rational. The right side is creative and imaginative. It's overly simplified but it explains my point. So the idea is to distract the left brain and keep it busy. Ideally, the persuader generates an altered conscious state with eyes open, causing a shift in consciousness from beta to alpha; this can be measured on a machine (Electro - Brain - Grass).
In addition, JORGE E. PEREIRA says that apart from the many persuasion techniques that have been developed and applied over time, these have also been perfected by great intellectual figures and with great wisdom to be used in different areas such as: rulers, military, clergy, and conspicuous who needed to persuade their audiences.
The above leaves as an interpretation, that in persuasion different techniques can be used, but that in the end it has the same purpose, that is, they are aimed at the same end, this same author mentions that in past times persuasion was considered as torture already that the women who were called witches were persuaded and of the same fear they confessed witches and that they made spells of which it was not true if not more than a concoction.
I also consider that one of the techniques most used today and that has generated the most impact in consumer society is the technique of subliminal messages through different media such as television, radio, music, the cinema and printed material. Well, these reach our brain subconsciously and is aimed mainly at the children's genre through movie series, including Walt Disney, music and advertising.
This persuasion technique is nothing more than persuasive communication and is characterized by the manifest intention of the source clearly oriented to produce something in the receiver, mainly in children, and modify their behavior in some sense. There is always a message, a transmission of information, which is characterized in persuasive communication compared to other kinds of communication because it is loaded with meaning, and which also contains sociological elements, since it implies control, coercion and pressure.
Despite the advance of persuasion techniques, education is the most widespread and economical traditional way of obtaining resources against excessive persuasive manipulation. Clarifying that if at no time did I correct the point of view of these authors it is because I agree with what they mention in their excerpts but if for me the persuasion technique is a threat to them, it is a warning.
Bibliography
Manuel Couto, "How to speak well in public", Ed. Gestión 2000.
Francesc Borrell, "Communicate well to lead better", Ed. Gestión 2000
Robert L. Genua, "Be careful what you say…", Ed. Gestión 2000
Urlgrafia
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www.cepvi.com/articulos/persuasion.shtml. Consulted on October 25, 2010.- at 9:30 p.m.
Accessed October 26, 2010 at 8:35 PM.
Accessed October 27, 2010. - 8:45 p.m.
