13 Jun How to Persuade a Sceptic

Scepticism …. How do you know whether you’re making the right decision? And how can you help others make theirs?

Written by Daniela Cavalletti

5 min read

Sometimes the internet simply is a great place. And I’m not talking about kitten videos.

I’ve been touched by the many kind and encouraging messages I’ve received in response to my tree-change blog post about moving to Tasmania.

Generous offers of connecting me with local businesses and personal friends were made. And I heard about the positive experiences of others who made the change long before I did.

The Inner Sceptic 

The deepest and most personal conversations I’ve had were about the fear of change.

The immense doubts we often have about the merit of our ideas. Solid unshakable scepticism. We all have big plans at one stage, yet life often keeps interrupting them. Or makes them seem doubtful or impossible.

We appear to be our own worst critics – sceptical about the possibility to create change we’ll actually enjoy.

It’s sometimes really hard to silence that voice that tells us:

“You can’t!”

Silencing Your (and Others’) Scepticism

One of my recent conversations was with a marketing colleague (let’s call him Cameron). He said my tree-change story had highlighted and changed his deep reluctance to making a big change in life he instinctively felt it was good for him.

Cameron connected with my musings because they had “silenced his own inner sceptic” (wow).

According to my learned friend, I had used a great marketing tool to do so: story-telling.

… Wait, what?

How to Convince Sceptics of Your Idea (Including Yourself)

I‘ll be honest: at first, I was rather peeved when he likened my rather personal reflections to a clever way to convince people.

Once I got over myself though, I saw his point.

Often ‘selling’ your service, product, or ideas to sceptics may seem an impossible task.

We live in a cynical, fast-paced world. With many competing offers, many of them dubious or risky. It can’t help but breed scepticism.

Only if you truly understand why your audience (or you) are sceptical, and engage with that doubt, then you have a chance to persuade, to change minds. Cameron wasn’t talking about trickery, quite the opposite.

To overcome reluctance or scepticism you need to make a sincere, truthful and passionate argument.

#1. Understand The Reasons

Ask yourself why you’re reluctant to do something, and wonder about it for your audience. Put yourself into their shoes, discuss the issue from their perspective.

Understand their resistance without judging their reasons.

Importantly, show them that you have been there.

I bet that when you created a service or product you worried about certain bits. Threw some out you were sceptical about, perfected others. Why did you keep some and discarded others? What makes what you sell great because of that; and what can still be improved upon?

When it came to my recent life and business journey and the reasons that convinced me at first that it was impossible or too painful to do, they resonated with Cameron.

He could identify with them.

#2. Make an Emotional Connection

I’ve talked about this before: we do make the important decisions with our heart and gut, not brain.

So, instead of reeling off facts and figures to convince yourself (or anyone else) of the merits of anything, you need to make an emotional connection first and foremost.

Yes, data is important; but it’s not what clinches the deal.

You need to understand the sceptic’s frustrations, problems, objections, their fear. You need to really ‘get’ them. 

Uprooting your whole life and planting it somewhere unknown? I have been through the whole gamut of wild emotions Cameron had about his big change – including many sleepless nights and freak-outs.

#3. Stay Real, No Nonsense

My uncertainty about facing such a big change was all too real. And it wasn’t easy to overcome it.

Yours or your audience’s won’t be either, so don’t make light of it. Stay realistic and address the whole ‘against’ argument. The nuts and bolts of the sceptic’s reasoning; warts and all.

In order to overcome reluctance or scepticism, you need to pave a way from discomfort to a happy place – without sugar-coating the issues. If it sounds too easy, be sceptical.

I had concerns about how my clients, team and family would take my move – and how I would cope with the changes myself. I worked through them, and found they were manageable, or even exciting! Cameron’s own big decision affects many aspects of his life, too. It was reassuring for him to see that I was ok with what needed to change. His situation might be different, but our fears were similar.

#4. Show the Possible Future

The story doesn’t end with overcoming objections, though. You don’t want to leave your persuaded reader without painting a picture of what their future can hold now. They like your service, product or idea now ­– they believe in it and you. So what now, what’s next?

Don’t leave them hanging, show them their possible future.

To Cameron, ‘silencing his own inner sceptic’ meant not just stepping through the reservations, fears and change-process with me. What made him feel good and truly connected to my tree-change tale, is that I’ve come out the other end not only ok, but very happy, with the big decisions made.

A Simple Story

Sometimes a story is just a story that needs to be told – because it helps us make sense of the world and our place in it.

According to my friend Cameron, though, all good marketing is story-telling … and all story-telling is marketing. A promotion of an idea, a thought, a thing. Every time you tell a story, you take your reader on a journey. You entertain, educate or convince.

Whether the initial purpose of telling your story is marketing or not; it doesn’t really matter.

As long as you tell a sincere, genuine story.