Influencing One Conversation at a Time

Proven tools to influence without authority and make change happen across an organisation.

The Problem

More and more of the work that matters crosses the lines of the org chart. Leaders and professionals need stakeholders, peers and other teams to act, and they have no authority over any of them.

So they do what feels natural: they make the case harder. More data, more slides, more pushing. And the harder they push, the more push-back they get.

The Insight

Pushing creates resistance. When people feel pushed, the brain reads it as a threat and they get fight (resistance) or flight (withdrawal). People who influence well do the opposite. They master the art of bringing the other person into the thinking and pulling them towards a decision rather than pushing them into one.

Key Outcomes

What participants walk away with

01
Know who matters most
A map of the stakeholders they rely on for success now and the ones who matter for their future career, and how strong each relationship really is.
02
Why people push back
The three threat triggers that make people resist being influenced, and the influence strategy that defuses each one.
03
A structure for any pitch
The AGOER framework, for proposing ideas in conversations, presentations or writing without triggering push-back.
04
Conversations and meetings that move things forward
The PREPARE framework, so every interaction builds the relationship and ends with clear actions.
05
Practise it for real
Participants apply the frameworks to their own live situations, with practice and feedback.
06
A toolkit and an action plan
Each participant receives a Takeaway Toolkit, plus their action plan built in the session.
07
Nudges that reinforce over time
Behavioural nudges that remind and reinforce the new approach long after the session.
Session Flow

How the session unfolds

Timings and emphasis are tailored to your group and the time available.

1
Map the stakeholders
Who they rely on for success now, who matters for their future career, and how strong each of those relationships is today.
2
The persuasion challenge
Given a scenario, each participant chooses a position, then has to change other people’s minds. It shines a light on how hard it is to persuade, and how resistant we all are to being persuaded.
3
What great looks like
In the debrief, a story shows what great influence looks like in practice.
4
Threat and the three triggers
Why persuasion attempts land as threats, and the three threat triggers the other person’s brain is scanning for: Intentions, Understanding and Autonomy. Each has a matching influence strategy: make intentions explicit, ask before tell and present options and consequences.
5
The AGOER framework
The three strategies come together in one framework for any idea they think is a goer: Ask (expansive questions first), Goals (what everyone is trying to achieve), Options (what is available), Educate (the consequences of each option) and Recommend (a soft or strong recommendation). It is a two-way conversation, not a one-way sales pitch, and it works in conversations, presentations or writing.
6
Influence one conversation at a time
The PREPARE framework for conversations and meetings that build relationships and move things forward. It starts with a race to put the seven steps in the right order. We detail specific language and techniques to build rapport, set the right expectations and demonstrate value.
7
Make it real
Each participant commits to the specific shifts they will make in their next influencing conversations.
8
Embedding
Over the following weeks to months: behavioural nudges, facilitated peer group coaching, individual coaching - a range of options depending on the engagement.
Format & Delivery

Shaped around your context

Duration
Half day
Delivery
In person or virtual
Audience
Leaders, managers and professionals who need to influence people they don't manage
Two ways to work with us

People of Influence is the consultancy through which Michelle Rushton and Shaun Kenny deliver leadership programs, team offsites and impactful conferences.

Contact People of Influence →

Leadership Engine is our proprietary platform for measuring and improving leadership effectiveness with diagnostics, dashboards and behavioural nudges.

Visit Leadership Engine →