Resisting Persuasion - MARK THIS ONE

I read the article “Resisting Persuasion” and it honestly made me laugh out loud. This is the perfect example of how communication is a relational act. Each of those methods for ‘resisting’ persuasion is a response that is premeditated to allow the person who is being persuaded an escape route. Each of these ‘techniques’ are a predetermined feedback/response to a persuasion method. However at the same time communication is supposed to define who we are, help us get a sense of who the other person is as well as who we are as individuals. So how can these premeditated responses help us to do this? All these would let us do is go off of someone else’s ideas of what a good response would be. If anything by saying what someone else says to respond with this could teach us to be the opposite from what the person who wrote these is. What I’m trying to say here, is the person who wrote this seems to have a strong sense of themselves, they know all of these techniques presumably because they are a good persuader (so they would know how to overcome it), the person who needs these techniques, on the other hand, is relying on someone else which indicates that they are not as confident in themselves. So instead of learning to stand up for themselves in their own way, these people who become persuaded, are now only persuaded to do what this person tells them to do! I found this comic online and thought it was quite appropriate to illustrate my point here - the one on the left (if you can't read it, it says "Kevin: King of the social influencers").

Notice how everyone is wearing teapots on their heads? This is exactly what my point is; just because someone is telling you to do this doesn't mean it will work, and doesn't mean it is really the best idea. This next cartoon (on the right) illustrates a better example of how you can use persuasion methods but still maintain your own ideas, thoughts and personality.

Some persuasion techniques can be quite effective even if they don't utilize any of the ones listed in the article. In this second comic, the boy is explaining why he didn't do his homework in his own way, but he has hired a violinist to help set the mood of the teacher. This is an example of a boy who is being himself through his own way of communicating, whereas the other comic is a perfect example of people who are most definitely NOT being themselves.

So are these techniques effective? I'm sure that they could be when used correctly, by someone who knows how to use them. Personally, I have probably used them, not because they are listed there, and not because someone told me to, but because that is the response I came up with when faced with someone who is trying to persuade me. Would you consider using these techniques?

I did a quick youtube search on "How to persuade" and found over 2,000 results (quite a few of them are relevant). This is a video of a guy who can teach you how to be persuasive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk01q-lNzkI. I found this to be funny, but I can't tell if it is because I don't believe this guy, or because I come up with my own communication techniques for persuasion and resisting it.

So the questions I will leave you with are, do you think this guy really can teach you how to persuade people? Do you think you are a good persuader or are not easily persuaded? Do you think those ways to resist persuasion are actually helpful?