I like how Michael Cloud put it. Of course, he was talking about political persuasion, but persuasion is persuasion. I don’t have the exact audio at my fingertips. I believe it was from his “freedom store” speech. It goes something like this:

Let’s say someone states an opinion, a vocal opinion that rubs you the wrong way. Here’s how you respond. First, you say, “Ooh! Tell me more!” After they tear into your heart a second time, then, and only then, you can say, “Ah! Tell me more!” Finally, they finish tromping all over your sacred beliefs, and you can at last tell them, “Oh… Tell me more!” By that time maybe they’ll have talked enough and you’ll have heard enough that you can actually have a constructive conversation with them in language they can relate to, and maybe then you’ll actually have a chance of persuading them to come a little further to your point of view.

Okay. I really butchered Michael Cloud’s exact language. But I trust I still got across his point.

-TimK

Good reminder, Tim. Thanks.