Persuade Vs Convince

In many of our work situations, we spend a lot of time trying to convince people about our point of view when instead, we should focus on persuading them.

After reading a Seth Godin Blogpost with the same title, I understood the subtle but critical distinction between persuading and convincing. He writes in his blogpost,

“Marketers don’t convince. Engineers convince. Marketers persuade. Persuasion appeals to the emotions and to fear, and to the imagination. Convincing requires a spreadsheet or some other rational device.

It’s much easier to persuade someone if they’re already convinced, if they already know the facts. But it’s impossible to change someone’s mind merely by convincing them of your point.“

There is a good lesson for all of us in this.

If you are ever caught in a situation where you are trying very hard to get others to see your point of view by presenting facts and evidence but not succeeding, it may be a good time to pause and step back. Maybe you are getting your approach wrong- Instead of trying to convince by appealing to the intellect, you may be better off trying to persuade by appealing to the emotions.