Jerome Bruner
A good story and a well-formed argument are different natural kinds. Both can be used as means for convincing another. Yet what they convince of is fundamentally different: arguments convince one of their truth, stories of their lifelikeness. The one verifies by eventual appeal to procedures for establishing formal and empirical proof. The other establishes not truth but verisimilitude.
Content: Quotation | Source: Storytelling: Passport to Success in the 21st Century | Subjects: Communication, Persuasion
Aristotle
The orator persuades by moral character when his speech is delivered in such a manner as to render him worthy of confidence; for we trust such persons to a greater degree, and more readily. This is generally true for all types of arguments, and absolutely true when there is uncertainty and room for doubt.
Content: Quotation | Source: IESE Insight | Subjects: Communication, Persuasion
Susan Cramm
Formal presentations often shut down the very communication they are meant to foster. Without sufficient knowledge of the interests of the audience, a slide show says, “I’ve got the answers and you’re here to listen.” This type of presentation tends to fall short of the impact of simply asking a few well-thought-out questions earlier in the process.
Content: Quotation | Source: CIO Magazine | Subjects: Communication, Persuasion
Daniel Webster
Effective communication does not consist in speech. Words and phrases may be marshaled in every way, but they cannot encompass it. It must consist in the speaker, in the subject, and in the occasion.
Content: Quotation | Source: CEO Refresher | Subjects: Communication, Persuasion
Dale Carnegie
The only way on earth to influence… [someone] is to talk about what he [she] wants and show him [her] how to get it.
Content: Quotation | Source: MarketingProfs | Subjects: Personal Development, Persuasion
Rudy Ruggles
“Our” stories are more effective (authentic) than “their” or even “my” stories.
Content: Quotation | Source: CGE&Y Center for Business Innovation (CBI) | Subjects: Marketing / Sales, Persuasion
Harry S Truman
If you can’t convince them, confuse them.
Content: Quotation | Subject: Persuasion