Ignite a Shift: Engaging Minds, Guiding Emotions, and Driving Behavior
Stephen McGarvey
Morgan James Publishing (July 2022)

The subtleties of persuasion that few people are of and even fewer understand

According to Stephen McGarvey, those who read this book will “embark on a journey together and explore at a deeper level how persuasion works, including the ways in which we influence ourselves and others…[and will] discover the importance of rapport as the foundation for persuasion and influence.”

Long ago in his classic work, Rhetoric, Aristotle suggests that there are four levels of discourse: EXPOSITION explains with information, DESCRIPTION makes details vivid with compelling images, NARRATION tells a story or explains a sequence, and ARGUMENTATION convinces with evidence and/or logic. Persuasion is most effective when conducted on all four separate but interdependent levels. During the years since Aristotle’s Rhetoric (4th century BCE), other thought leaders who specialize in persuasion have developed Aristotle’s insights in much greater detail while explaining the WHAT and HOW.

McGarvey observes, “As a persuader, your goal is to move a person from their Current State [i.e. a person’s mental map and includes an individual’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviors — or what they are thinking, feeling,  and doing in the now] to a Desired State [i.e. what you want the individual to think, feel,  and do at a specific point in time in the future].”

What we have in McGarvey’s book is a brilliant examination of the WHY.

The details of what is invariably a challenging process are best revealed within the narrative, in context. However, I am comfortable with sharing a few of the key concepts on which McGarvey focuses:

o “Remehat beliefs and values are a part of a person’s model of the world and are the ‘Why/’ behind what drives their behavior. What you have to offer will either be in alignment with their current model or will conflict with it, depending on [begin my italics] how you frame it [end italics].”  (Page 41)

o “Sights, sounds, and other sensory inputs absorbed at a subconscious level can change conscious thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.”   (85)

o “Rapport is the key to persuasion. By establishing rapport and providing another person with the experience of being understood, we trigger emotional fulfillment within them. Once you’ve established rapport, the individual will be much more likely to communicate freely;y with you and follow your lead to the Desired State.”  (101)

o “Remember there’s a fine line between empathy and agreement. Many people think they’re empathizing with someone when they’re actually unconsciously and inadvertently agreeing with them. Our objective is to empathize with them while maintaining rapport and then, gradually, to shift them toward the Desired State  (114)

o “The eyes give important clues about how a person’s mind is processing information and about ‘how’ they think. Once you know that, you can shift your language to match how they think and, as a result, become more persuasive.”   (128)

o “Empowering beliefs acts as catalysts, progressing you toward your Desired State, while limiting beliefs, impede progress. Be diligent in recognizing opportunities to assist in updating or modifying a person’s limiting belief.”  (248)

I strongly recommend highlighting key passages (my preference is an optic yellow Sharpie ACCENT) and having a lined notebook near at hand (my preference is the Mead marble version) in order to record notes, comments, and page references as well as your responses to the sets of interactive questions within each chapter. These two simple tactics will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key material later. And I presume to share what I learned during a lively conversation years ago with the British Ambassador’s chief of staff. I asked him “What is the secret to successful negotiation?” He responded, “Let the other chap have it your way.”