Improve Your Communication Skills, 2nd Edition

85 The Skills of Persuasion
Inductive logic avoids both of these perils. First, it doesn’t strain 
the listener’s patience so much because the main idea – the 
message – appears at the beginning. Secondly, a pyramid is less 
likely to collapse than a strung-out sequence of ideas. It’s easier 
to construct than a deductive sequence because you can see more 
clearly whether your other ideas support your message. And the 
message has a good chance of surviving even if one of the 
supporting ideas is removed. Pyramids of ideas satisfy our thirst 
for answers now and evidence later. They allow you to be more 
creative in assembling your ideas and they put the message right 
at the front. 
Deductive logic is only really useful for establishing whether 
something is true. Inductive logic can also help you to establish 
whether something is 
worth doing
. 
Private pensions are
growing in all major
European regions
Private
pensions are
growing in
Germany
Private
pensions are
growing in
France
Private
pensions are
growing in
Scandinavia
Reform will
reduce the
costs of doing
business in
the UK
Tax reform will make the
UK more competitive
Reform will
increase the
incentive to
work
Reform will
attract foreign
investment
(Which ones?)
(Why?)
Figure 5.2 
Some examples of inductive reasoning
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.

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86 Improve your Communication Skills
Expressing your ideas 
It’s not enough to have coherent ideas, logically organised. You 
have to bring the ideas alive in the listener’s mind. You have to 
use words to create pictures and feelings that will stimulate their 
senses as well as their brain. 
We don’t remember words. We forget nearly everything 
others say. But we 
do
remember images – particularly images that 
excite sensory impressions and feelings. If you can excite your 
listener’s imagination through the senses and stimulate some 
feeling in them, you will be able to plant the accompanying idea 
in their long-term memory. 
Memory = image + feeling 
The word ‘image’, of course, powerfully suggests something 
visual. But you can create 
impressions 
through any of the five 
senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Some people will 
be convinced by pictures; others will only be persuaded if they 
hear the words come out of their own mouth. Others again will 
only remember and learn by touching: they are the ‘hands-on’ 
people who demand demonstrations and practice. 
Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) works on the basis of 
people’s natural sensory preferences for receiving information. 
NLP seeks to develop this awareness of sensory preference into a 
systematic approach to communicating. 
Even without training or study, however, you can become 
more attuned to the way you respond to ideas with your senses. 
Whenever you are seeking to persuade someone with an idea, 
think about how each of the five senses might respond to it. Try 
to create an impression of the idea that will appeal to one or 
other of the senses. You’ll find that the idea comes magically 
alive.
( c) 2011 Kogan Page L imited, All Rights Reserved.

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