How to influence in a post-truth world?

In a world of fake news and alternative facts, where views seem ever more polarised and experts are no longer believed, how can we influence effectively?

It used to be assumed that with logic, reason and enough of the facts in your back pocket, you’d easily win the argument. Recent events have shown that human beings are not that straightforward. More and more evidence shows how difficult it can be to shift somebody’s opinion once it’s been made. And that as humans we have a great knack of dismissing all the facts and evidence that may go against our personally held view, while remembering all the facts that support it.

Anyone who caught 19 February’s episode of Start the Week (Fascism and the Enlightenment -a particularly good one worth a listen!), will have heard neuroscientist, Tali Sharot argue that rather than showing us to be completely irrational creatures, the disregard and retention of facts in this way is a justifiably, logical response. Sharot explained ‘Our brain assesses evidence in light of the knowledge already stored’. So if I tell you now that I am capable of flying, you would be forgiven for not believing me.

Likewise, our tendency to be swayed more effectively by emotion than fact is understandable. We’ve learnt that when events elicit an emotional response, something important is most probably occurring and we’d better take note! The example Sharot gave was an election debate between President Trump and the medic Dr Ben Carson about the safety of vaccinations. While Carson stuck to facts and evidence to support his assertion that vaccines were safe, Trump gave a highly personalised and vivid account of an employee whose child had become very unwell after vaccination. Analyses of the debate showed Trumps more emotional approach to be more effective at winning over the audience.

Of course one of the most powerful emotions can be fear. ‘Project Fear’ seemed to win the Scottish Independence referendum for the Unionists, although not without its critics. And yet the same approach, many have argued, lost the EU referendum for the Remainers. Are people moved more by optimism, or by pessimism? Although it may sound manipulative, we mustn’t dismiss the effectiveness of shock and fear tactics – particularly in the pursuit of saving lives. Think of the hard hitting drink driving adverts. They’ve successfully contributed to a fall in the number of people killed or seriously injured in drink drive accidents- 28 every day in 1979 compared to just four a day in 2009 (read more here).

Many of us have an emotional investment in our most strongly held views. Changing our mind may involve rocking our boat. Arguing in a way that bullies, denigrates or belittles, may silence us but is unlikely to persuade. This is where surprise can also be an effective tool. You may feel less threatened and more open to explore, if I present my fact to you as: ‘Wow! Look at this! Isn’t that surprising?’, rather than: ‘You’re wrong and this fact proves it!’ .

So what does all this mean in your bid to influence?

Promoting his new book on the Today programme last week, Jay Heinrich argued that logic is not the most powerful tool of persuasion, it’s whether I like and trust you. Here we’d have to agree wholeheartedly. The most effective way to influence someone: build a relationship. This works in two ways. If they know you, they’re more likely to trust and listen to you. If you know them, you’ll understand their views, where they’re coming from, what arguments they respond best to. And if you don’t have a relationship yet? Then best step to it.

Read more:

The Influential Mind, Tali Sharot

How to argue with a cat, Jay Heinrichs