Conviction and Knowledge

What makes one person more persuasive than another? Is it their physical presence? The sound of their voice? Their way with words? Their fancy power point presentation? Circumstances surrounding their efforts to persuade? These factors, without question, are very important. Two others stand out, however. They, more than any other, determine whether a person on the receiving end of an effort to persuade actually does change their mind or are motivated to take certain action. These factors are conviction and knowledge. Conviction speaks to how strongly one feels about their issue or subject while knowledge pertains to how much they know about it.

Conviction can be faked, but generally not too well. People often have the ability to recognize insincerity when they hear, see and read it. It represents a false note, an attempt to mislead. But true conviction - belief - is a powerful force that is hard to turn away from or ignore. While it does not, of course, guarantee conversion, it does trigger's one attention. Conviction is best fueled by knowledge - having a solid grasp of what one is espousing. To gain such a powerful weapon requires thorough research and gaining an awareness of the various perspectives on the issue at-hand. Conviction and knowledge, then, are a formidable combination.

Genuine conviction and knowledge can even be enough to overcome weaknesses one might have in their ability to communicate a position or point of view. This speaks to the truism that for communication to be effective, perfection in how one speaks or writes is not necessary. Yes, they should speak well and, yes, they be able to pen their thoughts in clear, understandable sentences. But until the day comes when a universally-accepted definition of perfect communication arrives, all of us imperfect beings should focus on developing strong views on what is important to us based upon possessing a sound knowledge base.