eir book The Art of Woo, G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa present a four-step approach to strategic persuasion.[2] They explain that persuasion means to win others over, not to defeat them. Thus it is important to be able to see the topic from different angles in order to anticipate the reaction others have to a proposal. Step 1: Survey your situation This step includes an analysis of the persuader's situation, goals, and challenges that he faces in his organization. Step 2: Confront the five barriers Five obstacles pose the greatest risks to a successful influence encounter: relationships, credibility, communication mismatches, belief systems, and interest and needs. Step 3: Make your pitch People need a solid reason to justify a decision, yet at the same time many decisions are made on the basis of intuition. This step also deals with presentation skills. Step 4: Secure your commitments In order to safeguard the longtime success of a persuasive decision, it is vital to deal with politics at both the individual and organizational level. [edit] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDsxkQk6DWw