There are three different techniques that people use to get the audience to trust their decisions. These three techniques are: show off their experience, bend the rules, and seem to take the middle course. I find it funny that one of the three techniques to get the audience to trust your decision is to bend the rules.
Bending the rules is basically breaking the rules but in ways that the person doing it can justify it to themselves. Bending the rules is when you change them slightly to get out of something or to help yourself in some way.
An example of bending the rules would be such as when grocery store employee gives you a discount for a coupon that doesn't match. This would be bending the rules because technically the employee is not allowed to apply the coupon unless it perfectly matches; therefore, by giving it to a customer that didn't buy what the coupon required is bending the rules. A grocery store employee may bend the rule in this case to not risk dealing with a rude customer when they deny the coupon or possibly because they don't care whether or not they bought the items.
I find it funny that one way to get an audience to trust you is to bend the rules. This pretty much means that in order to get someone to trust you, you are going to break the rules and lie about it. Bending the rules is a slippery slope because at what point does the person actually break the rules?
This is a great point! I love this post. I also find it funny that one of the successful ways to win over an audience is to basically lie to them. Bending the rules is something I feel our society is, unfortunately, very used to and comfortable with. The phrase "what's the catch?" is something that relates to this; there is always something that is left out that we have to pry out of the speaker or whoever it is we are dealing with. I don't think I will use this approach because if the audience ever finds out about me bending the truth, I could potentially lose their trust going forward and possibly never regain it again, and therefore, never be successful in persuasion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point! I love the fact that you pointed out how you have to bend the rules for people to trust you. It is a strange tactic but I think it is very useful. I think it is because when someone bends the rules for you, you trust them and like them better, just like your coupon example. Maybe I will try this strategy next time I am trying to win over an audience.
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