Practical Influencing Skills and Strategies

Day One
09:15 - Registration and coffee
09:30 - Welcome, introduction and outline of objectives
10:00 - Successful and ethical influencing
· Definition and characteristics of influence
· Recognising distinct influencing styles
· Choosing strategies for ethical influencing
· Skills and competencies for effective influencing

10:45 - Coffee
11:00 - Power and influence
Participants will evaluate their own power and the power of others involved in a personal situation.
· How are power, position and authority expressed?
· Key principles of power and influence
· Evaluating your power bases and planning to boost your personal power

12:00 - Making a positive impression and improving your personal impact
Participants will brainstorm ways of making a positive first impression and will receive feedback on how to develop their personal impact.
· How to make a positive first impression
· Using the 'confidence shield'
· Using powerful body language and maximising personal presence
· Rules for making an impact in meetings

13:00 - Lunch
13:45 - Building rapport
Participants will identify how they react and behave in various situations and discover what makes a colleague tick.
· Speaking your stakeholder's language
· Using NLP to build rapport
· Understanding maps of the world

15:15 - Coffee
15:30 - Listening and asking questions
Interactive group exercises will test participants' ability to ask questions and listen effectively.
· Questioning and listening to check for facts and feelings
· How to avoid adversarial thinking
· Acquiring the skills of active listening

16:15 - Maximising co-operation and commitment
Participants will discuss their opinions of a scenario in a group exercise, aiming to reach a consensus. They will exchange constructive feedback on their influencing techniques and skills.

16:30 - Review of day one and objective setting for day two
17:30 - End of day one

Day Two
09:15 - Registration and coffee
09:30 - Review of learning points and exercises from day one and outline of objectives for day two
09:45 - Reducing conflict and reaching compromise
Participants will work through various contentious scenarios with a partner who has an opposing point of view, with the aim of finding a compromise and reaching an agreement to suit both sides.

11:00 - Coffee
11:15 - Aiming for 'win-win'
· Understanding the principles of assertive communication
· Establishing objectives and asking for what you want
· How to work through objections, resistance and conflict

12:00 - Using proven models of persuasion
Participants will develop a script for SPIN - a useful formula for effective persuasion - using a current real life situation.They will practise it and be able to identify their stakeholder's map of the world and choose ways to speak their stakeholder's language.
· Models of persuasion and how to use them to enhance your influencing style
· Finding a common language to persuade groups and individuals
· Recognising how and when to close

12:45 - Lunch
13:30 - Developing your persuasion skills
Participants will work through various practical exercises to further develop their persuasion skills and techniques.

15:00 - Coffee
15:15 - Putting the principles into practice
The trainer will focus on what participants have expressed they want to obtain from the course. This session will involve a final practical exercise and discussion to ensure their real life concerns and challenges are addressed.
· Preparing a self-development action plan for the future

17:00 - End of training course