Didn't we have fun and laughter!!!!
Hello government communication expert! 👋
Wasn’t that so fun! We explored what it really means to have presence, connection, and impact – whether you’re influencing internal or external stakeholders.
We laughed as we learnt powerful strategies to communicate with clarity and confidence, negotiate more effectively, and truly be heard in every conversation.
Persuasive techniques help you communicate in a way that makes people want to say yes – to your ideas, your requests, your leadership.
Persuasion is how you turn good intentions into real influence and better results.
Here's the reel from our session together!
What did we cover?
Position shifting is about changing how you present an idea so it feels relevant and easy to say yes to. Instead of focusing on what you want to say (1st position), you shift to what matters most to your audience (2nd position) or both of you (3rd position).
It’s the difference between explaining something and making someone want it. When you start with their priorities, concerns, or desired outcomes, your message lands more clearly and has greater impact.
The idea itself hasn’t changed. The way it’s positioned has. And that shift is often what determines whether your message is ignored, understood, or acted on.
The Four Persuasive Types
Structure and Rhetorical Questions
Establish your Credibility
Managing Conflict and Objections
POO: Pacing Out Objections (5 Steps)
Here are the 5 steps!
1. State the objection
2. Say “and,” “so,” or pause not “but” or “however”!
3. Use “actually” or “in fact”
4. Solve the objection
Address it clearly with logic, reassurance, or evidence.
5. Close with “because”
Remember People's Name!
The sweetest sound to the human ear is the sound of your own name!
- Pay attention when you hear the name
- Repeat the name immediately
- Write it down
- Use the name again in conversation
- Make an association with something familiar
- Visualise the name as a mental picture
- Ask how it’s spelled or where it comes from
- Connect the name with a feature or context
- Write the name in the air with your finger as you hear it
- Create a tiny story using the name
Eye Contact and the Emotional Objective
What's the Persuasion Smart Profile® all about?
You can assess yourself
Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile®
Is it really necessary?
Complete the tool and you will see how persuasion is made up of a set of competencies that can be acquired by modelling specific behaviours that are achievable for everyone.
The report
You’ll receive a detailed PDF report that tells you all about your own strengths and weaknesses as well as your drive to persuade.
It’s safe
Importantly, your responses are held securely and are completely anonymous. We do not see your responses and we cannot access them. The Persuasion Smart Profile®
It’s a wonderful personal development opportunity
It’s a great opportunity for you to have the chance to learn a bit more about yourself!
©2026 MICHELLE BOWDEN is an authority on persuasive presenting in business. She’s run her Persuasive Presentation Skills Masterclass over 1070 times for more than 13,500 people over the past 27 years and her name is a synonym for ‘presentation skills’ in Australia.
Michelle Bowden is a multi-million-dollar pitch coach to her client list that reads like a who’s who of international business: banking and finance, IT, pharmaceutical, retail, telecommunications plus many more.
Michelle is the creator of the Persuasion Smart Profile®, a world-first psychological assessment tool that reports on your persuasive strengths and weaknesses at work, the best-selling internationally published author of How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting live and online (Wiley) and her new best-selling book is called How to Persuade: the skills you need to get what you want (Wiley).