It began over 12 years ago ....

As Director of Entrepreneurship Training at NTU Singapore, I faced a daunting task: preparing hundreds of startups to pitch for funding in just 8 weeks. I knew I couldn't turn them into Steve Jobs overnight.

Determined to find a solution, I embarked on a journey to uncover the secrets of influence and persuasion. I discovered that it wasn't about flashy appearances, fancy words, or polished delivery. True persuasion came down to a few things:

• True influence comes from shifting the audience's emotions

• Key principles: create trust, and ethical use before deploying tactics or strategies

• Neuropsychology offers a more effective approach than traditional sales/presentation techniques

Logical vs Emotional Brain

The Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is the "modern" brain which we believe makes humans superior because we are logically driven.

However, 30 years of MRI brain scans and neurologist Antonio Damasio's research show that in decision-making, the critical first step is our emotions, not logic.

• In short, emotions trump logic in decision-making.

• How are you applying this?

Amygdala

The Amygdala within our brain controls emotions and is hardwired to react to perceived dangers. For example, you react to a loud sound before knowing what it is! This phenomenon is called the "Amygdala Hijack".

• How do you evoke the Amygdala Hijack to influence emotional responses?

• And can you do it deliberately?

Neurotransmitters

Our body produces powerful neurotransmitters, such as Dopamine (feel-good), Serotonin (calming) and Endorphins (euphoric). These chemicals influence emotions, perceptions, and behaviour.

In persuasion, how could you strategically trigger specific neurotransmitters to

• Create a desired mood

• Influence the emotions of the audience

The Universal Principles Of Persuasion

If you were raised in a human family (not a wolf pack) you learnt certain human values that are universal across every society. These are the denominators that allow you to be persuasive, even if you don't speak their language!

For example, if you give someone a gift that they appreciate, they will feel a sense of reciprocity, that they owe you a favour. And this urge to pay it back can be very strong.
What if you could do this too?

Creating Trust In 30 secs (Or Less)

When talking to 1 or 1,000 people, you need to create trust quickly. This element determines the success of any presentation. With trust, your audience is focused on what you are saying, rather than wondering if they should believe you or not. There are psychological tactics you can use to create immediate trust.

For example, giving a genuine compliment, having eye contact or having active empathy.
Do you know how to create trust?

The Effective Persuasion Method

This 4-step process allows you to create compelling pitches. Whether you are selling your product, raising awareness for a charity or trying to secure approval for a project, this winning formula helps you get there!

Effective Persuasion has been successfully used by many management teams and competition teams. In a competition scenario, over 75% of the coached teams reach the finals of local and regional Demo Days competitions.
Imagine winning. We'll help you get there!

Finally, discover why you get distracted from doing more!

When your conscious mind and your stronger subconscious mind disagree, guess which wins?

The Friction Factor represents over 10 years of observational research in Asia and is used with over 2,000 individuals and companies.

The Friction Factor details an exercise to test how strong this conflict is and how to fix it.
Using this approach, we have helped success rates improve from 3% to as high as 30%!

• How to detect your level of friction factor

• How to reduce your internal friction for better performance in 21 days or less!