Influencing and Persuasion Skills Workshop

Laura Villacrusis

Kwela Leadership & Talent Management

Laura has over 25 years of experience working with organizations to support individual and organizational performance. She has partnered with leaders at all levels to design and facilitate processes in the areas of organization development (OD), leadership development, change and transition, executive coaching, succession planning, talent management, employee engagement, strategic planning, and diversity and inclusion. Her passion is in helping organizations create leadership development and OD strategies and facilitating learning sessions for leaders. She has worked in various industries including entertainment, health care, technology, finance, utilities, mining, and manufacturing.

The acid test of a good plan is the willingness of others to implement it. A key skill relevant to leaders at all levels is the ability to positively influence people in such a way that others willingly alter their thoughts and plans.

One’s level of influence can be dramatically improved by carefully adjusting ideas to the concerns and communication styles of others and by formulating ideas in a compelling way. As influencing skills are used more often, resistance to change decreases along with the need to use authority/positional power, leading to stronger relationships and increased commitment.

In this interactive virtual workshop, participants bring their own case studies and use the theory presented to hone their ideas and to maximize acceptance by their stakeholder group. Participants will have the opportunity to participate in group discussions and demonstrations to put what they've learned into practice.

Results Participants Can Expect

• Improved odds of getting good ideas adopted in the organization;
• Improved ability to influence peers and superiors;
• Reduced resistance to change;
• Reduced reliance of the use of authority/positional power;
• Improved relationships; and
• Increased commitment to new ideas.

Key Focus Areas

• Overcoming resistance to change;
• Analyzing stakeholders;
• Adapting to the style of others;
• Active listening;
• Adaptation of ideas through negotiation and conflict resolution;
• Increasing one’s credibility with people;
• How to appeal to both logic and emotion; and
• Speaking persuasively to individuals and groups.

Target Audience

This course is relevant to people at all levels (including senior leaders) who would like to improve their level of influence without relying on positional power.