Join today

Influence Techniques

Influence without formal authority is the skill most new managers discover they need the hard way, usually mid-negotiation, or after a colleague quietly stops responding to their requests. This course covers the mechanics of influencing others ethically and effectively: using power appropriately rather than defaulting to manipulation, six practical influence techniques you can select between depending on the situation, and how to build a first impression and personal presence that gets people to follow your lead. It closes with credibility, how to build it, and how to recover it once it's been damaged and a structured approach to win-win negotiation.

Course objective:

This course aims to ensure participants recognise the line between effective influence and manipulation, select and apply the right influence technique for a given situation, and negotiate toward outcomes that both parties actually accept rather than relying on authority, charisma, or hoping the other side gives in first.

Who this is for:

  • Team leads and managers who need buy-in from people who don't report to them.
  • Salespeople, account managers and anyone who negotiates as part of their role.
  • Project leads managing stakeholders across departments or organisations.
  • Professionals who want to build credibility deliberately, rather than leaving it to chance.

Write your awesome label here.

Learning outcomes:

On completion you will be able to:

  1. Distinguish appropriate use of power from manipulation and apply power responsibly including releasing decision-making power to others to build trust rather than erode it.
  2. Apply six core influence techniques; persuading, asserting, visioning, involving, disengaging, and the “Z” model and select the right one for a given situation.
  3. Manage your body language, speech and energy to create a strong first impression and inspire others to act.
  4. Build credibility deliberately, including playing devil's advocate against your own case, and restore lost credibility using apology, explanation and a recovery plan.
  5. Apply the five levels of negotiation preparation and the seven steps of effective negotiation to reach outcomes that work for both sides.

Course content:

Created with