Audience Receptivity and Persuasion Strategies

Audiences generally fall within one of six categories of receptivity.

The table “Audience receptivity and persuasion strategies” shows these categories, along with their corresponding persuasion strategies.

Audience type Persuasion Strategies
Hostile-Disagrees with you Use humor or a story to warm them up
Focus on areas you agree on
Demonstrate your expertise, and cite experts
Support statements with solid evidence.
Stress that you’re looking for a win-win
Identify benefits they would value

Neutral-Understands your position Spell out your proposition's benefits to listeners
but still needs convincing
Present just three clear, compelling points backed by expert evidence, data, and concrete examples
Use stores, personal experiences, and
anecdotes to appeal to their emotions
Point out any downsides of not accepting your proposal
Discuss the alternatives you've considered

Uninterested--informed about your Grab their attention with a heart-stopping story
subject but doesn't care about it
Show how the topic affects them
Support your case with three to five compelling facts
backed by expert testimony or statistics.

Uninformed--lacks information
needed to become convinced Establish your credibility by showcasing your
experience
Keep your presentation simple
Create an emotional link by sharing several
personal anecdotes

Supportive--already agrees with you Recharge their enthusiasm with success
stories and vivid testimonials
Help them anticipate and refute possible
arguments from opponents
Hand out a detailed action plan with clear
deadlines

Mixed--contains a cross section of
attitudes and views Identify listeners whom you most have to win over
and who have the most power
Appeal to different subgroups with different
messages
Avoid promising everything to everyone


ACTION POINT: Understand your audience type and use the appropriate persuasion strategy