LDRS 410 Field Interview Report

“The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity”.

–Zig Ziglar

Assignment

This assignment involves interviewing two leaders from two different industries.

Purpose: examine the ways in which different leaders persuade their employees or others to undertake new ideas.

What Is Persuasion?

by Scott McLean

Persuasion is an act or process of presenting arguments to move, motivate, or change your audience. Aristotle taught that rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, involves the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.1 In the case of President Obama, he may have appealed to your sense of duty and national values. In persuading your parents to lend you the car keys, you may have asked one parent instead of the other, calculating the probable response of each parent and electing to approach the one who was more likely to adopt your position (and give you the keys). Persuasion can be implicit or explicit and can have both positive and negative effects. … presenting your audience with arguments in order to motivate them to adopt your view, consider your points, or change their behavior.

Principles of Persuasion

by Scott McLean

Six principles

1. Reciprocity

2. Scarcity

3. Authority

4. Commitment and consistency

5. Consensus

6. Liking

Report

Write a 3 page report describing what you learned during each of your interviews. Use APA format with an introduction and a conclusion.

In the report:

(1) Summarize the key answers the interviewees gave to your questions – give an overview of each interview – one page for each interview. The summary should include the key ideas that you heard from the interviewee. Include an Appendix at the end of the report – the Appendix should include the list of questions and the answers.

(2) Summarize the similarities and differences between each interviewee (with regards to their persuasive approach) – 2 paragraphs;

(3) Describe what you found most interesting in terms of the persuasive techniques you learned about (1/2 page or more).

A. Planning

1. Select 2 leaders (managers) from 2 different industries. The industries are: technology, food, media, automotive, government, hospitality, international trade, banking, or health.

2. Submit the names of the two managers you will interview. Review interview questions provided and add your questions. See section C below “Questions for the Interview”.

3. Contact the two leaders and book a date and time for a 1/2 hour to 1 hour meeting. Give the interviewees at least one week notice. See script for booking the interview in section B below “Script to Request an Interview”.

B. Script to Request an Interview

“Good Morning (Good Afternoon) Mr/Ms/Mrs___________”

“My name is ______________and I am a student in the Bachelor of Arts in Leadership program at Trinity Western University.

“I am taking a course called “Methods and Mediums of Persuasion and Positive Influence” and one of our assignments is to interview 2 different leaders in 2 different industries. I picked your name because________________________”. i.e. for this space some examples are:

“…you work in an industry that I am very interested in;

“…you were referred to me by (person’s name) as someone who has been successful in the industry;

“…I have researched various companies and found that your company has a good reputation for motivating employees”.

“Would you be available to meet with me to answer several questions related to the ways in which you persuade your employees or others to embrace new ideas, new projects, adapt to changes within your company or other activities that need to be undertaken?”

If he/she say yes:

“Thank you. Would Tuesday, February 13th at 10 a.m. or Wednesday, February 14th at 10 a.m. (state a date and time) work for you or is there another date and time that would work better?”

“Can I have your email so I can send you a confirmation of the date and time?”

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you about your approach. I look forward to meeting you”.

“Good bye”.

C. Questions for the Interview

Probing Questions to ask the leaders:

1. Can you give some specific examples of how you needed to persuade someone or a group regarding a project or idea? Specific times when you influenced others, including the circumstances of the situation, what you did specifically and the eventual outcome.

2. What do you do to influence others?

3. What skills have you developed that help you to persuade your employees?

4. What do you think is the most important attribute for someone to have in order to be persuasive or an influencer?

5. How do you evaluate the effectiveness of your approach?

Prepare 5 more questions that you are personally interested in asking.

You must ask at least 5 questions in the interview and have 5 extra questions for a total of 10 ready to ask. The number that you ask will depend on the time. Do not go over 1 hour.

D. Interview

At the beginning of the interview explain the purpose for the interview. Also explain our definition of persuasion. This will assist the interviewee to understand what we mean by the term “persuasion”. See handouts provided on the first day of class.

The purpose for the interview is to learn the ways that different leaders persuade individuals and their teams. Additionally, it is to learn more about the persuasion skills he/she uses and how they are used.

E. Following the Interview

Send a thank you card to each of the persons you interviewed. In your thank you card, also state what was the most interesting point that you learned from the interview.

It is important to acknowledge the time and the knowledge that the interviewee shared with you. It is an important networking protocol.

F. Rubric

Introduction = /1

Interview 1 = /10

Interview 2 = /10

Similarities/Differences = /5

Most Interesting to student = /4

Conclusion = /1

Appendix = /2 (Appendix for each set of interview questions)

Grammar = /3 some grammar errors

Total = /36

Percentage of total grade = 15%

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