What is Persuasion?

Persuasion is inducing one or more people to willingly and knowingly do something for you that they had not initially planned or even wanted to do for your purpose. Persuasion is getting people interested in doing as you suggest when they are originally not particularly interested in that.

Persuasion works by influencing the other person to change. They are going to do something that they did not initially want to do, and they are going to do it because of you. You, as the persuader, are an agent of change (Ciccarelli, Harrigan, & Fritzley, 2010, p. 390).

In business perspective, persuasion is the art of convicting customers about your products or services for the purpose of selling through marketing communication.

References
Ciccarelli, S.K., Harrigan, T. & Fritzley, V.H. (2010). Psychology. Toronto: Pearson.

Brian Tracy, (2012).  How to Persuade and Influence People to Achieve Personal Power[Photograph]. Retrieved from http://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/how-to-persuade-and-influence-people-to-achieve-personal-power/