es the persuaded that their interest coincide. Take a
practical example: Salesmen have declared to us that life insurance
policies are the most difficult of all specialties to sell. Yet, in nine
cases out of ten, policyholders will agree that their benefits far exceed
those derived by the salesmen who persuade them to purchase. The life
insurance salesman is not attempting to hoodwink, hypnotize, cajole, or
browbeat his client in a case where their interests clash, but simply, by
skilful setting forth of facts and appeals to the feelings, to persuade
his client to act in his own interest.

We have seen in this chapter that all individuals who succeed depend upon
their power of persuasion. We have seen, also, that persuasion is not
necessarily an attempt to advance the interests of one at the expense of
another, but essentially a process by means of which two or more minds
reach the conclusion that their interests coincide. Since these two
propositions are true, it follows that we shall be justified in laying
tribute upon every means within our power to increase our effectiveness in
persuasion.

PERSUASION A MENTAL ACT DEPENDING UPON INDIVIDUAL MENTAL RESPONSE

Persuasion has been defined as the meeting of minds. This is an excellent
definition, chiefly because it localizes the activities involved. It
identifies our problem as a purely mental or psychical one. The reason why
any two people disagree as to any truth is because their minds have no
common ground upon which to meet. Either the minds do not possess all the
facts, have not reasoned in accordance with the facts so as to reach a
sound conclusion, or, having the facts and having reached the conclusion,
they are actuated by different motives. Or it may be a combination of both
of these conditions which prevents their meeting. Granting that it is to a
man's interest to buy a life insurance policy, the reason he and the
solicitor cannot get together on the proposition is either because he does
not know all of the facts involved or because the solicitor has not
appealed to motives strong enough to cause his prospective customer to
take action. To the insurance solicitor, the facts of the case may be so
clear and so easily grasped that he underestimates his prospective
client's opposition, and so does not present the facts in a convincing
manner or he himself may have such a confused idea of the factors in the
case that he cannot state them clearly. The prospective cl