Speaking by Suggestion
Influencing the crowd by suggestion is one of the commonest methods of public speaking. People in general are easily swayed by others’ opinions/suggestions as most of our opinions and actions are not confined within our conscious reasoning, buts as a result of somebody else’s suggestions.
Take for example when you are doing some shopping and end up buying more than that you actually intended to because the salesman says ‘it looks nice on you’? Snap judgment are made, primarily by the force of suggestion, although in rare cases, there are still those who weigh and decide upon each value of any given idea objectively based on cold facts and not merely driven by emotional means.
We naturally respect authority figure somebody whom we deem having a higher credentials and broader scope of knowledge on the subject concerned. The mind is receptive to the authority of a certain person and prone to welcome whatsoever opinion the speaker forms upon the mind of the hearers. In every person, there’s only a question of varying degree upon whom a person is worthy to be respected, you may admire a certain person greatly but that doesn’t mean somebody else would.
The second important is what we term as the principle of the least resistance. Our feelings influence our judgments more than we could admit it. We generally tend to be more comfortable with the ideas which we agree with beforehand rather than those which challenge our thought or belief systems which we held as true. Out of sheer ego, we refuse to admit what we believe as right to be wrong but instead of listening with an open mind, we listen through prejudiced ears.
Last but not least is the influence of the people surrounding you, especially when the crowds around you get a little too excited, and you just can’t help but to join them. Remember the time when you were at a concert or a show, people were applauding, though you weren’t too impressed with it, little did you realized that you too were also applauding.