I was talking to a friend on the phone last night. She’s in the process of introducing one of my friends to one of hers in a professional capacity. Because she doesn’t know my friend, naturally she’s anxious that I don’t introduce somebody who reflects badly on her.

So, when I got home I decided to send a courteous email thanking her and putting her mind at rest that things would be OK.

In her response she wrote something that I have never really noticed in language before but which is a fantastic term.

She said ‘I am less concerned than I led you to believe’

‘Led me to believe.....?’

What a great concept that can just pass you by if you don’t stop for a moment to consider it.

How often are you ‘led to believe’ by other people?

How often do you attempt to ‘lead others to believe’?

If you’re a sales person, you probably spend a large proportion of your time ‘leading people to believe’.

But we all spend time ‘leading people to believe’ in some capacity - it is what basic language is all about – using words to help other people gain greater belief about your ideas.

People can’t easily make informed decisions until they have sufficient belief.

What steps do you think you need to take to lead people to believe?

I think that one of the first steps is rapport. If you build rapport, you will find it easier to lead people in the direction you want to take them.

On Instant Impact, we have a activity we call Mental Judo that teaches the importance of rapport in a way that’s impossible to forget. Once you know it, you won't be able to interact with the people you want to ‘lead to believe’ without first building rapport with them.