Impression Management and Active Listening in Persuasion

Introduction: Communication and Perception

Achieving success in any aspect of life — whether professional, personal, or social — is largely centered on the way that others perceive and respond to an individual. The impression that others hold of a person will determine how effective he or she is in currying favor, commanding respect, and even channeling authority. In all of these contexts, key features of the individual's communicative abilities will emerge as determinant with respect to the way that others respond. Whether in the act of persuasion or on the receiving end of an assertion, the individual in question must present himself in a way that appears both receptive to messages being received and yet confident in his own position — a confidence that may then be extended to those receiving the message in question.

Impression Management as a Persuasive Strategy

Perhaps one of the most important communication strategies for functioning as a persuasive individual is the conscientious management of the way that others perceive you. In professional experience as a communication practitioner, one must establish a firm basis of respect — or at least of credibility — such that message recipients feel accepting of messages that have been crafted and delivered. This denotes a strategy called impression management, which helps create the groundwork for being seen as an authority on subjects, as one deserving of attention or respect, and as one possessing a well-defined ethical compass capable of providing others with direction.

Impression management concerns the projection of an external self which is intended, in some manner, to represent an ideal self to others. This may or may not deviate from what one considers to be one's true self. More accurately, it can be described as a selective behavioral mode adopted in order to fit the expectations of those around us. It might be the instinctual self-preservation that inclines an individual toward codified behavior in the workplace, or the social consideration of presenting oneself to a friend with politeness and empathy. Its phenomenological qualities extend from the often automatic inclination in individuals to self-govern for the purposes of social and relational management. With respect to using impression management in the formulation of a persuasive message, it becomes clear that the degree to which such management has been successful over the duration of a relationship will have a significant impact on the way that relational partners receive such messages.

Balancing Authority and Receptiveness

The importance of this behavior can be illustrated through personal experience. Reflecting on one workplace in particular, a responsibility to uphold company policy as an assistant manager meant that the effectiveness of persuasive efforts would be a function of the degree to which subordinates took that role seriously — a status that must be achieved over time through deliberate communicative tactics. For example, it proved critically important to achieve a healthy balance between providing personnel with directives consistent with company policy and providing personnel with an access point to administration where any grievances or concerns arising from those directives could be heard.

Impression management made this balance possible by projecting confidence in the authority of company directives, even to the extent that this authority was not undermined by a demonstrated receptiveness to personnel grievances. In other words, those who are intended to receive a persuasive message must feel that the communicator believes in the message being transmitted — but they must not feel that the communicator has greater interest in the message than in their role as the recipient. Understanding how trust and authority interact in professional relationships is central to navigating this dynamic effectively.

Conclusion: Integrating Persuasion and Listening

This applies even if one's intent, upon receiving and reiterating a message, is ultimately to refute it. Where one is in need of convincing, it is important for that individual to feel that his or her ideas have at least been given their due consideration. It is thus that one of the strongest imperatives for persuasive communication is the demonstrated practice of active listening. Where this combines with an impression management strategy that sustains the image of a confident authority, it becomes clear that persuasion requires skill in both the receipt and the transmission of interpersonal messages — and that neither dimension can be neglected if genuine influence is the goal.