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As an aspiring entrepreneur, you’re likely starting to prepare now for running your own business in the future. There are many skills you’ll need to develop in order to be successful, but one of the most useful is the ability to be persuasive—getting people to consider and eventually buy into your ideas. (Just remember to listen to others’ ideas, too!)

Here area few tips on mastering the power of persuasion:

Build rapport. Before you can gain the respect it takes to have others listen to you, you need to develop a relationship with your audience. Learn about them and find out what they’re passionate about. When they know you care and have their interests at heart, they’ll be more likely to respond to your ideas.

Communicate clearly. Before you share your point of view with anyone, define exactly what you want and why. Be able to briefly state your side and back it up with at least three key points.

Prepare. Understand your subject forward and backward. When you show you’re educated, you’ll earn respect and be more likely to sway your audience to your side.

Help people out. As a general rule, you should help people in need. When you do, you’ll be surprised what people will be willing to do for you, too! That’s not the only reason to do nice things for people—it’s just a perk!

Make your enthusiasm contagious. Use eye contact, laughter and body language to share your enthusiasm with others. When they feel good, they’ll be more likely to listen and adopt your point of view.

Use your point of view to benefit someone else. If you know others’ goals, think of how your own idea can help them get what they want. A mutually beneficial solution will be a popular one for sure!