The 7 Steps Influencing Technique Trained PR Experts Use

I don't like to get political.

Simply from a learning perspective, here is a step-by-step breakdown of how the NRA spokeswoman tries to influence a teen during Q&A on national TV

The technique the NRA spokeswoman is using in a very, very, very crafty way of employing this bridging communication technique step by step (watch the video and you can follow the structure below to the letter):

1. Empathy (give them a compliment or show you understand how they feel, or in this case: pretend you're genuine to them by praising them and reminding them others are against them, but you're not, pretend you're on their side by giving them advice)
2. State the points you agree with that you know they definitely agree with too
3. Remind them what you've done (in the past) about these points you both agree on (90 sec into your answer and you still have not answered the question they asked)
4. Raise a problem they did not ask about but they might care about, which is entirely someone else's fault and it's really a "bigger problem" than the problem they asked you about.
5. Ask a closed question (Yes/No answer) that they can't disagree with, to really hammer in your point .
6. Remind them about how this problem happens right now and what we should get someone ELSE to do
7. Hope they forget the question they asked you in the first place.

Luckily in this situation the audience and person who asked the question was able to smell the BS at minute 4...