You would be more persuasive with this simple idea but you are free to ignore it

I discovered a simple little technique that increases the odds of someone granting a request you make of them.   I double dog dare you to try it out because it really works (most of the time).

Here's how it works...

When you make a request of someone you follow it up by acknowledging that the other person has a choice to do otherwise.   Here's an example..

Imagine you are asking a co-worker to help you with a new project.  You might say something like this....."John I would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to help me get this project finished and of course you are not obligated to help".

That kind of statement makes the person feel empowered and much more likely to help you.   There are any number of variations on the wording.  

Another example...

Imagine you want your husband to clean out the garage.   You could say something like this..."Honey I would really appreciate it if you would clean out the garage today because its getting hard to get the car in there.   However it is of course up to you"    Again your mate feels empowered because he gets to make the choice.

One more...

Imagine you want to go to the weekend football game and your wife is not all that thrilled with watching sports?   You might say something like this...."Mary I would love for us to go together to the game on Saturday because it is the last home game  however you are free to not go"

Ok, you get the idea.   Now I would be very pleased if you tried this out because it's fun and it works, of course you are free to just forget about it.

Confession time.....I actually used two techniques in this article.   The other one is using the word 'because'.   It is also a powerful persuasion word that when used also increases the chances of your request being granted.     So you got two ideas for the price one!   (I'm feeling really generous today)