Influence & Persuasion Training
Help your team get the yes – in writing, in meetings and face to face.
Our training has sharpened the influence and persuasion skills of thousands of professionals at some of Australia's most respected organisations:
Magneto Communications runs influence and persuasion training that helps enterprise teams win agreement and land the decision – in writing, in meetings and face to face.
Since 2005 we’ve coached people at organisations including CBA, Qualitas, Suncorp, Judo Bank and Youi to build trust, align stakeholders and get to yes.
Our programs build real skill through practice and personal coaching:
- The Influential Communicator – influence across every channel – for leaders aligning stakeholders to make progress or create change
- The Influential Writer – influence on the page – for teams who build trust, then confirm agreement in writing
Both run as hands-on group masterclasses, tailored to your people and the decisions they’re trying to win.
The best idea rarely wins.
Picture the meeting. A sharp idea. The right call. Backed by evidence. And it goes nowhere – because the person making the case couldn’t get three sceptical people on side.
The idea wasn’t the problem. The case for it was.
Influence isn’t charisma. It’s a craft. Whether you’re winning over a sceptical exec, aligning a team that doesn’t report to you, or making the case on the page, three things decide whether you get the ‘yes’ or the slow ‘no’.
Start with them
Influence starts before you open your mouth. Work out what the other person actually needs – their pressure, their risk, their win – and you’re already halfway to ‘yes’.
Make the case
Not tricks. Not mirroring someone’s body language and hoping. Build the argument on trust and evidence, and people lean in instead of bracing.
Get to 'yes'
A nod in the room isn’t a ‘yes’. The most influential people turn ‘sounds interesting’ into a real decision – and the action that’s meant to follow.
The Influential Communicator and The Influential Writer teach your team to do all three – in a tailored, hands-on masterclass.
Who is this training for?
Influence and persuasion training is for enterprise teams and leaders who get things done through other people – not by pulling rank, but by making the case.
It’s built for your people if they:
- manage stakeholders who don’t report to them, and need them aligned anyway
- are the expert in the room whose recommendation keeps losing to someone louder
- lead a team with the right answers that keeps losing the argument
- are driving change that needs buy-in across functions, not just a tick from above
- write the proposals and papers that have to win agreement before the meeting even starts.
If your people are smart, right, and still not getting heard, that’s the gap. It’s not seniority and it’s not confidence – it’s the influencing skills to bring people with them.
Our influence programs
The Influential Writer – influence on the page
Format: Full-day in-house masterclass (9am–5pm), or two 3-hour virtual sessions ■ Group size: Up to 18 people ■ Delivery: At your workplace Australia-wide, or via Microsoft Teams globally ■ Tailoring: built on your templates, style guide, real writing samples and objectives.
This hands-on masterclass teaches principles of trust as the foundation for influence. It’s designed for people who manage diverse stakeholders, sometimes have to deliver bad news, and mostly have to do it in writing. We’ll help you simplify your messaging for a complex operating environment and boost your credibility and reputation.
Who is this course for?
The Influential Writer is for enterprise teams who need to build trust with a range of stakeholders, get alignment, then confirm everyone’s agreement in writing.
Learning outcomes
- Understand what you can do to adjust your communication style to build trust reliably.
- Flex your communication style to create rapid rapport with a range of personality types.
- Develop key frameworks for delivering difficult messages with the greatest chance of success.
- Develop key habits for clear and concise written communication.
Delivery formats
- Live program (face-to-face OR virtual)
- The AI advantage: We’ll teach you both the human skills and the AI smarts relevant for being influential.
Program focus
Building trust
- ‘Trust’ as a major influencer. Apply insights from David Maister’s ‘Trust Equation’ to your spoken and written communication (Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-orientation).
- Learn insights into the four major personality types to build fast, natural rapport with a variety of people.
Difficult conversations
- Influence colleagues, clients and stakeholders when disagreement is certain, and the stakes (and emotions) are high.
- Tough conversations: How to be assertive – not submissive nor aggressive – to get mutually beneficial outcomes.
Be clear
- Applying our powerful RAZOR rules to shorten messages, reduce complexity and boost impact.
- How to get your message across to busy skim-readers (summaries, key-point lists and more).
- Cut to the chase – lead with your ‘big news’.
- Using structure to turn complex issues into coherent messages for non-technical audiences.
Professional Development: 8 hours
The Influential Communicator – influence across the mix
Format: Full-day in-house masterclass (9am–5pm) ■ Group size: Up to 18 people ■ Delivery: At your workplace Australia-wide, or via Microsoft Teams globally ■ Tailoring: built on your templates, style guide, real writing samples and objectives.
This hands-on masterclass teaches practical strategies to influence diverse stakeholders in a range of communication scenarios (e.g. writing, meetings, presenting). We’ll help you simplify your message for busy executives, flex your communication style to build rapid rapport, and deliver high-stakes, difficult messages successfully.
Who is this course for?
The Influential Communicator is for leaders and teams who need to align a range of stakeholders to make progress or create change.
Learning outcomes
- Flex your communication style to build trust and create rapid rapport with a range of personality types and levels with the organisation.
- Deliver high-stakes, difficult messages with the greatest chance of success.
- Influence a range of stakeholders: Apply a comprehensive persuasion toolkit to get alignment and move forward.
- Communicate with impact: Deliver complex messages with clarity to get both attention and agreement.
Delivery formats
- Live program (face-to-face OR virtual)
- Self-paced online
- The AI advantage: We’ll teach you both the human skills and the AI smarts relevant for being influential.
Program focus
Building trust
- ‘Trust’ as a major influencer. Apply insights from David Maister’s ‘Trust Equation’ to your spoken and written communication (Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-orientation).
- Learn insights into the four major personality types to build fast, natural rapport with a variety of people.
Difficult conversations
- Influence colleagues, clients and stakeholders when disagreement is certain, and the stakes (and emotions) are high.
- Boost self-awareness, EQ and empathy for well-rounded business decisions.
- Tough conversations: How to be assertive – not submissive nor aggressive – to get mutually beneficial outcomes.
Persuasion
- Key frameworks for persuading in complex environments.
- Sharp ideas for clear, concise, commercial communication.
- Engaging non-technical audiences in technical content.
Professional Development: 8 hours
Learning Bites
Sometimes a shorter session for a larger group is what you need to inspire change and get everyone ‘on the same page.’
We can tailor this Learning Bite to your audience, whatever your goals or industry:
- Communicating with Influence
Ideal for: team days, conferences or keynotes, lunch-and-learns, 20–120+ people
Self-paced & online
The Influential Communicator is also available as a self-paced online course – the same proven content, completed anytime, anywhere. Ideal when the learning is just for you, or a small group that doesn’t yet fill an in-house session.
More self-paced influence courses
Short, focused online courses on specific influence challenges:
- Incognito influence: the science of persuasion
- Building trust with stakeholders & clients
- Difficult conversations with stakeholders
Ideal for: When the learning is just for you, or for a small group that doesn’t yet fill an in-house session.
What our trainees say
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I choose The Influential Writer or The Influential Communicator?
The right choice depends on where your team needs to influence:
- The Influential Writer: The right fit when most of the influencing happens on the page – emails, reports, proposals, the documents that carry your case and confirm agreement. It's built for people who manage a range of stakeholders, often have to deliver difficult messages in writing, and need those messages to build trust rather than dent it.
- The Influential Communicator: The right fit when your team needs to influence across every channel – conversations, meetings, presentations and writing. It's for leaders and teams aligning stakeholders to make progress or drive change, wherever and however those conversations happen.
These two aren't a progression – one isn't more advanced than the other. Both are built on the same foundation: trust first, then influence. You choose based on where your people do their influencing – mainly in writing, or across the whole mix.
Not sure? Tell us about your team and we'll point you to the right one.
Can you customise the training for our organisation?
Yes, every program is tailored to your company, the individuals attending and the learning outcomes you need.
What are your recommended group sizes for presentation skill training?
We have training options for both individuals and large enterprise teams. One size does not fit all so contacting us and discussing what you need is a great first step. We have solutions and experience with all scenarios.
Presentation skills full-day programs: Given we run this in a very practical and personalised group coaching format, these programs are limited to 14 people.
Learning Bites: Our shorter 1-2 hour ‘Learning Bites’ sessions are more flexible around numbers. They range from 20 people workshop style up to 120 and above for keynote or conference style sessions.
Is virtual training as effective as face-to-face?
Absolutely! We design every virtual session to be highly engaging using multimedia, real-time collaboration, and active discussion.
Virtual has emerged as the preference for our enterprise clients because their teams are mostly dispersed globally and the virtual training format is a winner thanks to our unique delivery style.
Do you offer post-training support?
Of course! The learning expands back into the workplace.
Participants receive extensive post-training resources and access to ongoing learning tools.
Interested in our influence and persuasion training?
Tell us about your team and training needs below. We’ll get in touch so you can learn more about our course and how it will benefit your people.
BONUS: We’ll also send you our ‘Incognito Influence’ infographic straight away, that you can share with your team.