Something I first learned in a couple of Dale Carnegie courses that I took years ago is that “Evidence DEFEATS Doubt.” DEFEATS is an acronym for …

• Demonstrations
• Examples
• Facts
• Exhibits
• Analogies
• Testimonies
• Statistics

When attempting to influence others – writing or speaking – use evidence based on the DEFEATS lists to remove objections to your position.

I previously wrote a post on using PASTOR to write persuasive emails and articles, and expanded DEFEAT to include ten ways to use testimonials (the “T” of PASTOR).

1. Stories
2. Statistics
3. Images
4. Infographics
5. Charts
6. Demonstrations
7. Design/Development details
8. Direct quotes
9. Interviews
10. Case studies