Persuading someone, and respecting a refusal

What this lesson covers

• The station and the actor's brief
• Motivational interviewing in plain words
• The six steps, with your lines
• When the answer is no
• What not to do
• How this comes up on the day

The words to use

Motivational interviewing

A person-centred counselling style for addressing mixed feelings about change, developed by Miller and Rollnick. You draw out the person's own reasons rather than supplying yours.

OARS

Open questions, affirmations, reflections and summaries: the four core listening skills of motivational interviewing.

Righting reflex

A helper's urge to set things right by telling the person what to do. It tends to make them argue for staying the same.

Capacity

Being able to understand, retain, use or weigh the information for a decision, and communicate it. Adults are assumed to have it, and an unwise choice does not remove it.