Certificate of Achievement

Alex Capon

has completed the following course:

Influencing and Persuading

National School of Government and Public Services

This online course looked at the fundamental behaviours and techniques behind Influencing and Persuading in a public sector environment.

3 weeks, 3 hours per week

Daisy Charlton

Capability Lead, Government Skills

National School of Government and Public Services

96%
overall score

Transcript

Learning outcomes

  • Calculate a stakeholder’s perspective using attunement and select an influencing strategy that matches what they care about and need.
  • Demonstrate tactical empathy in conversations by using tone, mirroring, labelling and well-timed silence to help stakeholders feel understood.
  • Create trusting stakeholder relationships by applying the Trust Equation to increase credibility, reliability and intimacy while reducing self-orientation.
  • Assess your assumptions about stakeholders by asking evidence-seeking questions and using “wait and verify” follow-ups to confirm shared understanding.
  • Create logical structured decision papers or pitches using a pyramid of purpose, packages, evidence and recommendation.
  • Create communications that reduce cognitive load using JASPER, plain language, scannable formatting and reader-centred framing.
  • Demonstrate your use of logic and emotion to engage System 1 and System 2, including tension, a persuasive narrative and a clear call to action.
  • Design messaging tailored to a stakeholder’s ‘north star’ and constraints
  • Demonstrate pitch planning and delivery using pre-suading and selected influence levers.
  • Assess your context to spot constraints, levers and ‘routes’ for influence

Syllabus

Week 1: Active listening, tactical empathy - mirroring & labelling, attunement, wait and verify.

Week 2: Behavioural science, organising information, crafting clear communications, storytelling persuasively.

Week 3: Preparing you, your message and your context, Cialdini’s levers, RAPID decision maker mapping, BATNA alternatives, bouyancy.

Issued on 10th June 2026

The person named on this certificate has completed the activities in the transcript above. For more information about Certificates of Achievement and the effort required to become eligible, visit futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.

This certificate represents proof of learning. It is not a formal qualification, degree, or part of a degree.

Free online course:

Influencing and Persuading

National School of Government and Public Services