Applying The 7 Skills to impress™: Skill 4: Reveal Persuasion Pathways
Previously…
In Skill 3, we built Rapport in the rugby clubhouse and shifted the squad’s Identity from frustration to strength.
But before I show you the inspirational speech I delivered, we need to explore the deeper psychological tools behind it.
To influence people ethically and effectively, we need to understand how they speak and why.
The words I chose were purposeful and shaped by the 7 Skills working together:
- Outcomes, Manage Your State, and Rapport (IMP) enabled me to perform under pressure while creating acceptance in the squad.
- The Elevate Formula wove resilience and confidence into the language itself, reframing their situation so that what felt impossible began to feel achievable.
- Stay in Accord allowed the message to flow agreeably while subtly redirecting their Attention Direction from failure to their ability to win.
- Speechcraft acted as the Trojan Horse, slipping ideas past conscious resistance and embedding them in the subconscious.
Persuasion Pathways (PPs) were an important element of that toolkit, one of the deeper linguistic influences behind the words I chose.
That’s the focus of this chapter from here on.
Group Work vs One-to-One: Why PPs Change
As I spoke to the rugby squad, I knew I couldn’t identify each player’s individual PPs. That’s almost impossible in a group setting.
Instead, I relied on:
- Rapport
- Their own words
- Their SQAs
- Sensory language patterns
- Towards/away-from motivation
- Internal/external reference points
- Sameness/Difference
I used their own language back to them, weaving their SQAs and sensory styles into my talk. This allowed the whole group to hear themselves in my message.
But in one-to-one situations, you have a different opportunity. You can listen closely to the words your client chooses, map their individual Persuasion Pathways, and then match your language to the way their mind already makes sense of the world.
That is what we are going to practise now, by reverse-engineering Persuasion Pathways from the words of elite performers.
Why Celebrity Interviews Are Perfect for PP Analysis
The idea came to me while watching an interview with a very well-known actor.
His PPs were obvious straight away.
As he spoke, his Identity signals were clear.
So was his Primal Motivator.
And beneath that sat the architecture of his Edited Reality.
It struck me that when great performers speak freely, the subconscious structure of their thinking reveals itself to those who know how to listen.
So I selected three interviews:
- Muhammad Ali
- LeBron James
- Leonardo DiCaprio
Each offers a masterclass in how world-class performers speak, think, and make sense of the world.
You’ll read the excerpts, identify the PPs yourself, and then compare them with my analysis.
1. Muhammad Ali
Taken from The 42: “8 of the most revealing sporting interviews ever published.”
This interview took place immediately after Ali defeated George Foreman in the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle”, the win that cemented his status as the greatest boxer of all time.
“The trick was to make him think he was the baddest man in the world and everybody had to run from him.
Truth is I could have killed myself dancin’ against him. He’s too big for me to keep moving round him. I was a bit winded after doin’ it in the first round, so I said to myself: ‘Let me go to the ropes while I’m fresh, while I can handle him there without gettin’ hurt.
Let him burn himself out. Let him blast his ass off and pray he keeps throwin’. Let it be a matter of who can hit who first, and that’s me.’
This was a real scientific fight, a real thinkin’ fight. For me it was. Everything I did had a purpose.”
PP Analysis
Elevate Formula
SQAs: He talks about his tactics and abilities as Self, Broad and Lasting: “I can handle him there”, “who can hit who first, and that’s me.”
Challenge: Other, Narrow and Fleeting. He could not keep dancing for the whole fight, so he switched to the ropes and turned Foreman’s strength against him: “Let him burn himself out. Let him blast his ass off…”
Thinking: He talks about thinking directly and quotes internal dialogue.
Feeling: Physical sensations and emotions dominate: “dancin'”, “moving”, “winded”, “gettin’ hurt”, “blast his ass off”.
Towards: Focus on winning, not avoiding damage.
Internal: He trusts his own judgment, classic elite performer psychology.
Identity and Mental Strength
Ali’s language reveals:
- High IDQ
- Internal reference
- Towards motivation
- Strong Feeling channel
- An Identity built on belief, clarity, and purpose
2. LeBron James
Taken from The 42, “8 of the most revealing sporting interviews ever published.”
This quote is from when he was just 18, yet the seeds of greatness are already obvious:
“A lot of players know how to play the game, but they really don’t know really how to play the game, if you know what I mean. They can put the ball in the hoop, but I see things before they even happen.
You know how a guy can make his team so much better? That’s one thing I learned from watching Jordan.”
PP Analysis
Elevate Formula:
The SQAs he’s talking about are Self, Broad and Lasting. I know from another interview that he tends to view challenges as Other, Narrow and Fleeting. I explore that in more detail here: Stops and Shots: The LeBron James Approach to Impossible Goals).
Thinking: “Know how to play…” “If you know what I mean…” “I learned…”
Seeing: “I see things before they even happen.” Clear visual dominance.
Towards: Achievement and impact-focused.
Difference: He spots distinctions others miss.
Internal: He decides what matters based on personal insight.
Identity and Mental Strength
LeBron shows:
- High IDQ
- Internal reference
- Towards drive
- Difference pattern
- Thinking + Seeing synergy
3. Leonardo DiCaprio
Taken from an Actors Guild interview: “Leonardo DiCaprio Career Retrospective | SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations”.
This is the richest of the three examples, so it needs a little more space. As you read it, look for signs of internal reference, Difference motivation, Towards drive, Feeling, Thinking, High IDQ, and a clear Primal Motivator.
A key moment comes when DiCaprio explains the pressure he felt as a young actor:
[12:10] “I’ve got to do something to stand out.”
That line tells us a lot.
He was not trying to blend in, copy the safe route, or simply be acceptable. He was searching for something different. Something distinctive. Something that would separate him from the crowd.
That pattern appears throughout the interview.
He talks about choosing unusual characters, seeking roles that stretch him, and avoiding the obvious path. At one point, he even turned down a lucrative Disney film because he sensed a more unusual and challenging role might become available. For a young actor, that was a major risk, but it shows how deeply Difference was driving him.
Difference was not just a preference for DiCaprio. It was his Primal Motivator.
PP Analysis
Elevate Formula
SQAs: DiCaprio talks about his ambition, independence, preparation, and willingness to take risks as Self, Broad and Lasting. His challenges are treated as Other, Narrow and Fleeting. A missed role, a failed audition, or an uncertain opportunity does not define him. It becomes information, pressure, or a decision point.
Thinking: He talks about research, preparation, studying people, reading source material, analysing motivations, and understanding characters at a deeper psychological level.
Feeling: He becomes visibly energised when talking about scripts, roles, and characters that excite him. He leans forward, uses his hands, and speaks with emotional involvement. His choices are not purely intellectual. They have to feel alive to him.
Towards: He pursues directors he wants to work with, roles that stretch him, and projects that demand full commitment.
Difference: He is drawn towards contrast, originality, risk, and unusual characters. It runs through the interview more strongly than any other pattern.
Internal: He is inspired by others, but his decisions come from within. He trusts his own instincts, even when the safer option would have made more obvious sense.
Another standout moment comes when he describes changing his approach to auditions.
He used to try to impress casting directors by performing like a “Jack of all Trades.” That approach did not give him the freedom he needed, so he changed the meaning of the audition:
[47:22] “…I’m not dependent on this job… this isn’t going to define me…”
That is a powerful Identity shift.
He separated his worth from the performance Outcome. The audition mattered, but it did not decide who he was.
Identity and Mental Strength
DiCaprio shows:
- High IDQ
- Strong internal reference
- Towards drive
- Difference as a Primal Motivator
- Feeling and Thinking working together
- An Identity built around autonomy, risk, preparation, and creative stretch
A Final IDQ Estimate
If I were estimating Ali, LeBron and DiCaprio’s IDQ scores from these interviews alone, I would place all three in the 25–30 range: very high IDQ.
Of course, this is only an informed reading from public interviews. It is not a formal assessment. But their language gives us strong clues.
Each of them seems to have powerful evidence banked into Identity: confidence, capability, resilience, esteem and purpose.
Want to look at your own pattern?
Take the free IDQ Snapshot and see how your subconscious currently reads pressure, confidence, capability and success.
Click here to take the IDQ Snapshot.
How to Analyse Interviews Yourself
Prompts to help you identify PPs in real time:
- Sensory style: seeing, hearing, feeling, thinking
- Internal vs External: where decisions come from
- Towards vs Away From: goal vs avoidance
- Sameness vs Difference: continuity vs contrast
- Identity cues: who they believe they are
- Primal Motivator: what drives their ambition
The more interviews you analyse, the more these patterns jump out at you.
Soon, you’ll hear PPs automatically, in celebrities, co-workers, friends, and even your own family.
In the next chapter, we return to the rugby clubhouse and explore how the Elevate Formula shaped the power, rhythm, and impact of my inspirational speech.
→ Skill 5: How The Elevate Formula Powered My Success