To persuade in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you engage in a persuasion minigame that involves selecting dialogue options to increase an NPC's disposition toward you. Here's how to do it effectively:

How to Start Persuasion

• Initiate a conversation with an NPC.
• Click the "Persuade" button (often located at the bottom left of the dialogue screen) to enter the persuasion minigame

Understanding the Minigame

• The minigame presents a circular wheel divided into four segments, each representing one of four actions: Admire, Boast, Joke, and Coerce.
• Each segment has a wedge of varying size indicating the potential impact on the NPC’s disposition.
• The NPC’s facial expressions when you hover over each action reveal whether they love, like, dislike, or hate that action.
• You must select each of the four actions exactly once per persuasion attempt.
• After each selection, the wheel rotates a quarter turn clockwise, changing the wedge sizes relative to the actions.
• The goal is to maximize disposition gain by choosing actions the NPC likes or loves when the wedge size is large, and minimize disposition loss when forced to pick disliked or hated actions by selecting them when their wedge is small

Tips for Winning Persuasion

• Quickly observe the NPC’s facial reactions to identify which actions they favor or dislike.
• Plan your sequence of actions to use the largest wedges on actions the NPC loves or likes.
• Use the smallest wedges for actions they dislike or hate, since you must select all four actions.
• Act quickly because the disposition number decreases over time during the minigame, penalizing slow choices

• If persuasion alone doesn’t raise disposition enough, you can also use bribes to increase disposition without playing the minigame, though this costs gold

Summary

• Talk to NPC and select "Persuade."
• Note NPC facial cues on Admire, Boast, Joke, Coerce.
• Select all four actions once, timing selections to maximize positive disposition impact.
• Move quickly to avoid losing disposition over time.
• Use bribes if persuasion fails to reach desired disposition

Mastering this minigame improves your Speechcraft skill and can unlock better dialogue options, discounts, and quest information in Oblivion.