Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

by Goldstein, Noah J.; Martin, Steve J.; Cialdini, Robert

• ISBN13: 9781416576143
• ISBN10: 1416576142
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781416571124
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-12-29
• Publisher: Free Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Small changes can make a big difference in your powers of persuasion. What one word can you start using today to increase your persuasiveness by more than fifty percent? Which item of stationery can dramatically increase people's responses to your requests? How can you win over your rivals by inconveniencing them? Why does knowing that so many dentists are named Dennis improve your persuasive prowess? Every day we face the challenge of persuading others to do what we want. But what makes people say yes to our requests? Persuasion is not only an art, it is also a science, and researchers who study it have uncovered a series of hidden rules for moving people in your direction. Based on more than sixty years of research into the psychology of persuasion,Yes! reveals fifty simple but remarkably effective strategies that will make you much more persuasive at work and in your personal life, too. Cowritten by the world's most quoted expert on influence, Professor Robert Cialdini, Yes! presents dozens of surprising discoveries from the science of persuasion in short, enjoyable, and insightful chapters that you can apply immediately to become a more effective persuader. Why did a sign pointing out the problem of vandalism in the Petrified Forest National Park actually increase the theft of pieces of petrified wood? Why did sales of jam multiply tenfold when consumers were offered many fewer flavors? Why did people prefer a Mercedes immediately after giving reasons why they prefer a BMW? What simple message on cards left in hotel rooms greatly increased the number of people who behaved in environmentally friendly ways? Often counterintuitive, the findings presented in Yes! will steer you away from common pitfalls while empowering you with little known but proven wisdom. Whether you are in advertising, marketing, management, on sales, or just curious about how to be more influential in everyday life, Yes! shows how making small, scientifically proven changes to your approach can have a dramatic effect on your persuasive powers.

Author Biography

Noah J. Goldstein is a faculty member at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. His research and writing have been published in numerous business and psychology journals, including Harvard Business Review's annual List of Breakthrough Ideas. He has also consulted for a number of corporate and government organizations. He lives in Santa Monica. Steve J. Martin is the Managing Director of Influence at Work (UK), Robert Cialdini's consulting group. As well as teaching on the subject of persuasion and influence, he writes a monthly column for British Airways' in-flight magazine that is read by more than million business travelers. He has a background in sales and marketing and lives in London. Robert B. Cialdini is the author of the bestseller Influence. He is President of Influence at Work (www.influenceatwork.com) and Regents' Professor of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University. In the field of influence and persuasion, he is the most cited social psychologist in the world today. He lives in Tempe, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
How can inconveniencing your audience increase your persuasiveness?	p. 9
What shifts the bandwagon effect into another gear?	p. 15
What common mistake causes messages to self-destruct?	p. 19
When persuasion might backfire, how do you avoid the magnetic middle?	p. 26
When does offering people more make them want less?	p. 30
When does a bonus become an onus?	p. 35
How can a new superior product mean more sales of an inferior one?	p. 38
Does fear persuade or does it paralyze?	p. 42
What can chess teach us about making persuasive moves?	p. 45
Which office item can make your influence stick?	p. 50
Why should restaurants ditch their baskets of mints?	p. 53
What's the pull of having no strings attached?	p. 56
Do favors behave like bread or like wine?	p. 60
How can one small step help your influence take a giant leap?	p. 64
How can you become a Jedi master of persuasion?	p. 69
How can a simple question drastically increase support for you and your ideas?	p. 72
What is the active ingredient in lasting commitments?	p. 76
How can you fight consistency with consistency?	p. 80
What persuasion tip can you borrow from Benjamin Franklin?	p. 83
When can asking for a little go a long way?	p. 86
Start low or start high? Which will make people buy?	p. 89
How can we show off what we know without being labeled a show-off?	p. 93
What's the hidden danger of being the brightest person in the room?	p. 98
Who is the better persuader? Devil's advocate or true dissenter?	p. 102
When can the right way be the wrong way?	p. 107
What's the best way to turn a weakness into a strength	p. 110
Which faults unlock people's vaults?	p. 115
When is it right to admit that you were wrong?	p. 119
How can similarities make a difference?	p. 124
When is your name your game?	p. 127
What tips should we take from those who get them?	p. 133
What kind of smile can make the world smile back?	p. 137
When is a loser a winner?	p. 141
What can you gain from loss?	p. 144
Which single word will strengthen your persuasion attempts?	p. 150
When might asking for all the reasons be a mistake?	p. 155
How can the simplicity of a name make it appear more valuable?	p. 159
How can rhyme make your influence climb?	p. 164
What can batting practice tell us about persuasion?	p. 167
How can you get a head start in the quest for loyalty?	p. 170
What can a box of crayons teach us about persuasion?	p. 174
How can you package your message to ensure it keeps going, and going, and going?	p. 177
What object can persuade people to reflect on their values?	p. 183
Does being sad make your negotiations bad?	p. 187
What can make people believe everything they read?	p. 193
Are trimeth labs boosting your influence?	p. 197
How can technology impede persuasive progress?	p. 200
How do you get to yes in any language?	p. 205
How can you avoid driving your cross-cultural influence into the rough?	p. 209
When does letting the call go to voicemail cause a hang-up in your influence?	p. 213
Epilogue	p. 217
Appendix: Feedback from Those Who've Used These Methods	p. 221
Notes	p. 233
Acknowledgments	p. 247
Index	p. 249
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