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November 22, 2009
50 in 50. #11: Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
I’m a big fan of Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. and, if it wasn’t cheating, I would review Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion for my 50 in 50 odyssey, even though I’ve already read the book several times. (I've already cheated once, so I'm trying to reform.)
See, Dr. Cialdini is a master at helping his readers understand how people think and feel, and using that knowledge to be more persuasive. My only criticism of his work has been that, even though his writing is clear and simple, there’s not enough advice: Okay, I understand the concept of “social proof,” but how do I use that to make my communication more persuasive?
In Yes! 50 Scientifically Proved Ways to Be Persuasive, Dr. Cialdini and his co-authors (Noah J. Goldstein, Ph.D. and Steve J. Martin) have solved my problem. As a matter, there’s so much good advice that I have inserted Post-It Notes in every other page.
Here are just a few highlights:
Social proof—the fact that other people’s behavior influences us—is a powerful force. That’s why testimonials are an effective marketing strategy. But did you know that we are more influenced by testimonials of people like us than we are if, say, a movie star endorses a product? That makes “real people” testimonials a powerful communication tool.
People prefer their behavior to be consistent with pre-existing attitudes and actions. And as we get older, this consistency becomes more important to us. But you can still “change” people’s minds to try something new by praising their previous decision as being correct at the time they made it (with the evidence they had then) and then demonstrating how the new thing is still aligned to their overall values, beliefs and practices. In other words, honor the past.
Commitments that have been made actively—for example, by writing them down—have more staying power than those that have been made passively—for example, by listening and nodding in agreement. That’s because, according to the book. “people make judgments about themselves based on observations of their own behavior and they infer more about themselves based on their actions than on their nonactions.” That’s why it’s a good idea when conducting behavioral training to include an exercise where participants write down their intended action steps.
Posted by Alison Davis at November 22, 2009 08:54 AM
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