The Psychology of Persuasion

You probably have been struggling with persuasion.
You never seem to be successful in getting others to take your position on issues.





This is a common barrier in life as it is obvious no one is able to live without others. Other people cannot live without you. There are things they have to accomplish only through you. So, you get disappointed that other people win on you and you do not win in them.




It is time you understood persuasion at its deepest through a psychological viewpoint. You have a boss to deal with remember. Or you are planning to be a social or community organizer and you are trying to feel in your abilities in order to be accomplished at it.



This book comes to your aide to help you acquire the competence of understanding what works in the minds of people to make them to either resist or adapt the message you directly to them. It does not just focus on telling you what to do in order to be persuasive instead; it goes deeper to anchor the strategies on sound psychological principles.

The book has tested approaches to persuasion and discusses them on a step-by-step basis.


Do you think that it is enough to just have a message to deliver?
No.
It matters that you understand your audience and know them well before you can even pass the message across. The book, therefore, has various chapters that are steps one has to take in ensuring they give their message a persuasive edge that can pierce through the target's resistance. The first step is on molding the perception of your target which focuses on how to ensure that you understand the preconceptions of the target. This chapter makes you know that people are opinionated, and others have stereotypes and hence you do not assume that your good message just comes out to find an agreeable target. The second step focuses on eliciting congruent attitudes that focuses on the principles of embodied cognition. You will know how to use body language to influence your target. The following step is triggering social pressure which is about making the person do what so many people are doing. The next step is to habituate your message by making your target come to accommodate your idea or message without making them feel uncomfortable. The next step is to Optimize your message by ensuring the target can easily evaluate it at the level that you desire. The next step is driving the momentum of the target just to ensure they remain in compliance and do not change their mind before you accomplish your mission. The next step is sustaining compliance and regards to ensuring people make favorable associations.

You should be ready to be taken on a journey of self-discovery, to unleash your potential of persuasion. You have to come to activate your abilities by exercising them on your target to drive them towards a desired mental perception.


If you love psychology, this will be an insightful read.