On pre-suasion.
Get YES more often. Trick your brain into better decisions.
You probably started thinking, “Is there even such a word?” Pre-suasion. There is now. After a genius of influence and persuasion science, Robert Cialdini, came up with his new book “Pre-suasion”, that takes the art of persuasion one step further.
I finished “Pre-suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade” this week.
The book is all about our decision making. Why do we choose one thing over another? As it turns out, our brain decides before an actual decision making, based on the clues it receives from the environment.
The purpose of the book is to give us, readers, a better idea about our decision-making process to make better un-biased (as much as it’s possible) decisions that benefit us. Instead of being “tricked”, intentionally or not, into making a not-so-good-for-us decisions.
We even often trick ourselves, without realizing it, into making bad decisions — food, lifestyle, relationships, work, purchases — it has nothing to do with willpower. Our brain is a complicated thing. Its workings is not so a straight forward. The main purpose of the brain is to make us better adapt to the environment, so if somebody presents you with the evidence that seems valid to you, your brain will come up with a decision based on that, no matter the long-term consequences and possibly better alternatives.
Often we do not register what our brain processes as information vital for our decision making. Like someone’s question, “Do you consider yourself an adventurous person?”, makes us more likely to try a new product offered, if we answered affirmatively. Or if a website puts on the background fluffy clouds, we are more likely to purchase “fluffy” comfortable furniture on that website — and we will not be aware of that effect. Or if somebody asks us a few questions about a model of a new phone, or our opinion about the product we just tried, and then simply asks us to choose a product from the list, the one we are most likely to purchase — we will chose the product we tried. Or, if something presented as “most popular” item on the menu (because the restaurant needs to sell more of it), we will often choose that, considering it as the best option that saves us time making decision-making easier.
It’s fascinating how easily our brain can be tricked into making a yes or no decision. It’s good to be aware of the fact to make better decisions, and perhaps to be a better persuader to get yes more often.
A powerful point I loved in the book is the importance of factor of unity that makes us more willing to say yes to certain people, situations, products and companies.
When we feel one with something or someone, when we feel we are of one tribe, we are more willing to agree with whatever the other side is proposing or saying, even though it might not align so well with our values and beliefs. The things that unite us are many — same race, same school, same geographical location, same gender, same work experience, same music or food preferences, shared experiences like dancing or listening to the music. Music is actually a huge unifier. So is co-creation of anything — a project, a craft, an idea. So is asking people for advice. We like people that are like us, or at least appear to be so. Likability is one of 6 core principles of persuasion, that Robert Cialdini wrote about in many details in his previous book “Influence: How and why People Agree to Things”. (Reciprocity, Likability, Social proof, Authority, Scarcity, Consistency)
Influence and persuasion are powerful things, when we aware of them, when we use them correctly in our lives to live more according to our values.
Pre-suasion, new book by Robert Cialdini, is all about subtle influences that persuade us to make a certain decision even before we intend to make a decision. Ask for a phone number of a woman you like in front of a flower shop and she’ll be much more likely to give it to you. Talk to someone about the kind of music you both happen to like, or the place you both grew up in or studied at, or same people you know and that someone will like you much more, and will agree with whatever you say, ask for or propose much easier.
“People’s ability to understand the factors that affect their behavior is surprisingly poor,”
Cialdini says.
Use pre-suasion to live a better life according to your values.
Make better decisions. Make better choices.
Make people see the world through your pair of glasses.
You don’t get healthy and stay healthy.
HEALTH is a DAILY PRACTICE. One bite at a time.
Daily Bite of Health
