The current issue of Harvard
Business Review (July/August, 2013) is devoted to “Influence: How to get
it, How to use it.” One of the best articles is an interview with persuasion
expert, psychologist Robert Cialdini who offers six principles of persuasion
(as he has in his other excellent works, Influence:
Science and Practice and Yes! 50
Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive, with Noah Goldstein and Steve
Martin):
1. Liking. You’ll be more persuasive if
people like you.
2. Reciprocity: If you help others, they
will help you.
3. Social Proof: If you tell people that others are doing what you want them
to do, they’ll be more apt to do it as well.
4. Commitment and consistency: If you
get people to make a commitment, they will try to follow through.
5. Authority: People are persuaded by
experts even though they may deny it.
6. Scarcity: People place a high value on
items that are scarce.
Other useful articles emphasize
the importance of communicating warmth if you want to influence others and the
ways in which experts gain influence.
