Table Of Content.
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Artful
Persuasion
How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People
Harry Mills
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mills, Harry
Artful persuasion : how to command attention, change minds, and influence people / Harry Mills.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8144-7063-7
1. Persuasion (Psychology) 2. Influence (Psychology) I. Title
BF637.P4 M52 2000
153.8'52—dc21
99-056754
© 2000 Harry Mills.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America
This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or part, in
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of Amercian Management Association, 1601
Broadway, New York, NY 10019.
Printing number
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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CONTENTS
Preface: Manipulation, Seduction, and Persuasion ix
Why I wrote this book
How high is your persuasion IQ?
Acknowlegments xix
Part 1
How Persuasion Works
Chapter 1 2
Thoughtful Persuasion, Mindless Influence: The Two Routes to Successful
Persuasion
Chapter 2 4
The Persuasion Effect: The Four Patterns of Influence
Part 2
Thoughtful Persuasion
Chapter 3 10
Foxes, Bloodhounds, and Donkeys: The Three Types of Influencers
Chapter 4 14
Persuasion Starts with Credibility: How to Build Trust and Sell Your Expertise
Chapter 5 37
First Impression, Best Impression: The Art of Image Management
Chapter 6 71
Reading the Other Person: How to Use Personality Type to Persuade
Chapter 7 84
Power Talk! How to Give Words Added Impact
Chapter 8 105
Winning People's Hearts: The Power of Metaphors, Analogies, and Stories
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Chapter 9 133
Winning People's Minds: How to Structure and Package Your Message
Chapter 10 159
Power Pitches: How to Persuade with Graphs, Charts, and Videos
Chapter 11 187
Ask, Don't Tell! The Gentle Art of Self-persuasion
Chapter 12 200
Different Groups, Different Messages: How to Target and Influence Different
Groups
Chapter 13 210
Strategy Pure and Simple: How to Outthink and Outwit Your Opponents
Part 3
Mindless Influence
Chapter 14 218
Mindless Persuasion: The Seven Persuasion Triggers of Automatic Influence
Chapter 15 223
Persuasion Trigger One—Contrast: The Power of a Benchmark
Chapter 16 230
Persuasion Trigger Two—Reciprocation: The Law of Give-and-Take
Chapter 17 237
Persuasion Trigger Three—Commitment and Consistency: Getting One Foot
in the Door
Chapter 18 246
Persuasion Trigger Four—Authority: The Influence of Position
Chapter 19 252
Persuasion Trigger Five—Scarcity: The Rule of the Rare
Chapter 20 264
Persuasion Trigger Six—Conformity: Everyone Is Doing It
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Chapter 21 269
Persuasion Trigger Seven—Liking: Friends Won't Let You Down
Part 4
Persuasion at Its Best
Chapter 22 278
Icons of Influence: The Most Influential Persuaders of the Twentieth Century
Footnote 288
Index 295
VI
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PREFACE—
MANIPULATION, SEDUCTION, AND PERSUASION
Why I Wrote This Book
"Speech is power: speech is to persuade, to convert, to compel.''
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
I earn my living as a professional persuader. I am what some people call a hired gun. I sell my talents
to corporations, governments, and individuals who need help to persuade, sell, or negotiate.
I love it. The bigger the challenge, the more the adrenaline runs. Along the way, I've negotiated on
billion-dollar deals, aided the launch of some of the world's best products, and even helped politicians
win elections.
It's much easier when your clients include companies such as Toyota, BMW,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Unilever. These companies appreciate what it takes to win the battle
for hearts and minds against formidable competitors.
The Dark Art of Mysterious Influence
Nevertheless, I never cease to be amazed at how few people understand the art of persuasion. A large
group of people — 25 percent, pollsters tell us — believe that persuasion is sorcery, a mysterious
black art practiced by wizards who masquerade as politicians, advertisers, and spin doctors.
Vance Packard popularised the notion in his 1957 best-selling book The Hidden Persuaders. "Many
of us are being influenced and
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manipulated, far more than we realise, in the patterns of our everyday lives," he wrote. He saw
motivational research as comparable to "the chilling world of George Orwell and big brother."
According to Packard, advertising agencies were tapping into the research of psychoanalysis to create
a new type of suggestive and seductive ad.
A Canadian university professor, William Bryan Key, added to the fears when he claimed there was
widespread use of what he called subliminal persuasion. He argued that advertisers were using
subliminal messages in advertisements. Key claimed hidden messages urging you to buy were being
embedded in pictures and print advertisements. At the movies, messages such as "Buy Coke" were
being flashed secretly onto the screen at 1/3000 of a second — far too fast for the conscious mind to
detect. Customers were being unconsciously manipulated.
Various governments added to the concern when they overreacted by banning subliminal advertising.
However, in the over 200 academic papers that have since been published on the power of subliminal
messages, not one has been able to show that subliminal messages influence what we do at all.
Nevertheless, the fears haven't disappeared. In 1990, the rock band Judas Priest found themselves in
court for allegedly recording the subliminal message "Do it" on one of their tracks in their 1978 album
Stained Glass. Two sets of parents had filed suit claiming the message caused their two boys, fanatical
Judas Priest fans, to commit suicide.
The band emerged victorious after a Canadian psychologist proved there was no evidence to support
Key's ideas, which formed the basis of the accusation. Even so, persuasion for many remains a
mysterious, irresistible force that unconsciously shapes their lives. Surveys tell us that 70 percent to 80
percent of people still believe advertisers use subliminal advertising.
Willing Accomplices in Our Own Seduction
The second reason why most people remain ignorant about how persuasion works is that they refuse
to admit they are influenced by politicians, salespeople, and advertisers.
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It is remarkable how many people believe they are immune to persuasion. They insist that they don't
watch ads, that they never listen to politicians, and that they are resistant to all forms of persuasion.
Given that we are bombarded by as many as 1,600 commercial messages a day — that's 100 every
waking hour — the claim to immunity is remarkable.
The fact is, none of us is immune to influence (see page xi). Advertisers and other professional
persuaders have long known how to get through to those of us who claim to be resistant.
Advertisers, for example, typically flatter those who believe they are too individualistic to fall for a
pitch aimed at the mainstream. The simplest trick is to use flattery. The Nike ads or MTV tell the
"rebels'' they want to win over, "We understand you; you're special. Don't do what everyone else
does. Be unique and join us."
There is a moment in Monty Python's The Life of Brian that sums up the approach perfectly. The
messiah shouts to the crowd, "Don't follow anyone. Think for yourself. You are all individuals." And
the crowd shouts back, in unison, "We are all individuals." 1
Ironically, because of their naïveté, this "rebel" group is often the easiest to persuade — and in the
process, they become willing accomplices in their own seduction.
I wrote this book to show that there is nothing inherently mysterious about persuasion. We can all be
skilled persuaders if we are prepared to master the techniques and understand what works, what
doesn't work, and why.
Moreover, I passionately believe that the best defense against manipulation, propaganda, and
ultimately tyranny is a fundamental knowledge of how persuasion works. You only have to visit the
Auschwitz and Dachau concentration camps to know the human price we pay for naïveté, gullibility,
and ignorance.
HARRY MILLS
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How High Is Your Persuasion IQ?
OPTIONS
1. Never
2. Seldom
3. Sometimes
4. Often
5. Always
Assess Your Skills as a Persuader
To give you a chance to assess your persuasion abilities prior to reading the book, I've included a
simplified version of the Persuasion IQ Test I use to assess my clients' persuasive abilities. I
recommend you complete the test before you read the book. I then suggest you redo the test after
reading the book.
Assess your persuasion IQ by answering the following questions. Mark the option that best describes
your performance. If your answer is "never," check Option 1. If your answer is "sometimes," check
Option 3, and so on.
When you have answered all the questions, total your scores and turn to the "Interpreting Your
Results" section to evaluate your performance.
1. I consciously establish my credentials or qualifications before I try to influence somebody.
2. When persuading, I offer proof of how people have been able to trust me or my organization in the
past.
3. I consciously make a powerful impression in the first few minutes of any meeting.
4. I consciously use body language to influence others.
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