New Scientist teaches lessons from the science of persuasion.
Dan Jones and Alison Motluk write (excerpt):
Persuasion is a key element of all human interaction, from politics to marketing to everyday dealings with friends, family and colleagues. “Persuasion is a basic form of social interaction,” says Eric Knowles, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. “It is the way we build consensus and a common purpose.”
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1 Be a mimic [but be subtle]
2 Look at it this way… [framing; be negative about the option you don’t want them to pick]
3 Less is more [ask audience to generate one or two–no more than three–reasons in support of an idea]
4 Grind them down [strike when your audience is running low on mental energy]
5 The medium is the means [a woman trying to persuade other women is better off meeting face-to-face; men are less confrontational if contacted by email]
6 Style over substance [the less time you’re allowed to think about the content, the more the style of delivery matters]
7 Get them angry [feelings of anger accompanied by the feeling there is a solution to the problem]
8 Resistance isn’t futile [present positions closer to your audience’s views, then move them toward your goal little by little]