164. Rethink: Using "Pre-suasion" to Influence Others

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The inner workings of social influence and persuasion.

Want to change someone’s mind? First, explains Robert Cialdini, you have to change their framing.

For Cialdini, the Regent's Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, persuasion begins before we even deliver our pitch or presentation. Through what he calls “Pre-suasion,” communicators can prime audiences to receive messages in a specific way, simply by drawing their attention in specific directions. 

“It involves focusing people on—putting them in mind of—those motivators before they encounter [them] in the communicator’s message,” Cialdini says, “bringing people’s focus of attention onto something that is nested in the message…before that message is delivered, so they have been readied for the concept.”

In this episode, Matt Abrahams and Cialdini talk about the motivating power of FOMO, getting better advice from others, and how your next wine purchase could be influenced by what music is playing in the shop.

Episode Reference Links:

• Robert Cialdini
• Robert's books: Influence / Pre-Suasion
• Ep.11 The Science of Influence: How to Persuade Others And Hold Their Attention
• Ep.142 Power and Persuasion: Live Insights from Stanford Experts 
• Original Episode: Ep.76 Change My Mind: Using “Pre-suasion” to Influence Others 

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• Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn

Chapters:

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (02:31) - Persuasion and Pre-suasion
• (05:52) - Priming and Framing in Pre-suasion
• (08:33) - Understanding Scarcity
• (11:23) - The Unity Principle
• (14:39) - Social Proof and Influence
• (19:59) - The Role of Language in Persuasion
• (22:58) - The Final Three Questions
• (27:24) - Conclusion