Quotes About Persuasion

I have always thought that pandas, in evolutionary terms, are the most sophisticated animals in the world. They cannot look after themselves; they are useless at reproducing. But to compensate, they have managed to persuade the most advanced creatures on the planet - human beings - to care for their every need.

The 'vote for me because the other guy is scary,' nana-nana-poo-poo stuff I just find useless.

If advertisers want to decorate their ads to increase their conversions by showing what users think, that's a good thing.

If you look at any successful professional - a salesperson, a marketer, a real estate agent, a trader - they all have the same qualities as the con man. The only difference is that one side uses their talents in the right direction and the con man is taking the easy way out.

The secret to gaining the upper hand in a negotiation is to give the other side the illusion of control. Don't try to force your opponent to admit that you are right. Ask questions, that begin with 'How?' or 'What?' so your opponent uses mental energy to figure out the answer.

Anyone who in discussion relies upon authority uses, not his understanding, but rather his memory.

Law builds upon and, I should like to claim, is one of the liberal arts. It uses words of persuasion and changing definitions for practical ends.

Political linguists have argued that the right often uses stories to make an argument, while the left falls back on facts and statistics.

I think what IBM is excellent at is using their sales and marketing infrastructure to convince people who have asymmetrically less knowledge to pay for something.

You can get people to work by using threats or by promising rewards.

All possible means were used by the infatuated parents to conclude the bargain; and deception put an end to these usual artifices.

But on a utilitarian level, I realize that to try to accomplish the greatest good for the greatest number of people, sometimes we have to become salesmen for what we believe, and part of being a salesman is being effective.

To acquire immunity to eloquence is of the utmost importance to the citizens of a democracy.

Whether we notice it or not, we spend our days negotiating for something: for our spouse to do more housework, a child to eat just three more bites or go to bed on time, an extended deadline on a project, a salary increase, a better rate on a vacation package.

We're often accused of trying to manipulate opinion or that we're trying to elevate society. I think that the greatest thing we can do is to give you a vacation.

I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have really come out of the real experience of my life, and somehow this has come over as true and valid and persuasive.

Because the more you engage with someone who is spreading untruths, the more validity you give to those untruths.

I think that designers and architects need to educate the people who don't quite know what they do and make a strong case for why it's valuable and why it changes the game. I think waiting for people to come around to it just won't do.

Selling an idea to a publisher is not as valuable as selling your audience to a publisher.

If you have the ability to convince somebody of something that you don't necessarily think is the case, it's a valuable asset. Not that I'm, like, a pathological liar, but we spend most of the day not fully being honest, you know?

When I told Yoko about my visit with Paul, she said something to the effect that I had fallen under his spell.

The best lies to tell, said Jane, are the ones people want to believe.

It's one thing to relay a fact to a person. It's a whole different thing when you tell a story.

You must do the thinking for the reader of your resume.