Quotes About Persuasion

A friend once told me that I was always so manipulative, 'a silver-tongued devil,' as he put it. I was never aware of it.

The Devil, of course, must have been or must be a very charming person.

I believe everyone has the ability to be hypnotised, and I think, on different days, different people will have varying levels of susceptibility.

I used to cold call labels and pretend I was one of their artist's attorneys. I'd say, 'This is Jay-Z's attorney, we need to speak with Craig Kallman,' you know, owner of Atlantic, and they'd say, 'Right away,' and then I'd be like, 'Please just listen to my demo tape!'

To me, great advertising can make food taste better, can make your car run smoother. It can change your perception of something. Is it wrong to change your perception about something? Of course not. I'm not lying; I'm just saying, 'This one's more fun, this one's more exciting.'

I only have disdain for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He raised taxes and has increased regulations. What else is new? He's a bully who wants to micro-manage people's lives by mandate, not persuasion.

I noticed when I was at Stanford, there was a class called the persuasive technology design class, and it was a whole lab at Stanford that teaches students how to apply persuasive psychology principles into technology to persuade people to use products in a certain way.

Teaching and writing, to me, is really just seduction; you go to where people are and you find something that they're interested in and you try and use that to convince them that they should be interested in what you have to say.

You know what. You're luring me in. You know I can't resist—

Thats why your doing this? Because Lissa told you to?

These repetitions of name or gender create an irresistible force that so distracts the Tanks, Know-It-Alls, Grenades, or Whiners that they must stop talking to find out what it is you want! Once you have their attention, you can move forward by stating your intent, by clarifying something they were saying, or by using any of the other choices suggested in this chapter.

Goldwater hardly ever mentioned a statistic. He hardly ever used it EXAMPLE. He presumed you already knew what he meant. Reagan SHOWED you.

People want to believe. Ronald Reagan was able to make people believe.

H. L. Mencken: no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.

End with a Call to Action A persuasive book description should finish with a bang, rather than a whimper. Tell the reader to buy your book. You may think this step is a crass or unnecessary, but nothing could be further from the truth. Never forget how easy it is for a shopper on Amazon to leave your book page and buy a different book instead.

The world's most deadly fluff is: "I would definitely buy that." It just sounds so concrete. As a founder, you desperately want to believe it's money in the bank. But folks are wildly optimistic about what they would do in the future. They're always more positive, excited, and willing to pay in the imagined future than they are once it arrives.

Earthling and the next record Hours were so damn good, it was startling to hear them, but it was tough to convince my friends they were worth getting excited about.

But although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said ... is that power always reveals. When a man is climbing, trying to persuade others to give him power, concealment is necessary. ... But as a man obtains more power, camouflage becomes less necessary.

Hospitality has always been a potent political weapon. Moses used it like a master. Coupled with his overpowering personality, a buffet often did as much for a proposal as a bribe.

What convinces is conviction. You simply have to believe in the argument you are advancing; if you don't, you're as good as dead. The other person will sense that something isn't there.

A handshake, as delivered by Lyndon Johnson, could be as effective as a hug.

Since when was an emotional argument won by logic

Theology is never any help it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything.

Since 95 percent of the people are imitators and only 5 percent initiators, people are persuaded more by the actions of others than by any proof we can offer.