Most people are easily suggestible and, no matter how annoying it is to admit it, they are powerless before NLP. This vulnerability in consciousness plays into our hands and we will certainly take advantage of it.
1. “Do you want to sell sweet soda for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
This famous phrase, thanks to which Steve Jobs managed to lure John Scully from PepsiCo, uses several persuasion techniques at once. First, simplification. There are always many reasons for a problem, and it is rather difficult to solve it. Reality makes people feel uncomfortable all the time. Professional manipulators help them relax for a moment, ignoring difficulties and offering simple solutions. A deodorant, a car, or a certain brand of beer can make a person beautiful, popular, and successful. The Big Lie factor also plays a role here. As the great manipulator Adolf Hitler said: “ People are more suspicious of small lies than great". The third technique is also fairly well known: reducing the selection to two options, one of which is obviously worse. Rather than letting a person think of many alternatives, manipulators only give two choices.
2. "Do you want to have healthy teeth?"
The toothpaste salesman uses two persuasion techniques to use this phrase. The first is the use of rhetorical questions. They are placed in such a way that they force you to agree with the speaker, because the answer is obvious. This is done in order to inspire trust and the feeling that the seller and the buyer have the same outlook on life. The second, close in meaning technique, is the use of "yes-questions". These do not have to be product related questions. The seller may ask, " Nice weather, isn't it?" Once a person agrees with something, even small and insignificant, it will be much easier for him to agree with more important things, for example, say: "Yes, I buy it."... Just like "yes-questions", humor works when a person is in a good mood, more relaxed and ready to buy a product that he associates with pleasant emotions.
3. "This car is worthy of you"
People love flattery. They love to be seen as special, significant, and intelligent. In everyday life, you can use this by addressing a person with the following phrase: “I don't think that a person of such a level as you will agree to find time to help me ...” In advertising, this technique usually involves a direct appeal: “You value quality” , “You do not like to waste time . " Sometimes, in order to evoke a sense of superiority in viewers, ads, on the contrary, show people doing stupid things. We like those who compliment us and we tend to trust those we like. Therefore, it is easier for them to convince us to buy something from them.
4. "But you are absolutely free"
A tricky move, often used by manipulators, is to reassure a person that they have freedom of choice. People hate to be restricted. Asking the other for a favor, the manipulator adds that he does not insist, but gives the right to choose. A study by Christopher Carpenter of 22,000 people showed that this seemingly simple technique is extraordinarily effective: it increases the chances of success by 50%. The researchers asked people to donate money to charity, borrow money for a bus ticket, and if they added “but I don't insist” or “but you certainly don't have to help me,” people were much more willing to agree ... The words themselves are not as important as the main meaning of the statement: "you are absolutely free, I am not putting pressure on you"... The technique is especially effective in face-to-face contact, and in writing and over the phone, its effectiveness is greatly reduced.
5. "Only today 50% discount"
The technique affects the survival instinct, causing the fear of missing out on something valuable. Researcher Noah Goldstein of the Anderson School of Management calls this "an instinct to grab everything or be left with nothing." Advertising often uses the appropriate slogans: "Last chance!", "Hurry up before it's too late"... According to statistics, on sale days, people spend 10% more on purchases, succumbing to panic. In a state of stress, a person loses the ability to think rationally. Renowned manipulation researcher Robert Cialdini calls this technique "scarcity creation." For example, this is how TeeFury works, which sells geek T-shirts with a specific pattern for only one day. The use of fear as a manipulative technique is possible in everyday life. For example, your boss may first give you a hint that he plans to lay off in the near future, and then ask you to work overtime. In The Science of Social Influence, a stranger approached people in a store and touched their shoulders. When they turned around in fright, they realized that this was just a blind person who wanted to ask them the time. After that, a person approached them with a request to donate a small amount. Those who experienced fear donated much more often than other buyers.
6. "This car is damn worth it!"
It has been proven that light swear words at the beginning or at the end of an utterance increase the degree of speech impact on listeners. Research confirming this thesis was conducted in 2006 by scientists Shearer and Sagarin. They divided people into groups and made the same speeches in front of them. The only difference was that the words "damn it" were added to one of them. The curse speech had a greater impact on the listeners. It seemed to the audience that the speaker was more convincing, confident, and aroused in them a sense of trust in the product. Moderate use of swear words makes speech less formal and more human, removing barriers between speaker and listener. In Russia, you can try a tougher version, as, for example, did the Studio of Art. Lebedev in the advertisement: "Euroset - the prices are just oh ... yeah" ...
7. "Why not?"
Learning to handle the objection correctly is probably the most important method of manipulation. You ask someone for a favor, you are denied. What to do next? Ask: "Why not?"So you can translate a hard rejection into an obstacle that can be overcome. The person who is asked this question takes the position of justifying, because he must give logical arguments. Researchers who have dealt with this issue provide several explanations for why this technique is so effective. First, persistence plays a role. A person can find the strength to refuse once, but with each next question, his confidence in his opinion is reduced. Emotional factors come into play: feelings of guilt and sympathy. Secondly, this technique is associated with a state of cognitive dissonance - a feeling of discomfort from the presence of two opposite points of view in the mind. A person wants to get rid of him as soon as possible, even by giving up his opinion.
8. "Can I use your photocopier because I need to photocopy my papers?"
This technique is called placebo information. The manipulator gives some reason, which is actually not that significant. Langer's research proves that giving you even an apparent reason increases your chances of success by 30%.
9. "It's worth a million dollars!"
In English, this technique is called door-in-the-face. The principle of operation is that at first the manipulator asks for a pointlessly high price, which the buyer, of course, cannot pay. Then he offers a much lower price than the first amount. The strong contrast makes it seem like a great deal to the buyer and agrees to the purchase. The opposite technique is often used, called foot-in-the-door. Here, on the contrary, the buyer is first offered to buy something inexpensive. Having agreed once, it is easier for him later to decide on more serious expenses. A similar principle is used in the boiling point technique. In this case, the seller encourages the buyer to buy an inexpensive thing, and when he is ready to buy, “suddenly” he finds out that now this product is not in stock, but there is a similar, more expensive one.
10. "The second iron is free!"
This technique is used by shops in a variety of ways. For example, shoppers are offered free gifts, discounts, and other "great" deals. They act because, first, people like to think of themselves as rational (acting for their own good). And secondly, who doesn't love gifts? It gives a feeling of the same happiness as money found on the street. In addition, people like the shopping process, and free gifts seem to "justify" this pleasure by the fact that the purchase seems more profitable. For the same reason, customers are subconsciously impressed by uneven discount numbers, for example, $ 0.99. What happens to people when they hear the word "free" is illustrated by an experiment that Dan Arielli writes about in his book Predictably Irrational. He invited people in the nightclub to get free tattoos.
1. “Do you want to sell sweet soda for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?"
This famous phrase, thanks to which Steve Jobs managed to lure John Scully from PepsiCo, uses several persuasion techniques at once. First, simplification. There are always many reasons for a problem, and it is rather difficult to solve it. Reality makes people feel uncomfortable all the time. Professional manipulators help them relax for a moment, ignoring difficulties and offering simple solutions. A deodorant, a car, or a certain brand of beer can make a person beautiful, popular, and successful. The Big Lie factor also plays a role here. As the great manipulator Adolf Hitler said: “ People are more suspicious of small lies than great". The third technique is also fairly well known: reducing the selection to two options, one of which is obviously worse. Rather than letting a person think of many alternatives, manipulators only give two choices.
2. "Do you want to have healthy teeth?"
The toothpaste salesman uses two persuasion techniques to use this phrase. The first is the use of rhetorical questions. They are placed in such a way that they force you to agree with the speaker, because the answer is obvious. This is done in order to inspire trust and the feeling that the seller and the buyer have the same outlook on life. The second, close in meaning technique, is the use of "yes-questions". These do not have to be product related questions. The seller may ask, " Nice weather, isn't it?" Once a person agrees with something, even small and insignificant, it will be much easier for him to agree with more important things, for example, say: "Yes, I buy it."... Just like "yes-questions", humor works when a person is in a good mood, more relaxed and ready to buy a product that he associates with pleasant emotions.
3. "This car is worthy of you"
People love flattery. They love to be seen as special, significant, and intelligent. In everyday life, you can use this by addressing a person with the following phrase: “I don't think that a person of such a level as you will agree to find time to help me ...” In advertising, this technique usually involves a direct appeal: “You value quality” , “You do not like to waste time . " Sometimes, in order to evoke a sense of superiority in viewers, ads, on the contrary, show people doing stupid things. We like those who compliment us and we tend to trust those we like. Therefore, it is easier for them to convince us to buy something from them.
4. "But you are absolutely free"
A tricky move, often used by manipulators, is to reassure a person that they have freedom of choice. People hate to be restricted. Asking the other for a favor, the manipulator adds that he does not insist, but gives the right to choose. A study by Christopher Carpenter of 22,000 people showed that this seemingly simple technique is extraordinarily effective: it increases the chances of success by 50%. The researchers asked people to donate money to charity, borrow money for a bus ticket, and if they added “but I don't insist” or “but you certainly don't have to help me,” people were much more willing to agree ... The words themselves are not as important as the main meaning of the statement: "you are absolutely free, I am not putting pressure on you"... The technique is especially effective in face-to-face contact, and in writing and over the phone, its effectiveness is greatly reduced.
5. "Only today 50% discount"
The technique affects the survival instinct, causing the fear of missing out on something valuable. Researcher Noah Goldstein of the Anderson School of Management calls this "an instinct to grab everything or be left with nothing." Advertising often uses the appropriate slogans: "Last chance!", "Hurry up before it's too late"... According to statistics, on sale days, people spend 10% more on purchases, succumbing to panic. In a state of stress, a person loses the ability to think rationally. Renowned manipulation researcher Robert Cialdini calls this technique "scarcity creation." For example, this is how TeeFury works, which sells geek T-shirts with a specific pattern for only one day. The use of fear as a manipulative technique is possible in everyday life. For example, your boss may first give you a hint that he plans to lay off in the near future, and then ask you to work overtime. In The Science of Social Influence, a stranger approached people in a store and touched their shoulders. When they turned around in fright, they realized that this was just a blind person who wanted to ask them the time. After that, a person approached them with a request to donate a small amount. Those who experienced fear donated much more often than other buyers.
6. "This car is damn worth it!"
It has been proven that light swear words at the beginning or at the end of an utterance increase the degree of speech impact on listeners. Research confirming this thesis was conducted in 2006 by scientists Shearer and Sagarin. They divided people into groups and made the same speeches in front of them. The only difference was that the words "damn it" were added to one of them. The curse speech had a greater impact on the listeners. It seemed to the audience that the speaker was more convincing, confident, and aroused in them a sense of trust in the product. Moderate use of swear words makes speech less formal and more human, removing barriers between speaker and listener. In Russia, you can try a tougher version, as, for example, did the Studio of Art. Lebedev in the advertisement: "Euroset - the prices are just oh ... yeah" ...
7. "Why not?"
Learning to handle the objection correctly is probably the most important method of manipulation. You ask someone for a favor, you are denied. What to do next? Ask: "Why not?"So you can translate a hard rejection into an obstacle that can be overcome. The person who is asked this question takes the position of justifying, because he must give logical arguments. Researchers who have dealt with this issue provide several explanations for why this technique is so effective. First, persistence plays a role. A person can find the strength to refuse once, but with each next question, his confidence in his opinion is reduced. Emotional factors come into play: feelings of guilt and sympathy. Secondly, this technique is associated with a state of cognitive dissonance - a feeling of discomfort from the presence of two opposite points of view in the mind. A person wants to get rid of him as soon as possible, even by giving up his opinion.
8. "Can I use your photocopier because I need to photocopy my papers?"
This technique is called placebo information. The manipulator gives some reason, which is actually not that significant. Langer's research proves that giving you even an apparent reason increases your chances of success by 30%.
9. "It's worth a million dollars!"
In English, this technique is called door-in-the-face. The principle of operation is that at first the manipulator asks for a pointlessly high price, which the buyer, of course, cannot pay. Then he offers a much lower price than the first amount. The strong contrast makes it seem like a great deal to the buyer and agrees to the purchase. The opposite technique is often used, called foot-in-the-door. Here, on the contrary, the buyer is first offered to buy something inexpensive. Having agreed once, it is easier for him later to decide on more serious expenses. A similar principle is used in the boiling point technique. In this case, the seller encourages the buyer to buy an inexpensive thing, and when he is ready to buy, “suddenly” he finds out that now this product is not in stock, but there is a similar, more expensive one.
10. "The second iron is free!"
This technique is used by shops in a variety of ways. For example, shoppers are offered free gifts, discounts, and other "great" deals. They act because, first, people like to think of themselves as rational (acting for their own good). And secondly, who doesn't love gifts? It gives a feeling of the same happiness as money found on the street. In addition, people like the shopping process, and free gifts seem to "justify" this pleasure by the fact that the purchase seems more profitable. For the same reason, customers are subconsciously impressed by uneven discount numbers, for example, $ 0.99. What happens to people when they hear the word "free" is illustrated by an experiment that Dan Arielli writes about in his book Predictably Irrational. He invited people in the nightclub to get free tattoos.
