Persuasion principles

from http://changingminds.org/principles/principles.htm

• Alignment: When everything lines up, there are no contradictions to cause disagreement.
• Amplification: Make the important bits bigger and other bits smaller.
• Appeal: If asked nicely, we will follow the rules we have made for ourselves.
• Arousal: When I am aroused I am full engaged and hence more likely to pay attention.
• Association: Our thoughts are connected. Think one thing and the next is automatic.
• Assumption: Acting as if something is true often makes it true.
• Attention: Make sure they are listening before you try to sell them something.
• Authority: Use your authority and others will obey.
• Bonding: I will usually do what my friends ask of me, without negotiation.
• Closure: Close the door of thinking and the deal is done.
• Completion: We need to complete that which is started.
• Confidence: If I am confident, then you can be confident.
• Confusion: A drowning person will clutch at a straw. So will a confused one.
• Consistency: We like to maintain consistency between what we think, say and do.
• Contrast: We notice and decide by difference between two things, not absolute measures.
• Daring: If you dare me to do something, I daren't not do it.
• Deception: Convincing by trickery.
• Dependence: If you are dependent on me, I can use this as a lever to persuade you.
• Distraction: If I distract your attention, I can then slip around your guard.
• Evidence: I cannot deny what I see with my own eyes.
• Exchange: if I do something for you, then you are obliged to do something for me.
• Experience: I cannot deny what I experience for myself.
• Fragmentation: Break up the problem into agreeable parts.
• Framing: Meaning depends on context. So control the context.
• Harmony: Go with the flow to build trust and create subtle shifts.
• Hurt and Rescue: Make them uncomfortable then throw them a rope.
• Interest: If I am interested then I will pay attention.
• Investment: If I have invested in something, I do not want to waste that investment.
• Logic: What makes sense must be true.
• Objectivity: Standing back decreases emotion and increases logic.
• Passion: Enthusiasm is catching.
• Perception: Perception is reality. So manage it.
• Pull: Create attraction that pulls people in.
• Push: I give you no option but to obey.
• Repetition: If something happens often enough, I will eventually be persuaded.
• Scarcity: I want now what I may not be able to get in the future.
• Similarity: We trust people who are like us or who are similar to people we like.
• Specificity: People fill in the gaps in vague statements.
• Substitution: Put them into the story.
• Surprise: When what happens is not what I expect, I must rethink my understanding.
• Tension: I will act to reduce the tension gaps I feel.
• Threat: If my deep needs are threatened, I will act to protect them.
• Trust: If I trust you, I will accept your truth and expose my vulnerabilities.
• Understanding: If I understand you, then I can interact more accurately with you.