The book explores the idea that establishing a specific mental context in the audience's mind before presenting an argument can influence their receptivity.Setting the right stage is as important as the content of the persuasion.

Creating Mental Context:

What’s focal is causal.

The book highlights the significance of non-verbal cues in the persuasion process. It discusses how body language, gestures, and other non-verbal signals can subtly shape the audience's receptiveness to the persuasive message.

Non-Verbal Communication in Persuasion:

When names are easy to pronounce, early profits are easy to announce.

Pre-Suasion introduces the concept that the timing of a message can be just as crucial as the message itself.Understanding the moments before delivering a persuasive message can significantly impact its effectiveness.

The Power of Timing:

If you understand the tools of pre-suasion, you will be better placed to win a debate, get support for an idea or cause, promote a campaign—even persuade yourself to do something you find difficult.

Winning with Pre-Suasion

Pre-Suasion underscores the significance of building confidence and trust before attempting to persuade.It explores how establishing a foundation of trust can enhance the persuader's credibility and impact.

The Role of Confidence and Trust:

The best way to persuade—to be more persuasive than we were yesterday—is to understand the psychology of why people say yes.

<ol><li>Reciprocity</li><li>Commitment or consistency</li><li>Consensus or social proof</li><li>Authority</li><li>Liking</li><li>Scarcity</li><li>Unity.</li></ol>

What are Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Persuasion?

Cialdini explores how associations play a crucial role in persuasion. He also discusses the power of linking positive associations with the message or product one aims to persuade others to accept.

The Influence of Associations:

One key concept in the book is 'priming,' the idea that subtle cues or stimuli can influence subsequent behavior. Understanding how to prime an audience beforehand is presented as a potent tool for effective persuasion.

Priming and Influence:

Pre-Suasion delves into the psychology of capturing attention. It discusses techniques to focus and direct attention strategically, making the audience more susceptible to the persuasive message that follows.

The Art of Attention:

When it comes to persuasion, success can begin before you say a word. The book delves into the psychological principles that shape people's receptivity to influence, providing insights into the subtle cues and strategies that can significantly impact the success of persuasion efforts.

The acclaimed New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller from Robert Cialdini—“the foremost expert on effective persuasion” (Harvard Business Review)—explains how it’s not necessarily the message itself that changes minds, but the key moment before you deliver that message. What separates effective communicators from truly successful persuaders? With the same rigorous scientific research and accessibility that made his Influence an iconic bestseller, Robert Cialdini explains how to prepare people to be receptive to a message before they experience it. Optimal persuasion is achieved only through optimal pre-suasion. In other words, to change “minds” a pre-suader must also change “states of mind.” Named a “Best Business Books of 2016” by the Financial Times, and “compelling” by The Wall Street Journal, Cialdini’s Pre-Suasion draws on his extensive experience as the most cited social psychologist of our time and explains the techniques a person should implement to become a master persuader. Altering a listener’s attitudes, beliefs, or experiences isn’t necessary, says Cialdini—all that’s required is for a communicator to redirect the audience’s focus of attention before a relevant action. From studies on advertising imagery to treating opiate addiction, from the annual letters of Berkshire Hathaway to the annals of history, Cialdini outlines the specific techniques you can use on online marketing campaigns and even effective wartime propaganda. He illustrates how the artful diversion of attention leads to successful pre-suasion and gets your targeted audience primed and ready to say, “Yes.” His book is “an essential tool for anyone serious about science based business strategies…and is destined to be an instant classic. It belongs on the shelf of anyone in business, from the CEO to the newest salesperson” (Forbes).

The Art of Attention:

Similar ideas to The Art of Attention:

Shift your attention away from worries

Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It

The death of the multi-camera sitcom