Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People [Paperback]

Harry Mills (Author)

Book Description

Series: The New Psychology of Influence | Publication Date: April 11, 2000

"There's really nothing mysterious about getting people to change their minds. No special, inborn gifts. No subliminal tricks. Instead, the best persuaders--advertisers, salespeople, politicians, spin doctors--depend on the fact that everyone responds to messages in just two ways: thoughtfully or mindlessly. And they know how to manipulate these two persuasion routes to make even the most doubtful say "yes." Jam-packed with fascinating case studies and surprising examples, this comprehensive, entertaining how-to guide puts the powerful tool of persuasion at anyone's disposal. It explains: * How the master persuaders--the Churchills, Lincolns, and Roosevelts--create powerful, memorable messages that convince people of their arguments' logic and rightness. * How successful persuaders exploit the psychological triggers that cause people to subconsciously move from "no" to "yes."

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM; 1 Ed edition (April 11, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814470637
• ISBN-13: 978-0814470633
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #319,212 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

146 of 153 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars One for the Trivia Collectors, March 15, 2002

By 

Karl (England, Great Britain) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People (Paperback)

There is a common misconception that "knowledge is power".

It isn't.

Just 'having' knowledge merely qualifies you to play Trivial Pursuit.
Knowledge only translates into power, or in this case "persuasion", IF you know how to USE that knowledge effectively.

This book leans heavily on the "knowledge=power" misconception for it's appeal.
It is a typical example of what I call "sweeper" writing. That is to say, though it claims to be offering to tell you "how" to do something (in this case, "How to command attention, change minds, and influence people") it actually only tells you "what" to do. It covers the gap with a stream of brief stories of the "Wow, I never knew that!" variety, "swept up" from a whole slew of books on more or less the same subject.

It is my perception that *anybody* who has read the same set of source books, and has a reasonable grasp of written English, could have produced this book, regardless of whether they had any prior knowledge or experience of the subject.

For beginners (in any subject), especially those who set more store by what they "know" rather than by what they can actually "do", this "canned knowledge" approach can be very attractive. Indeed, it may well lead them to assume that the book itself is of some value.

For the more discerning reader - one who wishes to be able to put their knowledge to work - this favourable impression lasts just about as long as it takes them to find a more pragmatically-oriented text.

If you *really* want to be well-informed about "the new psychology of influence" I'd recommend Robert Cialdini's classic "Influence", and for an introductory handbook on the effective and responsible use of influence/persuasion, Andrew Bradbury's "Develop Your NLP Skills".

Both books are well-written (that is, easy to read) yet contain far more *practical* information than "Artful Persuasion".

36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Better off buying books by Robert Cialdini, October 17, 2001

By 

Daniel Norris (Converse, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People (Paperback)

This book clearly speaks to some interesting research concerning persuasion and influence, however, it appeared to me that anyone with exposure to Dr. Cialdini's research would find this repetitive and more focused on training those who would wish to become "black market" persuaders. I might also argue that the more interesting parts of Mr. Mills book appeared to be a re-write of Cialdini's work.

While it is an o.k. book for those with no background in persuasion or social psychology, I would recommend reading "Influence-Science and Practice" and/or "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Dr. Cialdini. Many of the points made in Mr. Mills books relates to the research studied in both of these books. However, Dr. Cialdini's books are more enjoyable to read, more informative and instructive, and clearly speaks to the ethics of persuasion with sincere eloquence.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable Skills, May 17, 2000

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People (Paperback)

There are dozens of excellent books on the subject of persuasion. This is one of the best. Mills explains "how to command attention, change minds, and influence people." His writing style is crisp, his material is very well organized, he includes an abundance of examples to illustrate his key points, and he concludes the book with an analysis of "the most influential persuaders of the twentieth century", Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The book consists of four Parts:

How Persuasion Works (eg four patterns of influence) Thoughtful Persuasion (eg how to build trust and sell your expertise, how to give words added impact)

Mindless Influence (eg the seven "persuasion triggers" of automatic influence)

Persuasion at Its Best (ie Roosevelt and Churchill)

One of Mills's most effective devices is the checklist. Throughout the book, it enables him to summarize key points in appropriate clusters. This is especially helpful for future reference, after the book has been read and functions as a reference source.

This book will be invaluable to you if you want to strengthen your ability to "command attention, change minds, and influence people." It will also be invaluable to you when interacting with others who have also read Mills's book and are applying what the learned.