Customer Reviews

Secrets of Power Persuasion: Everything You'll Ever Need to Get Anything You'll Ever Want

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2 star:		(1)
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Wow! I'm impressed! This is one of the best-researched, most thorough books on persuasion that I've had the pleasure of reading. Best of all - it's not just theory. The author, Roger Dawson adds tons of practical examples and applications for each technique. That means you can use this stuff immediately. By far one the best business books I've read in some time.

Roger Dawson has a great writing style. He presents lots of information, broken into very easy to grasp chapters, filledwith major point highlights and review questions. A must read for those who wish to better their persuasive powers and selling skills.

Great book. Extremely insightful. This book brings together lessons from many other disciplines and supplies new perspectives that are easy to apply. The book is easy to read and a diversified literary and historical background allow you to appreciate the subtle points that really demonstrate expertise in persuasion.

Each of us is in the business of persuading someone to take some sort of action or to think differently about something. Persuasion is done every day in business environments, in the home, in shopping experiences, and many other encounters between people. We're not talking about negotiation; we're talking about persuasion. Certainly, they're closely related, but as different as two siblings.

As a Certified Management Consultant and Futurist, part of my work is helping corporate leaders-present and future-prepare for what tomorrow's corporation will be. I suggest to you that today's coercion, directiveness, and team leadership will be supplanted by a new style of getting things done: persuasion. With a complicated web of independent contractors, contingent laborers, matrixed employees, and strategic partners, no one will be able to tell who is really in control. Therefore, the "control" will go to the people who are most persuasive. This book, and others like it, will become the textbooks for future success. And, of course, they'll sure help in today's world, too.

Roger Dawson is an internationally recognized expert in persuasion, negotiation, and helping people get what they want in life. There's a reason his books have been translated into ten languages and his audio program on negotiation is ranked as the largest-selling album in the history of business cassette publishing. This is a man to be listened to, to be read. His effectiveness is illustrated by examples from his own life.

The book's 27 chapters are organized into four sections: How to Play the Persuasion Game, Analyzing the Persuadee, How to Become a Power Persuader, and Learning Persuasion Techniques. The process begins with the aptly-titled introduction: "What This Book Can Do for You." Do you feel like the persuasion is starting already? Hang on!

Listen to some of the chapter headings to get a sense of what's in this book: Eight Magic Keys that Control People, How to Make Them Want to Die for You, How Scarcity Drives People Wild, The Power of Association: Tying Your Persuasion to Something Good, Bonding: The Magic Key to Persuasion, What Motivates the Other Person, You'll Never Forget Another Name, and Eight Ways to Persuade the Angry Person. Whew! This book really covers the subject, with practical, no-holds-barred advice. Even if you just read the Key Points to Remember at the end of each chapter, you'd get your money's worth.

Strengthen your position for today and tomorrow. Grab your highlighter and a pad to take notes. Absorb this book. Apply its teachings. Watch your life change.

Some of the topics in this book are just common-sense, some have been widely covered elsewhere and at much greater length (e.g. Cialdini's books on Influence), but all in all this is a lovely selection of the principles of persuasion and some case stories are very entertaining to read.

This book is information-rich, but there is still more you may want to learn to enhance your persuasive skills, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Hypnotic Language Patterns.

Roger Dawson's book, "Secrets of Power Persuasion" lacked secrets, power, and persuasion. I bought it with some anticipation, due to a positive recommendation by a colleague. Upon reflection, I can see why this colleague was excited and I should have been a bit more cautious with the recommendation.

I read the book and struggled the whole way through. Honestly, I put the book down before finishing the last chapter. I just could not invest anymore time in it. Mr. Dawson lacked the power to persuade me that what he offered were secrets, powerful or otherwise. Hogan and Cialdini have superior books on the subject and are very inviting to read.

Even as a book of introduction to the topic of persuasion I could not recommend this book.

I wasn't expecting much because I didn't seek out this
book... it just sort of appeared in my life.

I've read many books about persuasion and persuasive writing
and this is a good one. Dawson's style is easygoing and
straightforward.

of course if you are more persuaded by individuals with
academic credentials you'll want to read Hogan and Cialdini,
both of whom proudly display their PHDs.

Dawson, the guy is a salesman who made good and went into
speaking. No time for a PHD. Working class.

Part 3 focuses on charisma and how to develop it. Why
ignore that people buy from people they like? You can
practice all the sly persuasion wordplay you want and get
very Machiavellian, but in truth just working on
your charisma is a short-cut to getting what you want.

Excellent book. References to NLP only crop up at the
end. Dawson's techniques are all real-world tried-and-true
things you can apply to a wide range of situations. It's
not a book of principles really - it's a book of actual
methods.

As a school teacher, I don't read many business books but this one was so helpful to me. There was so much about persuasion that I didn't understand until I read this book. Now it's helping me in every area of my life. Perhaps this sounds trite, but I feel so much more powerful now that I understand the secrets in this book.

So far, I really like what I've read. The topics are on the day to day interactions we have with people, which doesn't require you to be a psychologist to practice the power of persuasion.

Simple, specific, and practical. Has a section on 'charisma'
too. Charisma actually is a gift. What author means is
giving people a good impression. This word charisma sounds
good.