Customer Reviews

Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

5 star:		(92)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you haven't read "Influence" by Robert Cialdini then I would strongly recommend skipping this one for now and starting with that one. Cialdini's original book was one of the best psychology books I have ever read. This one is more like a sequel and like most sequels, it is not as good. In Cialdini's "Influence", he talks about 6 weapons of influence:

1) Reciprocity
2) Liking
3) Social Proof
4) Authority
5) Scarcity
6) Commitment and Consistency

This book consists of 50 short chapters where these weapons are at work. Very entertaining and insightful, but I felt that the authors violated some of their own advice by having so many chapters and not organizing them in any particular way. For example, the chapters each demonstrated one of the weapons of influence at work and perhaps the book should have been organized more formally into 6 parts with each part representing one of the weapons. I was very entertained but I am not sure if the book will have any long lasting educational value unlike "Influence".

This is a quick read and I highly recommend it AFTER you have read Cialdini's "Influence".

Much like the Dale Carnegie classic, one could consider this the scientific version with current and updated studies and field tested facts. Though many will probably purchase this book primarily due to Robert Cialdini's authorship based on his polymath classic "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion", I had to rate this book (in my view a sequel) at only 3 stars. This somewhat lower grade is mainly due to the fact that it is very hard to surpass oneself after one has published a masterpiece (no disrespect to the other co-authors). Regardless, this book still holds its own and the stories are fast moving with heavy doses (50 to be exact) of social influences, such as:

1) Social Proof Studies
2) Reciprocation Tendency
3) Authority Respecting
4) Commitment & Consistency Response
5) Scarcity Reaction, and
6) The Liking & Loving Response

If you have previously read Influence, you will like this book. If you have not, this book is a good introductory start on the subject matter of social influences. If one really likes this subject and wants to pursue it in more depth, please also refer to other fine books on the subject such as, How We Know What Isn't So (very good), Mean Markets and Lizard Brains (Hidden Gem), The Psychology of Judgment & Decision Making (Classic), or Poor Charlie's Almanack (Charlie's Insights). Good reading and enjoy :)

That's this book. Just like chocolate cake. Rich with loads of wisdom. Each chapter is only a few pages long but you get told what you need to know, clearly and without a lot of pointless throat clearing. Get the goods on social proof(people do what the majority do even if it is bad; the Petrified Forest in Arizona plastered the park with signs saying that many people removed wood pieces and that was bad only to find theft bumping upwards;change the signs to show those who take the pieces are isolated individuals and theft spirals downward); understand that you must value your contribution or its value will be lost(do a favor for a colleague and she says thanks and you say your welcome and there is zip value; tell her you are glad to do it because it helps with her business development efforts and thus she remembers, don't and its useless history to her; you value it, she won't); understand that people act consistently with their affirmative commitments, not their silent agreement( restaurants that ask people to call if they need to cxl a reserfvation don't get co-operation but those who ask a question, "Will you agree to call if you must cxl?"get loads of it); learn to take a negative and make it a positive(yes our products cost more than xyz firm, but they last longer; couple the negative with a positive that relates to or negates the negative). There is lots more. All of it good stuff. I don't care for the title but this is the way business books should be---short, to the point and useful. Sweet.

I'm not quite sure what the premise of this book was, but its primary content is derived from Robert Cialdini's groundbreaking book, "Influence." It is essentially comprised of short 2-4 page "chapters" which condense many of the principles in "Influence" and serve them to the reader in small samplings that merely scratch the surface of the various topics - unlike "Influence" which goes into much greater depth; complete with anecdotes, statistics, analysis, and field research. Overall, I'd have to say no, to Yes!

I do not enjoy reading. I loved this book. Very straight forward, easy to follow, scientifically proven ways to get what you want. Some of this you already know, you just have never thought about it in a context that made sense. I very rarely review anything, much less a book, but this book is going to make me a better communicator, a smarter businessman, and possibly...RICH. By all means, get this book if you want to make it through when others wont.

In 1984, social psychologist Robert Cialdini published Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. He did his research by studying car salesmen, Hari Krishnas, telemarketers, and other master persuaders, cataloguing the tricks of their trade and distilling the underlying psychological principles. The result was a field guide on how to apply -- or resist -- the bait-and-switch, the lowball, the reciprocity effect, and the other tools of the persuasive class. An instant classic, the book is still taught in Psych 101 courses everywhere. Now, in Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive, Cialdini -- along with his research collaborators Noah J. Goldstein and Steve J. Martin -- revisits the same terrain, bringing to bear the latest advances in the science of mind. As it turns out, the laws of influence don't work the way we think. Take social proof -- the fact that when we see other people doing something, we want to do it, too. It's why product testimonials work so well. But it also explains why some marketing campaigns backfire: One anti-littering campaign bears the slogan, "This year Americans will produce more litter and pollution than ever before." By communicating that littering is common, these ads actually make the problem worse. For the same reason, a sign warning that a national park was threatened because so many people were removing pieces of petrified wood resulted in a tripling of the rate at which people stole. Presented in short, engaging chapters, each illustrating one principle of persuasion, the book is filled with similarly jaw-dropping insights. It also provides concrete suggestions on how to harness this wisdom in real-life situations. Like Influence before it, Yes! will no doubt prove indispensable for anyone curious about the art of persuasion.

Another great book on the subject is The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book

This is Dr. Cialdini's most important publication since Influence: Science and Practice.

Based on real research, not merely anecdotal evidence. Its scientific conclusions are the basis for a whole new branch of psychology. Neuro-Linguistic Programming students, take notice. You could model these techniques.

This is essential reading for all marketers, sales people, lawyers, business owners -- anyone who wants and needs to understand ethical persuasion and negotiation.

Not to be missed!

I found Dr Cialdini's book to be a must read for me. I am in the sales field and have struggled at times with trying to be both ethical and sales driven at the same time. In today's world where people believe that the ends justify the means, it's wondeful to learn techniques that make me more sucessful while allowing me to keep my principals in tact.

I've been waiting for a new Cialdini book for so long! I picked this up the very first day I could and I'm glad I did. This is an easy read with lots of useful information that can be easily applied to any field. A great follow-up read to Influence: Science and Persuasion.

I read Robert Cialdini's book, "Influence" many years ago and found it to be fascinating. This book is a kind of dumbed down version of that book. I liken it to the "How to Pick Up Beautiful Women Even If You're Fat and Ugly" type books. It has 50 chapters each with a little vignette about how to influence or persuade people to your point of view.

It's not awful. It's not great. It is a quick read.