Psychology Project on Persuasion

Presented By

The Hypnotechs Group no. 3

F.Y.B.M.M.

Group No 3 (The Hypnotechs)

Names: Amit Gawande Sheel Aurangabadkar Janmejay Singh Minal Anand Zobar Rizvi Akshita Rao Richard

Roll No: 12 04 18 02 43 42 30

Acknowledgements
OUR SINCERE THANKS GO TO RUMINA MAM WHO GUIDED US EVERY INSTANT IN COMPLETING THIS PROJECT. WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK ALL THOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, WHOSE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK HELPED US COMPLETE THIS PROJECT. MOST IMPORTANTLY THANKS TO OUR PARENTS, AND GOD WHO PROVIDED US WITH THE RESOURCES FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE PROJECT.

THE HYPNOTEC HS

Index
I. Introduction
Persuasion Magic or Science The two Routes to Successful Persuasion Persuasion effect: The 4 patterns Of Influence

II. Thoughtful Persuasion

1.

The three types of Influencers

2. How to i. Build Trust and sell experience ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii.
III.

Use Personality type to persuade Give words added impact Win peoples heart and mind Structure and Packaging Target the groups Outwit your opponents

Mindless Persuasion Some Triggers of Automatic Influence

IV. Conclusion The Icons of Influence of the Twentieth century Bibliography

Persuasion - Magic, or Science?

Aristotle said "Rhetoric is the art of discovering, in a particular case, the available means of persuasion." But Persuasion has often been believed to be a dark magic, practiced by Businessmen and Advertisers. Another fear induced in people was their belief that they were being subliminally persuaded. This fear was propagated by a Canadian professor Mr. William Bryan Key. He claimed that messages such as Buy this product were being flashed across the screen for 1/3000 th of a second, to quick for the human eye to see but subliminally convincing the customers to buy their product. Seducing Ourselves A lot of people believe that they are immune to persuasion. If we pause to consider, the hundreds of commercials, topped by the speeches of the politicians and so on and on do persuade us, and one can hardly resist the persuasion after some time. The most easily flattered are the self centred people, who are fooled by messages such as, dont follow the crowd, you are unique. Join us. And this rebel worship group is easiest to persuade and ever the target of advertisers. But what has to be understood is that Persuasion is neither black magic, nor the work of cheap tricksters. It is a versatile art that aims at understanding human psychology and using the skill to persuade others to your thinking, or however you wish them to think. And persuasion requires no defence, except to understand what persuasion is. Because the price for our being nave is too high. Because sometimes our persuasion can lead to years of war. Because if persuasion reaches the superego, there is no escape. This has been approached even in movies such as Psycho (By Alfred Hitchcock).

Thoughtful Persuasion, Mindless Influence The Two Routes to Successful Persuasion

One responds to persuasive messages in two ways, thoughtfully and mindlessly. When thoughtful, we carefully consider what the persuader is trying to express and weigh the odds of considering his offer by asking more questions and asking for more information. But when being persuaded mindlessly, our focus is not on the topics, and we rely more on our instincts, or reactions of our friends etc. It is easier to persuade anybody who is mindless towards persuaders.

Persuasion effect - The four patterns of Influence

Management professor Charles Margerison identified four conversation patterns that occur when people try to influence each other. 1. Persuasion Effect The First pattern is called the persuasion effect. In this case, one side successfully persuades the other people to agree to their position. 2. Negotiation Effect If a person does not accept your persuasion totally, you begin to negotiate. In a typical negotiation, you give a little, and get a little from them. Skilled persuaders manage to negotiate from a position of strength, or advantageously. 3. Fixation Effect Fixation takes place when both sides take up fixed positions and refuse to move, regardless of what the other side says. 4. Polarization effect Polarization occurs when the gap increases the more you talk. This usually occurs when both sides unfairly attack the others position.

THOUGHTFUL PERSUASION
Foxes, Bloodhounds, and Donkeys The Three Types of Influencers
FOXES Foxes are cunning, ruthless and competitive. They do not lose any opportunity to manipulate others. For them, life is a competition, they win and you lose. BLOODHOUNDS Bloodhounds are of the detective breed. They can turn any situation to their advantage. For them the opportunity is not good or bad, but just for mutual gain. They are very cautious and think in long term relationships. DONKEYS Donkeys lack in self confidence. They have the ability to turn a winwin situation into a lose-lose situation. They spoil everything and lack skill and techniques to manage a situation properly. TURNING DONKEYS INTO BLOODHOUNDS Yes, you can turn donkeys into bloodhounds through education, persuasion, knowledge and training. But those donkeys who are rigid and dont want to see through the worlds eye, then they will remain donkeys forever. TURNING FOXES INTO BLOODHOUNDS Foxes fall into two groups. One are those who are over-ambitious but do not have the ability to turn a win-lose haggle into a win-win agreement. This group can be converted but with intensive training. The second group of foxes may be irredeemable. These foxes lack trust, are selfish and they delight when they win and you lose. The only solution to convert them is a character transplant.

How to build trust and sell expertise

"To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Increasing Trust While Decreasing Bias

Researchers into persuasion have also discovered ways you can increase a person's apparent trust worthiness while decreasing the apparent bias of a message. One technique is to make sure the target person or audience is absolutely convinced that the person doing the speaking is not trying to persuade them. Suppose a property investment broker calls you with a hot tip on a newly listed property. Will you purchase the property? It depends. You might see the broker as an expert and this might induce you to buy, or you could see the broker as biased, given that he or she stands to make a sizeable commission .But suppose you accidentally overhear your broker telling a colleague about a property just listed. Because the broker was not trying to influence you, you are very likely to be convinced.

Selling Expertise
Once trust has been established, it is much easier to build the second pillar of credibility expertise. This is best appreciated by McKinsey's, the world's most profitable management consultancy group. In 1995, McKinsey's earned $1.5 billion in fees. Since1980, the McKinsey staff has churned out over fifty books. In 1981, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, McKinsey consultants, produced a book from a McKinsey internal research project describing the practices of America's best companies. The book In Search of Excellence leaped onto the best-seller list. The Three Levels of Credibility 1) At the first level, you have to build your personal credibility. 2) At the second level, you have to sell the credibility of your ideas. 3) At the third level, you have to sell the credibility of the organization you represent. To be successful in persuasion, you normally have to be effective on all three levels.

PERSUASION BY PERSONALITY TYPES

Reading the other person and using personality types to persuade is an art that borders on the science! Scholars of Personality Type have found that our behaviour is surprisingly predictable and have identified a number of personality types into which we all fit. The idea of personality type goes back over seventy years to the work of Swiss psychologist Carl. A knowledge of Personality Type helps you: Identify how the people you want to persuade like to be persuaded Identify what kind of information the people you want to convince take notice of and remember Identify how the people you want to influence make decisions Talk your clients' or audience's language Quickly build the rapport required for successful persuasion. With this information, it's so much easier for a professional persuader to tailor his or her presentation to meet the other person's precise needs.

Decision making or reaching conclusions.

When it comes to making a decision, 'thinkers' are driven by facts, logic, and reason. They like to weigh the pros and cons of an issue. If the facts point to the need for a tough decision, so be it even if it means upsetting or hurting the feelings of others. On the other hand, 'feelers' make decisions keeping in mind the emotions or feelings of others who will be affected. For feelers, all feelings are important, and decisions should be made based on both facts and sympathy. Feelers are persuaded more by a strong emotional call than cold, hard logic. If the thinker can be described as head over heart, the feeler can be described as heart over head.

Resolving Issues - those who judge and those who perceive

Judgers prefer to make decisions quickly. They like to be decisive; uncertainty and indecision create anxiety. On the other hand, when it comes to making decisions, perceivers prefer to keep their options open. They prefer to hold off decisions until they absolutely have to make them. Judgers like to be in control; they like stepping in and taking charge. Perceivers are much more happy than judgers to let others take charge and run the show. Judgers are likely to believe a "cluttered desk indicates a cluttered mind"; a perceiver believes an "empty desk is the symbol of an empty mind. The key when persuading is to remember different Personality Types prefer to be persuaded in different ways. As a persuader, you are not going to know the Personality Type of everyone you want to convince. However, most people reveal enough clues through their behaviour to allow you to approximately match your style to their preferences.

First Impression, Best Impression The Art of Image Management

First impressions as they say, are last impressions. Nothing could be further from the truth. Never judge a book be its cover, is another idiom that we have been brought up with. Alas, in every facet of our lives, we have fallen prey to forming opinions based on first impressions. Politicians are very aware of this universal personality trait, as we could say! President Roosevelt, a polio patient, campaigned from cars and trains. He never allowed himself to be photographed in his wheelchair. Out of a total of 35,000 photographs in the presidential library, only 2 show Roosevelt in a wheelchair. . When you add the visual and vocal components together, you are left with the conclusion that nonverbal communication accounts for 93 percent of the impact of a message. By contrast, the verbal component accounts for just 7 percent of the impact; it was calculated in an extensive study. However, those figures have been discredited as "exaggerated and suspect" by top nonverbal scholars. The saying, "It's not what you say; it's how you say it" is at best a half-truth. The relative impact of nonverbal and verbal communication is very dependent upon the persuasive context and therefore varies dramatically from presentation to presentation. At a social function, the impact of body language will be allimportant. The actual message will be of minimal importance. During an important presentation, the message will often be of critical importance. In information-heavy presentations, the content is often more important than the body language. When we meet someone for the first time, we do the following: Scan their face and eyes. Look at their body. Examine what they are wearing. Listen to their tone of voice. Shake their hands, if appropriate. Listen to their words. If you don't connect with your first impression, you may never connect. The saying, ''You don't get a second chance to make a first impression" has some

scientific basis. Research shows it takes just two minutes to make your first impression; within four minutes people have made up their minds and the initial impressions are locked in. It can take six to eight meetings to overcome a bad initial impression. First impressions can undoubtedly mislead us. Both Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain didn't take Adolf Hitler seriously at first. Why? Hitler's posturing, absurd little moustache, and slicked-down hair made him look stupid. In the same way, Bill Gates was probably underrated by some of his early competitors because of his "nerd" or "geek" appearance.

The Art of Image Management

In today's world of visual media, few professional persuaders leave image management to chance. Virtually all of today's political leaders have been made over at some point. . Unlike politicians, chief executives don't have to monitor opinion polls, but they do have to watch their share price. ''The chief executive is the major determinant of the stock price," says leadership guru Warren Bennis. Hugh Zurkuhlen, analyst with Salomon Bros., Inc., says, "The short-term impact of a chief executive's personality on the stock price is incredible. . . . A CEO's presentation and personality have a lot to do with how analysts and portfolio managers view a company." Thus, we may conclude that while first impressions are important, they should not be the sole instrument to form lasting generalizations on any person or subject.

Power Talk! How to give words added impact

The most powerful persuaders are the ones who can control and manipulate words. The power talkers have many characteristics, such as affirmative language, assertiveness etc. When talking, they speak with confidence and skill. They talk with win-win based phrases. Another quality is that they speak decisively, hereby convincing by their straightforward and to the point manner. To be a good speaker one must also avoid fillers, hesitations and vagueness. They also avoid disclaimers, hedges and qualifiers. But a fact is that whatever you do, the person you are trying to convince wants to know what is the advantage for him in it all. So we must target the peoples wants and not just their needs. The attractive features of the product have to be utilized to the extreme. We also use the USP (unique selling proposition). That is, a feature of the product must seem as unique and is the target of the advertising. And most importantly, use attention grabbing words such as free, discount, new etc.

Winning Peoples Minds

How to structure and Package your message

The concept is simple K.I.S.S. Keep it short and simple. Most presenters overwhelm the audience with massive information, which they do not even manage to absorb, let alone remember. This is also the secret behind advertisers who focus not on massive data, but a simple, direct, catchy punch line and focus on it for advertising. At the most, three to five points are enough. The most brilliant speeches in history have been short, to the point and presented with control and dexterity. The slogan of Do or Die by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was simple, coherent, and appealed to the masses. Another trick is the two-part contrast such as old/new etc. Such contrasts have been very successful, such as to be or not to be, that is the question in the play Hamlet by Shakespeare. It has also been observed that information is extraordinary compelling in groups of three. A large number of slogans have gone down in historys pages, like of the people, for the people, by the people by Abraham Lincoln. The best method to structure your argument is to revolve it around a single theme. The theme will be the body for crux of the argument. A deep rooted secret is to keep your main message at the beginning or end of the presentation. Information around the middle is quickly forgotten. We should speak first if the audience is to consider our message at a later date. But if the decision has to be immediate speak last. Another trick is to grab the audiences attention with a dynamic beginning. And the end has to be strong. The evidence has to be carefully chosen, from credible sources, individual case study, specific facts, fresh information etc. Dont expect to persuade the audience immediately. Keep repeating exposures, but always stress on the central point. And to conclude, dont ignore attacks from rivals. A defensive argument and an efficient rebuke should come immediately. This should be done by expressing respect for your rivals then persuading with the rebuttal.

How to Target and Influence Different Groups

1. Identify who in the audience you really have to win over. Identify which subgroup has the most power; identify which subgroup has the numbers. Then concentrate your efforts on the groups that count. 2. Where possible, appeal to the different groups in your audience with different parts of your message. Look for creative ways to influence each subgroup by offering each of them a different reward. Look at a typical snack food commercial: It promises kids a great taste while reassuring parents that the snack is healthy and nutritious. 3. Don't promise "everything to everyone.'' If there are groups in your audience with competing sub agendas, you may end up alienating everyone. One of the easiest ways to discredit a politician is to show that he or she is making conflicting promises to different groups. The politician who one day tells farmers she supports farm subsidies and the next day tells factory workers she supports lower food prices can easily lose the trust of both groups. Setting Realistic and Achievable Goals many persuaders make the mistake of trying to achieve too much.

Strategy Pure and Simple

The Intensify/Downplay Strategy

How to Outthink and Outwit your opponents

The persuaders have following ways of achieving their aims. They can Intensify their strong points. Such as highlighting the features of that which they want to promote. And they intensify their opponents weakness. They also downplay their own weakness And lastly they downplay their opponents strengths

Tactics of Intensification
Repetition The best way to intensify good or bad features about a product or person is to repeat the same idea over and over again Association Associating a person with a certain idea is a powerful tactic. Say animal experimenters are associated with cruelty and inhumanity. Composition One of the easiest ways to intensify a message is to change the physical makeup of the message.

Tactics of Downplaying
Omission Omission is simply leaving out damaging information. The result is that we have half truths or biased evidence. Diversion It is just shifting the focus of attention from your weakness or your opponents strengths. Confusion The final way to downplay your weakness or your opponents strength is to create confusion. This is done using jargon, complicating simple issues etc.

Mindless Persuasion
The Triggers of Automatic Influence
As we already know, the mindless persuasion is when people do not think while responding. Humans are by nature lazy or dont want to think needlessly. They resort to simple logic to avoid thinking. Our minds are programmed to mindlessly refuse reasonless persuasion requests, but when a reason is given, we get persuaded without actually considering the reason.

The following are some triggers for instant influence:

Reciprocation Commitment and Consistency Authority Scarcity Liking

Reciprocation - The Law of Give-and-Take

The reciprocation rule states that we should repay in kind what someone has given us: If a friend does us a favor, we feel obligated to pay him or her back. Hare Krishna temples and communes set up in 1960 was able to spread globally within a decade because, they discovered one of society's most powerful persuasion techniques a weapon that was able to overcome the Krishnas appalling negative image and induce the public to make generous donations. The persuasion weapon was the reciprocation rule.

Power of reciprocation
Reciprocation rule is very powerful, it can make us accept request from the people we dislike .Politicians are very much aware of this fact and they use this techniques to hold or to gain their voter bank. Salesmens are one of the experts in implementing these techniques, a door-knocking Fuller Brush salesmen gave householders a small, cheap brush as a gift before beginning their sales pitch.

Reciprocation and Negotiation

You don't get what you deserve in life, you get what you negotiate. Anonymous The reciprocation rule controls the compromise process that is central to most negotiations. The great majority of books on negotiation urge their readers to start with a small concession and then wait for the other side to reciprocate. The implicit request is, "I've made a concession; now it's your turn.''

Commitment and Consistency

A remarkable nature of people is that once they make a commitment, they experience a powerful urge to be consistent in their commitment. For example, if a student or group of students have committed themselves to cleaning whatever garbage they see in their college campus, they would continue the act consistently for all the years of their college life. This example also leads to an observation, that greater our effort, more committed we become. Amongst other things, one may also observe that public commitments are usually stronger than private commitment. One tends to hold fast to the commitments made in front of other people. Another secret of powerful persuasion is to get a commitment in writing. Apart from being legal proof, it has a deep-seated psychological impact, and people almost subconsciously tend to waver less from their commitments they make in writing. But the largest danger people face is that once they commit themselves, they get entrapped by it. The psychological force in their commitment is almost super-egoistic, and they find it hard to wriggle out of any wrong commitment. Finally, it can be considered that Commitment is an art of persuasion too, and has to be used wisely and positively.

Authority - The influence of Position

The Milgram Studies
These were experiments conducted by Professor Stanley Milgram at Yale university. The purpose of the experiment was to see how far people are influenced by their sense of duty to authority. It was discovered that a large part of the adults would go extraordinary lengths to obey command from a legitimate authority. From the experiment we draw the conclusion that we should challenge authority when its used arbitrarily or dangerously. And logically, one should reinforce the authority that comes from ones position based on expertise and competence. For example, a police person should use his rank within the society to make sure that at least around him no one breaks the law or does anything damaging to the society. Lastly, an appropriate dress is required to support ones profession. For example, we would look more professional, authoritative and hence persuasive if we come in a business suit than if we come in casuals. To conclude, authority is like a glowing beacon of power. Used properly, it can lighten up our future by helping us in the present.

Scarcity - The Rule of the Rare

The Scarcity Principle
In essence, the scarcity principle says we value what is scarce. When we discover that something is scarce or may be unavailable, one of our first thoughts is that it must also be valuable. Potatoes haven't always been a popular food staple: In the late 1700s, the French associated potatoes with leprosy; the Germans considered potatoes were only good as cattle fodder.It took the guile of Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, to turn this negative perception around. She ordered her men to enclose the potato fields with high fences. Her soldiers then posted large notices throughout the countryside warning the populace not to steal potatoes.It were a brilliant psychological ploy. As soon as the potatoes became unavailable, the scarcity principle took hold and the popularity of potatoes suddenly soared. The scarcity principle works best when things we have and value suddenly become scarce. Moreover, we want things most when we have to compete for them. Competing for Resources .Anyone who has stood in line when department stores hold a sale should understand how these retailers create a competitive frenzy. Usually they offer some phenomenal deals on a few prominently advertised loss leaders. Caught up by the promotion, shoppers rush to buy items they would usually ignore.

LIKING
We always do something or the other just to please our friends even when we dont want to do it. For example, when you attend a party and your host tries to sell you something you buy it not only because you might like the product but also because you want to please your friend and host. Controlled research has identified amongst several factors that increase liking are similarity and praise. When you find something similar with others you like them more as you bond better with them. In business and politics, the best referrals are usually friends of the person you want to influence. This helps you to get your influence quietly penetrate from them as well. For example, if someone tells you of a new housing policy, you are less likely to trust him than the word of your friend, who says that the policy is actually good. Another approach is to emphasize the similarities you share with the person you want to influence. This helps by giving a personal side to the persuasion. It is wise to look for areas where you can work and socialize together. But be cautious of taking a strong stand on a controversial topic. The people whom we like usually share our ideals and morals. Discover, identify the areas wherever praise is possible, and focus on the areas where it is legitimate. For example, if a person is very good at managing the commercial aspect of any business, compliment him, and praise him in different ways yet focusing on the same topic.

Icons Of Influence -

The most influential persuaders of twentieth century

The twentieth century saw seven great political persuaders Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Roosevelt, Churchill, Gandhi and Hitler. All these leaders have been remarkable in their respective fields, especially the incredible way in which they convinced the masses to follow them loyally, and unwaveringly. The great democratic leaders have to be great persuaders, especially because they have to get approval of the public before taking any decisions. The presence of Hitler, Stalin and Lenin amongst the great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi might seem stunning, but even Hitler performed the incredible by getting the entire Germany unified. He of course played on the racial pride of the Germans and their dislike of Jews, but his persuasion has left the world shaken even till today. Again, Bapu (i.e. Mahatma Gandhi) did the unbelievable by using non violence as his ideology in a country simmering with violent fury against the British. But if we consider the finer aspects, what he did was not magic either. He used all the basic needs in his ideas, the clothes, the salt, love for truth and loyalty to nation. His appearance was also aimed at a certain crowd, the poor masses of India, largely suffering due to poverty. Gandhiji had all the features that a persuader requires language, liking, conformity, commitment, reciprocation and contrast (due to his totally new concept of using truth and peace as weapons). Moving to Roosevelt and Churchill, they too were awesome persuaders. And yet Roosevelt was a better persuader because he was consistent, efficient, and managed to survive throughout, winning four elections. But here we cannot ignore the other side, because even though Churchill lost maximum elections, yet he was the beacon of hope for Britain when they needed him, and he proved his skills as persuader by managing to gain help from America during the second world war. To conclude, all we can do is to emulate the great leaders while sustaining our ethics.

Bibliography
1. Harry Mills - Artful Persuasion 2. Robert Cialdini - Influence Science and Practice 3. Joseph R. Plazo - Mastering the art of persuasion iinfluence and Seduction 4. Morgan n king - Introduction to Psychology
5.

www.persuasiontoday.com

6. Harvard book review Robert Cialdini

Thank You PROJECT CONCLUDED

By The Hypnotechs Group no. 3 BMM Bhavans College