ACTIVATE PERSUASION TRIGGERS

to affect people’s unconscious response to your ideas

People often resort to persuasion “triggers”—mental shortcuts—when deciding how to respond to a proposal.
Understand these triggers, and you can activate them in your favor—winning support for your ideas.

CONTRAST LIKING RELATIONSHIP

To activate the Contrast trigger,
create a benchmark to "anchor"
the judgments of the person you
need to persuade. Many salespeo-
ple do this by first showing the
most expensive item in a product
line. This makes a mid-priced item
seem much more affordable.
To activate the Liking trigger, create
bonds with others by informally
discovering common interests such
as music, children, pets, or sports.
Demonstrate your liking for others
by expressing genuine compliments
and making positive statements
about their ideas, solutions, abilities,
and qualities.
To activate the Relationship trigger,
point out the length of your connec-
tion with the person you want to
persuade. Note things like “We’ve
been at this together for three years.”
Identify shared interests, experiences,
and goals. Sprinkle your messages
with words like “we,” “our,” and “us.”

RECIPROCITY SOCIAL PROOF COMMITMENT & CONSISTENCY

To activate the Reciprocity trigger,
give before you ask. In considering
what to give, look for solutions that
meet other individuals' interests and
needs as well as your own.
To activate the Social Proof trigger, To activate the Commitment and
make a connection—yourself, your Consistency trigger, make others'
organization, your product—to commitments voluntary, public,
individuals and organizations admired and documented.
by those you’re seeking to persuade.

AUTHORITY
To activate the Authority trigger,
make sure the people you want to
persuade are aware of the source of
your authority.
SCARCITY
To activate the Scarcity trigger, use
exclusive information to persuade.

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