Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior

The book is overall well written, and easily understandable. Even if you are new to psychology, like me. I gave the book five stars, because the book does what the title says. The author gives a general overview of the variables that have an effect on people, and explains how to influence them. The examples are from everyday life, and also due to the authors marketing background, from advertising and marketing. While reading, I realized, why I have been complying (or not complying) with other people's requests, and why I have failed (or succeeded) in influencing other people. After reading the book, I can definitely say, that I have a better understanding of the human behavior.To sum it up, a really good book, that definitely worth reading.

Great book! easy to understand, but a lot of information to store in your mind. That said, I highly recommend purchasing this book for anyone who is interested in using psychological principles in everyday life.

This easy read book is for those who want some really good ideas and understanding of the psychology to influence human behavior. It is not intended to teach people blatant manipulation in the dark sense.He has a 7 step method and what is entertaining is he uses the techniques in his text, then back tracks that. There are tons of references if you like that info.I would read more of his books.

This is a fascinating book. Kolenda’s background as a “mind reader” / mentalist (think Derren Brown), coupled with his academic background in marketing and psychology means that he comes at persuasion / behavioural economics / neuromarketing from a different angle to most other authors.Many other books on persuasion are often verbose and difficult to mine for practical applications in the marketing arena. Kolenda takes the bold step of laying the book out into a seven step chronologic process which provide the framework for persuading someone to perform a specific task.The first four sections are all about preparing the subject to receive your “message” - getting the subject into the right frame of mind to receive your message, eliciting the correct attitude from them, using social pressure to re-enforce your message and normalising your request. Sections five and six deal with delivering the message - optimising it for maximum effect and motivating the subject to receive it. The final chapter covers how to sustain the message. Each section is backed up by real-world research and academic study, with great discussion on how to harness appropriate cognitive biases to nudge people towards your desired outcome.The techniques and approaches laid out over the seven sections can be applied to many different situations, but as a marketing professional I can see endless applications here - advertising (print, PPC, radio, TV), email campaigns, content and social media strategy, website and landing page design, etc. - and across all of them more effective propositions, calls to action and copywriting.Highly recommended.

Nick shares some valuable information, and his writing style is clear and concise.