Admit it. We like people to buy into our ideas and beliefs. We like to know that we are right and when others agree, it validates your value and intelligence. We constantly persuade people intentionally and unintentionally. Sales people persuade others to buy; marketers persuade audiences to like; you persuade your boss to give you a raise. There is no way we can deny that persuasion is the modern killing-skill to play in anyone’s career. Yet there are some who seem to have this skill mastered a lot better than others. Fortunately, we have curated a selection of books for you to step up your persuasion game and take what is yours.
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, every day more than fifteen million people earn their keep by persuading someone else to make a purchase. This book is about human behaviour, motivation, and about how EVERYONE “sells”.
To Sell Is Human reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it’s no longer “Always about Closing”), and explains why extraverts don’t make the best salespeople. Pink gives practical frameworks and theories to closing the deal. The book is incredibly informative, and is recommended for everyone who has a job or even any kind of relationship with that involves some form of persuasion.
Reading duration: 3hrs 51mins
Get To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others from Amazon at $12.87
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
What is a sticky idea? It is an idea that is so impressive the audience can remember and adopt. In the book Made to Stick, the authors offer six principles to developing a sticky idea. Readers are encouraged to think about a big idea and test with these six principles that include simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotions and stories.
The book itself adopted the principles, providing a lot of stories (examples) from the non-profit sector, how these organisations work hard to spread the message across, including examples of charities which used the mother-Teresa effect.
Reading duration: 4hrs 7mins
Get Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die from Amazon at $14.31
Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Robert B. Cialdini, Steve J. Martin
Small changes can make a big difference in your powers of persuasion. While we believe human communication is a form of social science, the book tries to decipher human persuasion with science and provide us with practical tricks to be more persuasive.
The authors pointed out researchers who studied persuasion have uncovered a series of hidden rules for moving people in your direction. Here is the sneak peek to some of his principles to persuasive expressions – Reciprocation (mirroring what others do can increase liking); and scarcity, we all know the effect of the “Last piece” on all shopaholics. The book offers more of these useful scientific findings that are easily applicable to the daily conversation and even in a business setting.
Reading duration: 3hrs 52mins
Get Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive from Amazon at $5.76
Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy
This cannot be a persuasive booklist without a slight touch from the advertising giant David Ogilvy. Although this read was written decades ago and contains information that may be considered outdated (especially since advertising has been evolving and with the emergence of the internet), a lot of it is still sound and relevant. Examples in the books are all classic, well-known advertisements/campaigns, including the Got Milk campaign.
Advertising is the industry of persuasion, and we certainly can take away a lot of tips from this billion revenue industry to apply to our business persuasion.
Reading duration: 3hrs 10mins
Get Ogilvy on Advertising from Amazon at $21.47
Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Contagious is the book to look for if you need an alternative to traditional advertisements. Berger offers insights into the most powerful free promotion ever – word of mouth.
Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumours more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
The award-winning read combines real business stories with consumer behaviour psychology to support how you can persuade your customers to buy certain products, essentially revealing the secrets to businesses that can successfully create word of mouth among its customers as a free promotion. This is certainly a book to read for people aiming to grow their businesses and get noticed among the crowd without spending big money.e
Reading duration: 3hrs 37mins
Get Contagious: Why Things Catch On from Amazon at $7.77
