I came across this post which talks about this book called Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. Even though the context is business-oriented, it’s still good to know and apply these persuasive skills in life. If you want to know a little more details of one of these points, check out the post I mentioned before.

1. Inconvenience the audience by creating an impression of product scarcity.
2. Introduce herd effect in highly personalized form.
3. Ads quoting negative behavior en masse reinforces negative behavior.
4. Avoiding magnetic middle.
5. Too many options necessitate selection, and hence frustration, when brain decides it’s unnecessary work.
6. Giving away the product makes it less desirable.
7. A more expensive product makes the old version look like a value buy.
8. If a call to action is motivated by fear, people will block it, unless call to action has specific steps.
9. A small gift makes people want to reciprocate.
10. Hand-written Post-It note improves response rate on inter-office letters.
11. How restaurant mints are a personalized affair.
12. Attaching no strings increases response to the message.
13. As time goes by, the value of a favor increases in the eyes of the favor-giver, and decreases in the eyes of the favor-receiver.
14. Asking for small favors changes self-perception, introducing ways for big favors.
15. Labeling people into a social group tends to increase their participation ratio.
16. Asking people to substantiate their decision will lead to higher commitment rate on that decision.
17. Writing things down improves commitment.
18. The fact that circumstances changed allows people to change their viewpoints without being viewed as inconsistent.
19. Sometimes asking people for help makes them more open.
20. Asking for little goes a long way.
21. Lower starting prices attract higher bids.
22. How to impress a potential customer with credentials without being labeled as a show-off?
23. The danger of being the smartest person in the room.
24. Devil’s advocate example works with large organizations.
25. Negative examples are memorized better than positive examples.
26. Admitting negatives up-front might lead to better communication.
27. Spinning negative facts as positive allows customers to make a mental link towards the positive.
28. Admitting you’re wrong makes people trust you more.
29. Similarities raise the response rate.
30. People like the sound of their name, and that defines their vocation.
31. Verbalization helps interaction.
32. Just smiling makes for a poorer customer service.
33. People pay more for the stuff that’s about to disappear.
34. When people feel something is about to go away, they will stick to perception of the product being better than the new one.
35. “Because” makes any explanation rational.
36. Asking people to choose reasons themselves might backfire.
37. People like stocks with more pronounceable names.
38. Rhyming makes the phrases more convincing.
39. Amount of information is context-dependent.
40. Incentive programs need a good start.
41. Abstract names allow the customers to come up with reasoning.
42. Ad campaigns that do not incorporate brands tend to not be remembered.
43. Mirrors make people more self-conscious.
44. Negative emotions make people pay more.
45. Tired people tend to be more receptive to arguments.
46. Caffeine increases the argumentativeness of a strong argument.
47. Face time still beats e-mail time.
48. Individualism is perceived differently in many countries.
49. Notion of commitment among various cultures differ.
50. Response to voice mail differs among Americans and Japanese.