How influence psychology can double or even triple your selling and persuasion results

I tend to think of Influence Psychology as operating from three perspectives: Social Influence, Linguistic Influence and Personal Influence.

Firstly, there are the psychological principles that affect each and every one of us. I call this Social Influence.

The second perspective relates to how language affects us profoundly, (at least when it's used well). I term this Linguistic Influence.

Finally, we are all individuals and have the capability of perceiving the same communication in totally different ways. To avoid these errors in translation we need to understand Personal Influence Psychology.



Social Influence Psychology

No one in the world has studied influence more than Dr Robert Cialdini of Arizona State University in the United States.

In his groundbreaking book " Influence " Dr Cialdini shared the results of some of his, and others, experiments that tested the effectiveness of various psychological principles as strategies to gain compliance.

Dr. Cialdini identified six psychological principles that were universal and so powerful that they generated desirable change in the widest range of circumstances.

Some of these principles, when used appropriately, were able to increase the likelihood of a positive response by up to 600%. With that sort of impact on your ability to persuade it would be wise to study Dr Cialdini's work.

These are the principals of Social Influence.

Social Influence Psychology summarised.



Linguistic Influence

There is little doubt that any one of us can be profoundly affected by well chosen and well delivered words.

Look at how people like Ghandi, Kennedy, Hitler, Churchill and Martin Luther King Jr. were able to alter the course of history with their words.

No wonder Rudyard Kipling said, "Words are the most powerful drug used by mankind"

Let's look at some Power Words



Personal Influence Psychology

People think, feel, act and talk based on their individual perception of the world.

That perception can be similar to someone else's but unlikely to be identical.

That perception of the world occurs as individuals filter their day to day experience through their: beliefs, values, language and the environment they live in. These filters develop over time based on a person's experiences. (i.e. their history.)

Our brains are, after all, pattern-seeking devices and as time goes by they detect what patterns serve us well and those that do not, (hopefully this is the case). These patterns, which include our beliefs and values, then become part of our psyche and have a strong influence on our every response to the environment.

Some of these thought patterns operate at a very unconscious level. We are at least aware of some of our beliefs and values but very few people are aware of the unconscious filters I call Personal Influence patterns.