7 Secrets of Persuasion

CONCLUSION

The secrets of persuasion are effective because they address the lizard inside: our automatic, nonconscious mental system. We know now this automatic system affects all our choices and is the sole influence in many. But we learned this only recently.

In the past, the theory of persuasion had focused on the us we are familiar with: the reflective mental system, the only mental system available to consciousness. The theory emphasized factual information, reasoning, and an orderly flow from information to attitude to behavior.

However, successful practitioners of persuasion—from the ancient rhetoricians, to modern, expert salespeople like Dale Carnegie and Bill Bernbach—didn’t let the theory of persuasion stop them from doing what they ...