Psychology of Persuasion, The: How To Persuade Others To Your Way Of Thinking Hardcover – 31 May 1996

In the beginning of the book Kevin wanted me to do a self evaluation before I could read further. I put the book down. Not another self eval I thought. A few days later I thought well why not. So I unwillingly did the exercises with ease.I was surprised! It felt good that I knew enough about myself that I could breeze through the questions that I wrote in ink.Then I started to read the book. Wow! I'm glad the majority of people on earth don't know about this book! Yay for me! I want Kevin to have the sales, but shhhh don't tell anybody....This book is amazing!It makes me wonder if some of the self help guru took some of Kevin's words...Anyway this book is deep and full of examples. Where do I start?Well I guess I'll start with myself. Because of the psychology factor in the book I was able to get more of an idea of the type of person I am (Director/Analytical) but it's more than that.One of the points that stand out for me is the term "values." I've seen that word a lot in various self help books but for whatever reason I didn't "get it." The way Kevin explains it I got it.He says to ask questions to get the intel.Means values and ends values:Means values are objects or actions. Some of Kevins examples of means values include houses, cars, investments, computers, traveling, children, marriage etc. for me this was exciting intel.Ends values are the 'feelings associated with those means'. Some of Kevins examples are love, fun excitement, happiness, freedom, security, adventure health, power etc. a lite bulb went on in my head.This is important terms of understanding myself and others.There is soooo much more!I've read plenty marketing, copywriting, negotiation and self help books, but this book is a masterpiece that ties it all together.If you read this book first (several times) you will become a MP and everything else will fall into place!Excellent work Kevin Hogan!

J'aime ce livre ça prouve que c est un psychologue expérimenté et intelligent qu'il a écrit

Good book

This is definitely one of my better purchases. Insightful, well explained and presented with an excellent structure. And if that didn't warm the cockles of your heart - Kevin Hogan also approaches the idea of persuasion from a moral and positive PoV. His fundamental principle is 'WIN/WIN' - How to ensure a situaiton benefits both parties. A handy little thing to keep in the back of your mind... "am I benefitting enough for what I'm being requested?", "can I sway the other person with a more certain WIN?"So am I writing to tell you all how, using the tactics in this book, I single-handedly convinced the Government to put £1 million of tax-payers money towards Neopolitan ice cream? No. In fact, I've barely used the tactics at all (I may have used some without knowing, but that's not particularly helpful). I don't work in a field requiring selling/persuasion and generally aren't in a position where I need to persuade peers to my way of thinking... So why the glimmering review? What results could I possibly have seen? (After all, results are what matters with books like these - it's all well having a nice theory, but it needs to work!)Simple - I have saved myself a ton of time, money and hassle by spotting the times when these very same tactics are being used against me.Y'see - Even if you don't intend to use the tactics for your own purposes, it pays off to arm yourself with this knowledge. Knowing how the media, con artists and companies will attempt to sway you, will allow you to become resistent to their tricks and spot them before you end up signing your life away... something well worth the price of the book.To read this is a bit like equipping yourself with a 'persuasion radar'... you suddenly start becoming aware of tricks being used against you. Even if you cannot identify them immediately, you still get a funny feeling telling that something's wrong. I've had it several times, where I've rejected a seemingly logical and fair deal because something didn't sit right. On referring to the book later on, I generally found it was one of the tactics - almost word for word.So whilst I can't accurately comment on the effectiveness of the materials - What I will say is that this pretty much covers every trick in the proverbial book, and gives you several real-life examples of how each is used. It also brings in elements of sociology, psychology and non-verbal communication - which is always handyTo be honest though, I can't see why this wouldn't be a brilliant study-aid to those who want to use the materials inside. The structure is very well laid out (Splitting up the persuasion process into its vital elements) and you're given several examples and exercises to help practice and ingrain the ideas for your own purposes. Whilst I haven't had a chance to put these to rigorous testing - the fact that I've seen all the tactics he's outlined at least hints he knows what he's talking about!Peace

GOOD BOOK!