Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

It's a classic, but Influence by Cialdini lived up to its expectations for me

How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnegie. Influence - Robert Cialdini. Like it or not, we enter into "adversarial" situations every day.

I like books that are actionable. Lots of books are inspirational but not that useful (e.g. crossing the chasm). I run a curriculum in my company which uses a few books I have read over the years. emyth revisited (how to think about and structure an org) getting to yes (negotiation) influence the psychology of persuasion (negotiation) spin selling (enterprise sales, supplanted by sandler) You cant teach a kid to ride a bike at a seminar (sandler sales) 5 dysfunctions of a team (one of the best leadership books) first break all the rules (management) accounting for dummies purple cow (differentiation) blue ocean strategy (differentiation) traction (strategy/operations) rocketfuel (strategy/operations) for professional services: managing the professional services firm getting naked

"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert B. Cialdini (1984) "How to Make Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie (1936) Two great books that could lure a curious mind into sales. However, I recommend both to everyone.

Never split the difference : Chris Voss [0] & Start with No : Jim Camp [1] opened my eyes to tactics used by sales/"business" folks when they negotiate with me and provided some tips which help me in my own negotiations. Case in point: A car dealer mentioned to me casually that a car whose MRP is AUD 38800 would never be discounted below 34000. I took it as a psychological "anchor" that had to be explored and negotiated rather than agreed upon without discussion. Started with a random figure of 32349 and ended up with getting the car for 33500 ( given that it was my first negotiation, I think it's a win :-) ) Influence by Cialdini is a timeless classic that helps me appreciate the fascinating world of human psychology [0] https://www.amazon.in/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Dep... (https://www.amazon.in/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-Depended-ebook/dp/B018FHCPDO/ref=sr_1_1?crid=B3RBMIE3MSZX&keywords=never+split+the+difference%27+by+chris+voss&qid=1607209738&sprefix=never+split+the+%2Caps%2C418&sr=8-1)…

I was in similar state a few of years back. Read these, and used them to a good extent. Lean analytics. (must read) Product-Led growth. (must read) 22 Laws of marketing (must) One million followers If you like scientific approach: Influence by Robert Cialdini Contagious (Jonah Berger) This resource is also gold: https://brianbalfour.com/essays/customer-acquisition I am also documenting my learnings in a book [1]. [1] https://book.amols.blog/59decisions

So many, and I wish I could write a long paragraph on each, but I'm unfortunately short on time. I'm posting any in case just one person who hasn't heard of those checks them out and gets value: -Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hosfstadter) -The Mindbody Prescription (John E. Sarno, completely cured my long-term crippling RSI that kept me from using computers and was ruining my life) -Feeling Good (Dr. Burns, cognitive therapy mostly centered on depression, but I want to learn about this before I have depression so that I can avoid it and do 'maintenance' on myself) -The 5 Love Languages (Gary Chapman, made me understand a lot more about how people express and receive love, and the problems that arise from mismatched languages in relationships) -Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman (you guys probably already know this) -The Blank Slate (Steven Pinker) -The Snowball (Warren Buffett biography) -Influence (Robert B. Cialdini) -Your Money or Your Life (Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin) -When Heaven and Earth Changed Places: A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace (Le Ly Hayslip) -The Halo Effect (Phil Rosenzweig) -The LessWrong.com sequences on rationality

Great book indeed.

- Nassim N. Taleb: Black Swan and Antifragile[0] - Robert Cialdini: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion[1] - Franklin Foer: World Without Mind: The Existential Threat of Big Tech[2] - Herbert Marcuse: One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society[3] [0] https://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Improbable-Robustness-Frag... (https://www.amazon.com/Black-Swan-Improbable-Robustness-Fragility/dp/081297381X) [1] https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Rober... (https://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X) [2] https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Mind-Existential-Threat... (https://www.amazon.com/World-Without-Mind-Existential-Threat/dp/1101981113) [3] https://www.amazon.com/One-Dimensional-Man-Ideology-Industri... (https://www.amazon.com/One-Dimensional-Man-Ideology-Industrial-Routledge/dp/0415289777)

Trust Me, I'm Lying by Ryan Holliday Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion I read both a couple years ago and was fascinated (and annoyed) by how many of the little tricks and tactics I recognized in sales, in the news, and really in every day life. Reading them didn't make me immune to any of it but now I'm aware and try to think more critically about what I see and hear.

Influence by Robert Cialdini. Models by Mark Manson. Eloquent Ruby by Russ Olsen.

Bargaining for Advantage : Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Lies my teacher told me : everything your American history textbook got wrong Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life Thinking, Fast and Slow

I agree with others on the "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius. Off the top of my head, I would add: * "The Way to Wealth," by Benjamin Franklin: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0918222885 (also available online for free; it's in the public domain) -- no-nonsense practical advice from a super-successful individual * Warren Buffett's Letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html (also available organized by topic, in a bound book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1611637589 which some will find much easier to read) * "The Intelligent Investor," by Benjamin Graham (specifically the chapters titled "The Investor and Market Fluctuations" and "Margin of Safety"): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060555661 * "Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion," by Robert Cialdini: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0688128165 Also: * "Devil Take the Hindmost," by Edward Chancellor: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452281806 * "A Short History of Financial Euphoria," by John Kenneth Galbraith: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140238565 * "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds," by Charles Mackay: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1586635581

Influence - Psychology of persuasion Gun Germs and Steel Hero with a thousand faces Starting Strength

I would recommend the following Thinking Fast and Slow https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking,_Fast_and_Slow Predictably Irrational: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predictably_Irrational Influence: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini#Theory_of_infl... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini#Theory_of_influence)

* Influence by Cialdini - great overview of the psychology of human motivation and influence. You'll get the inside dirt on a lot of sales and marketing tricks. * Seeing like a State by James Scott - a good political history with lots of insight into many conventions in our modern society, such as even last names, were created to make society manageable by a central government. * Europe and the Europeans by Barzini - the closest thing I have found to being a time traveler, skipping between different places and times in Europe from 1920 to the 1970's.

I love "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely and "Influence" by Robert Cialdini, both fascinating reads about how the mind works that yield useful insights for UI design and marketing.

"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" by Robert Cialdini Pretty much a must-read for anyone interested in sales, marketing, or "persuasion". However, even if you're not in that line of work it will blow you away. Lots of good examples and not a lot of fluff (despite what you might think just based on the title).

For me it was 1.Influence: http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert... (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Robert-Cialdini/dp/006124189X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418061288&sr=8-1&keywords=influence) It talks about how the brain has certain preprogrammed sequences for situations. 2.Predictably Irrational http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Hidden-Forces-D... (http://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Hidden-Forces-Decisions-ebook/dp/B002C949KE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418061376&sr=8-1&keywords=predictably+irrational) Again about the hidden mechanisms with which we make decisions and our reptile brain.

1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (No pun intended). This book really turned my head around and made me realize how there are people (especially ones in the Sales & Marketing realm) out there waiting to sneak one past you. Don't be surprised (not if you can help it), if while reading the book you go "Oh my, someone actually used that trick on me!". 2. The Mindbody Prescription I understand that some people are skeptical about the theory (TMS) that Dr John Sarno proposes (I was too at first). I'm no neuro-scientist to attest anything in the book, but empirical evidence (experiences of mine and a few others even on HN) seems to suggest the possibility of Dr Sarno getting it right. Anyway, it seemed to help me overcome a problem I had with my wrists and I'm thankful.

Influence by Robert B. Cialdini You'll learn about the several "weapons of influence" many people have used and still use on you (and you use on people) sometimes without even knowing. It also gives you great insight into sales. I highly recommend it for a technical person.

As a PR and communications major I can help you with that. I can recommend these two books: http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine... (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X) And http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=94... (http://about.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=949705369) Do keep in mind that PR is something different than marketing or advertisement. Those people running around, dropping names and 'generating spin'? That's just a very tiny part of PR. PR is about shaping the public opinion, not just one person's mind. On a side note, I wrote my thesis on wartime propaganda. I found out that the strongest motivator for people to take action is fear. The fear of losing something, missing out, or a common enemy (think Apple-Android!) is very powerful. On a second side note, I read another comment about lying. Lying isn't right of course, but there are several degrees of lying. And imagine if know how to sell a lie, how easy it would be to sell righteous truth...…

Category 1: - Simple Heuristics That Make Use Smart by Gigerenzer, et al. (http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Heuristics-That-Make-Smart/dp/0... (http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Heuristics-That-Make-Smart/dp/0195143817/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322242265&sr=1-1)). I have heard good things about this book but have not read it yet. Category 2: - Think Twice by Mauboussin (http://www.amazon.com/Think-Twice-Harnessing-Power-Counterin... (http://www.amazon.com/Think-Twice-Harnessing-Power-Counterintuition/dp/1422176754)) - Influence by Cialdini (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine... (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X)) Category 3: - You already mentioned Michalko, but his other book, Thinkertoys, is also very good (http://www.amazon.com/Thinkertoys-Handbook-Creative-Thinking... (http://www.amazon.com/Thinkertoys-Handbook-Creative-Thinking-Techniques-2nd/dp/1580087736)) Category 5: - Switch by the Heath brothers is excellent (http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385... (http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Change-Things-When-Hard/dp/0385528752/))

It won't win me any hipster points, but I have to recommend "Influence: the psychology of persuasion", by Robert B. Cialdini. This book managed to beautifully, clearly, and engagingly account for the major factors of human influence. Despite a degree in cognitive science and extensive personal interest in social psychology and compliance tactics, this book still proved incredibly insightful. And from a marketing and sales perspective, I would consider it a must-read.

Don't miss sivers's great list: http://sivers.org/book As for mine, Science Fiction (I like these authors so I'd recommend most of their books -- listing which ones I think are a good 'starter novel' for them): Charles Stross: Halting State Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon The Deep Iain M. Banks: Culture novels, start with Player of Games David Louis Edelman: Jump 225 Trilogy Daniel Suarez: Daemon and Freedom(tm) John Scalzi: Old Man's War series Dan Simmons: Hyperion Self-improvement: The Talent Code Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion Non-fiction: Amusing Ourselves To Death (highly recommended) The Science of Fear The Black Swan Tokyo Vice Racing The Beam (Atari history, very cool) books by Daniel Pink Guns, Germs, and Steel The Prize by Daniel Yergin Fantasy: Anything by Gaiman or China Mieville, pretty much. EDIT: links to previews (legally) available online Charles Stross's Accelerando (entire book): http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelera... (http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html)…

In early 2009, I got sick and tired of my incompetence with sales and marketing, and decided to learn. So I set out to learn, even if it meant sacrificing coding for a while. Marketing (and its cousin, sales) has many facets, perhaps surprisingly many, with significant differences among them. Just like compiler implementation requires skills and knowledge different from 3D graphics coding, or secure web development, for example. At the "high end" of the marketing food chain, there are things like public relations. I personally don't know much about that yet. Instead, I chose to focus on copywriting. Basically, the art and science of creating powerfully effective ads using only the written word. Often this means writing sales letters, i.e. several-page-long texts that sell something. This focus has proven to be a good choice. It gives a very strong foundation that applies to other kinds of marketing and sales. For example, Adwords ads can be viewed as extremely short sales letters.…

Influence - The Psychology of Persuasion by Cialdini. http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine... (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216856193&sr=8-1) The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - Violate Them at Your Own Risk! http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp... (http://www.amazon.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Violate/dp/0887306667/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216858700&sr=1-1) Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to We Usability, by Steve Krug: http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/032134... (http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216860599&sr=1-1) Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large Scale Web Sites, by Paul Rosenfeld and Peter Morville: http://www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-World-Wide-We... (http://www.amazon.com/Information-Architecture-World-Wide-Web/dp/0596527349/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216860826&sr=1-1) Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, by Paco Underhill…

Influence, Predictably Irrational, Fooled by Randomness, The Blank Slate, House of Cards, and Planar Microwave Engineering come to mind.

(The links here bring you to my notes from each book, and the ISBN number for each so you can find it easily at your favorite library/store/whatever.) How We Decide - by Jonah Lehrer: Brilliant book with one clear message: our emotional brain is faster and usually smarter than our logical brain. Our emotions are trained by years of logic and experience, retaining it all for real wisdom. Many decisions are better made by going with the gut feeling. Gets a little too technical with deep brain/neuro/cortex talk, but brings it back to usable points. http://sivers.org/book/HowWeDecide The Investor's Manifesto - by William J. Bernstein: Absolutely my favorite author and advisor on the subject of investing. Anyone with any money to invest (or already invested) please read this book. Such clear thinking, using only facts, and using numbers not guesses. Modern portfolio theory: use passive indexes of the entire market, no speculation, no stock picking, and avoid the entire fee-sucking financial industry. http://sivers.org/book/InvestorsManifesto Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives - by David Eagleman:…

I would add "Influence" by Cialdini under this category .

I would recommend these books for a good grounding in marketing and fostering innovation: The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen Crossing the Chasm and Inside the Tornado by Geoffrey Moore Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker Marketing High Technology by William Davidow Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blank Jumpstart Your Business Brain by Doug Hall E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim & R. Mauborgne Influence The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout Secrets of Consulting by Gerald Weinberg For an article that summarizes key concepts see http://skmurphy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/Crucial%20Mar... (http://skmurphy.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/Crucial%20Marketing%20Concepts.pdf) There is a companion slide deck here http://www.skmurphy.com/f/SDForum061211.pdf

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine... (http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X/) The Definitive Book of Body Language http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/05538... (http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/0553804723/) +1 to How to Win Friends & Influence People

Those last three are great suggestions (I don't know #1). #2 is a classic, but I've read it a couple of times. #3 I've been meaning to read for years. #4 I'm actually in the middle of right now (I think because tptacek recommended it here) and unlike the vast majority of business books, it's superb. It's also older (pre-internet) which is actually a good thing as it focuses one's attention on fundamentals.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion - by Robert Cialdini. This book will pretty much change your life when it comes to figuring out marketing and why people do things, and what not to do when you're trying to get people to buy into your ideas.

some that haven't been mentioned: - the innovator's dilemma by clayton christensen - blue ocean strategy (kim and mauborgne) -- these two books give you a little bit more of a framework to evaluate where your idea adds value and give you examples of how/why some successful companies have been successful - high tech startup by nesheim -- a little dated, but lots of info - negotiation/people books: getting to yes (fisher, ury) and getting past no (ury), influence by cialdini (useful for more than just startups) - maybe some management books: peopleware (demarco and lister), the art of project management (berkun), first, break all the rules (buckingham) - founders at work (livingston) to get inspired +1 to crossing the chasm, and the godin & gladwell books, art of the start blogs: onstartups.com, fred wilson, brad feld, seth godin, etc., guy kawasaki -drew