Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
One book, placed in its field — what Robert B. Cialdini's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · get2great.com/guides/profile-pre_suasion
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Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
One book, placed in its field — what Robert B. Cialdini's book gets right, where it goes further than the rest, and what the rest of the field adds.
Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide · get2great.com/guides/profile-pre_suasion
The problem
Behavioral Assent erodes when it is left to instinct instead of method.
You were taught the moves piecemeal, never the whole model.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The model
- 01Pre-Suasive Opener
- 02Channeled Attention
- 03Perceived Importance
- 04Perceived Causality
- 05Favorable Associations
- 06Felt Unity
- 07Association Strength
- 08Corrective Capacity
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 1 of 5 · Pre-Suasive Opener
The pre-suasive opener wins by shaping what is mentally top-of-mind at the instant the request arrives, not by arguing.
Misconception
Practitioners believe the opener has to be topically related to the message to work.
Reality
An opener works by what it makes mentally accessible, not by logical relevance—a question about adventurousness or a photo of a runner can prime receptivity to unrelated requests, because attention and association operate below the argument.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 2 of 5 · Channeled Attention
Making your point focal automatically dims the alternatives—that suppression is where the leverage lives.
Misconception
People think attention is additive—that giving a point more focus simply strengthens it alongside the others.
Reality
Focus is zero-sum: elevating one element actively demotes rivals from awareness, which is why the very act of getting someone to consider your factor causes them to discount alternatives they would otherwise weigh.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 3 of 5 · Perceived Importance
What people attend to at the moment of judgment they rate as more important, regardless of its real weight.
Misconception
Practitioners assume importance ratings reflect a considered weighing of a factor's true weight.
Reality
People confuse ease of bringing something to mind with its actual significance; ask someone how happy they are right after asking about their dating life and the answer shifts, because the focal factor borrows unearned weight.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 4 of 5 · Perceived Causality
Whatever is prominent in an account tends to be perceived as the cause of the outcome.
Misconception
People believe causal attributions track the actual causal chain rather than what happened to be foreground.
Reality
Salience masquerades as causation: filming a confession from the suspect's angle rather than the detective's makes viewers judge the confession more voluntary, because the focal party is read as the agent of the outcome.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Step 5 of 5 · Favorable Associations
Openers work by pre-activating a network of aligned thoughts and feelings, not by conscious inference.
Misconception
Practitioners think the association only works if the recipient consciously connects the cue to the message.
Reality
Association operates automatically and outside awareness—priming achievement-related words raises task performance without anyone noticing the link, and drawing attention to the maneuver tends to break it.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
A framework to use
Core Motives Model of Social Influence
This framework is part of the full guide. See the guide →
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
The cheat sheet
- Pre-Suasive OpenerThe pre-suasive opener wins by shaping what is mentally top-of-mind at the instant the request arrives, not by arguing.
- Channeled AttentionMaking your point focal automatically dims the alternatives—that suppression is where the leverage lives.
- Perceived ImportanceWhat people attend to at the moment of judgment they rate as more important, regardless of its real weight.
- Perceived CausalityWhatever is prominent in an account tends to be perceived as the cause of the outcome.
- Favorable AssociationsOpeners work by pre-activating a network of aligned thoughts and feelings, not by conscious inference.
- Felt UnityUnity rests on shared identity—being and acting together—not on being liked.
- Association StrengthThe prime is only as powerful as the strength of the cue-to-target link in the audience's head.
- Corrective CapacityCorrection needs awareness, motivation, and cognitive resources together—remove any one and influence sticks.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide
Sources
- Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade — Robert B. Cialdini
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade · Mike West, Editor · HR Leader Guide