Persuasion

Title: Persuasion: The art of influencing people

Author: James Borg

Number of pages: 267

Started: 20 November 2008

Finished: 27 November 2008

Opening words:

The power of persuasion is maybe the ultimate source of advantage in life and work. It can be the critical separation factor between the successful and the rest. With some people it seems to be utterly effortless.

Plot summary:

We all rely heavily on our persuasive powers every day - whether you are trying to get people to agree with you, influencing others to make a decision, asking for something, or attempting to bring about a change in behaviour or attitude in others, and how success you are depends on how persuasive you are.
Success in persuasion is down to a combination of self-assessment and situational assessment - being aware of what's going on inside you and happening around you. Persuasion exposes the set of golden behavioural rules that will boost your persuasive powers and get a positive result for you with increased regularity.

What I thought:

I thought this book was useful, it brought together various people’s understanding of how we persuade people into one book. Did I think it was a good book though? Not particularly. It was ok, but nothing sensational. It is a very easy read and a useful one stop shop for how persuasion can work, but nothing terribly new or original. Useful but not sensational.