Thinking books · Communication & persuasion · Robert Cialdini, 2016

Pre-Suasion — the big ideas

On how what happens before a message determines how it lands.

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The big ideas

What someone attended to immediately beforehand shifts how they receive what comes next, independently of the content — which means the framing moment matters as much as the argument.

Whatever is focused on seems more important simply by being focused on, so agenda-setting is itself persuasion.

It is candid that this raises ethical questions, and argues that using it dishonestly destroys trust permanently once noticed.

Practise it — no need to have read it

Before your next important conversation, write what you want the other person thinking about in the minute before it starts.

A hint: Then ask whether arranging that is honest in this case. Sometimes it plainly is not.

Where it shows up in real life

• Presenting a proposal
• Difficult conversations
• Noticing how you are being framed

Described in our own words with the source named — never quoted, and not a substitute for reading the book.