Robert Cialdini

In today’s uncertain environment, the need for simultaneously effective and ethical influence is necessary, pertinent, and now more vital than ever to our success. During this profound presentation, Dr. Robert Cialdini briefly reviews six research-based universal principles of influence, but focuses on those principles that are most effective during conditions of uncertainty and that leaders can employ to bring about positive and lasting change among individuals located both inside and outside their organizations.

Dr. Robert Cialdini, author of the ground-breaking book, Influence, and co-author of the New York Times best-seller, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways To Be Persuasive, is your guide in translating highly relevant but poorly-understood scientific research into practical business applications. His books have sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Dr. Cialdini is the world’s leading authority on influence and his widely acclaimed studies are highly instructive to those who want to be more influential.

It is through the influence process that we generate and manage change. Like most things, the process can be handled poorly or well. It can be employed to foster growth and to move people away from negative choices and in more positive directions, thereby creating the conditions for new change opportunities. Or, it can be used clumsily, reducing the chance for genuine movement and, in the worst of cases, boomeranging into conflict and resentment.

In this presentation, Dr. Robert Cialdini first describes the six universal principles of influence—those that are so powerful that they generate desirable change in the widest range of circumstances. The principles are: Liking, Authority, Social Proof, Scarcity, Reciprocation, and Consistency. Dr. Cialdini’s presentation next focuses on how the first three of these principles have been and can be harnessed to meet specific, mutually beneficial objectives by building trust. Throughout, Dr. Cialdini emphasizes the ethical use of the principles so that those who are influenced feel personally committed to the change and come to trust (appropriately) that their advisor/partner will continue to counsel them correctly. It is only in this fashion that the influence process can be simultaneously effective, ethical, and enduring. And, it is only in this fashion that it can enhance a lasting sense of partnership between those involved in the exchange.

Since publishing multiple books on the topic, Dr. Robert Cialdini has been frequently asked to speak to audiences about the principles of persuasion that scientific research indicates are most likely to spur others to change. In those presentations, something has emerged that invariably captures audience attention to a remarkable degree: If, while describing one or another of these psychological principles, Dr. Cialdini says, “Now, I’m going to give you something really small that you can do to make this principle work in your behalf,” the room changes immediately. Bodies incline forward, faces lift to the stage, and pens hover above notepads.

It’s understandable. Audience members are responding to an attractive return-on-investment proposition. It’s one that’s likely to be of enormous value in their increasingly time- challenged, busy lives—a minor investment of time or energy that will lead to disproportionate returns in all sorts of daily arenas. After all, to achieve most professional and personal goals, people need to be influential in their interactions with others; and reliable shortcuts in that pursuit are like found gold. In addition, these “small BIGs” are attractive because they require little expense or effort to implement—often involving nothing more than the change of a word or two in a communication—which makes them more likely (than big procedural changes) to be actually performed.

In this presentation, Dr. Cialdini focuses on a set of small alterations that individuals can make to their persuasive attempts that research shows are likely to produce significant increases in their persuasive success. In the process, he illustrates the four forms that “small BIGs” can take: small adjustments to words, actions, images, and environments that can all produce out-sized persuasive impact. Finally, he stresses how individuals can employ such adjustments not only effectively but ethically as well to ensure the cultivation and enhancement of long-term, mutually beneficial relationships.

Yes! It’s one of the simplest words in our language. But, arranging to hear it from colleagues, clients, customers, and even family members is not simple at all—at least not without knowing certain secrets of the persuasion process. The dual purpose of this program is to reveal a valuable set of these powerful secrets to participants and to do so in a way that will enable them to achieve their professional goals more rapidly.

In addition, the emphasis will be on how participants can increase the likelihood of Yes! without having to change the features and merits of their case but, instead, by changing only—and more persuasively—the way they present those features and merits. Consequently, this program would be of particular benefit to those individuals and organizations that have a strong case to make but have not realized an equivalent return because critical others have not been convinced to open their ears and minds fully to that strong case. The secrets of persuasion covered in the program are specifically designed to open such ears and minds.

So that participants can implement the program material immediately and with confidence, its content has been crafted to have the following elements.

It is scientifically grounded. Persuasion is no longer just an in-born art, available only to those who instinctively know just what to say and when to say it. After more than a half century of research, it has also become a solid science; and the researchers who study it have uncovered a set of hidden rules for moving people toward Yes! that can be learned by all who want to become more persuasive.

It is ethically appropriate. There is an important distinction between persuasion and manipulation. The approaches advocated in this program can be used in entirely non manipulative ways that never deceive or coerce others into assent. Rather, they inform/educate others into Yes! by providing honest evidence for wise decisions. In so doing, these ethical approaches preserve the personal relationships necessary for long-term business success.

It is not widely known. The intent of the program is not to re-teach or reinforce what participants already know. Instead, it is to bring to light some little-recognized aspects of persuasion that will give them an advantage over competitors in two ways—(1) by covering research that in many cases is so new that it is unavailable to the general public and (2) by showing how this new research often runs counter to common but mistaken tactics that rivals will continue to employ.

It can involve small changes in practice. A goal of the program is to show participants how to make relatively minor modifications to their persuasive practices that will result in major increases in their effectiveness. Although busy, overloaded participants may well be reluctant to learn and deploy large-scale changes to their existing workplace approaches, they are willing to make small alterations that they are convinced will lead to greater success. For this reason, the program focuses on strategies that require small changes—a few words or the sequence of a few words—yet have the largest impact on Yes!