If you want to “win” people over to your way of thinking, there’s plenty of ways to do it. Some win-win, some not so win-win.
The best way to get anybody to do anything is to “help” them make the decision on their own.
Just supply the right ingredients, and let them come to their own conclusion. That way, there won’t be any resistance, and if things don’t work out so well (or even if they do) they won’t feel they’ve been conned.
Social proof is an incredibly persuasive trigger. We are hard wired, on a deep and ancient level, to “follow the crowd.”
Even the most anti-social non-conformists among us will still feel compelled to “follow the crowd.”
How can you leverage this in your favor? First, you’ve got to do your homework. Whatever idea it is you’re trying to get across, be it a sale or a particular movie choice, figure out what kind of “crowd” or social group has benefited from, or “liked” this “thing” you are intending.
For example, let’s say you’re at the movies, with a buddy or a date. You’re looking at the titles, and you pick one you’d like to see, but you suspect your mate might not want to see it.
So first you scan your memory for some supportive social proof that fits the following criteria:
1) It’s got to be real (not made up)
2) They’ve got to support your idea
3) Your mate has to respect this group (e.g. if he’s a Democrat, don’t say something like “Hey, Republicans love this movie! Let’s see it!)
Then, you can use one of the presuppositions to connect your socially proofed group to an idea about the movie. Say you want to give the movie the label of “exciting and creative.”
So you say something like this:
Hey I was reading the other day that [Group Identifier] who say [movie title] thought it was really [descriptive title], what do you think?
Let’s say your buddy is a die hard Cubs fan. And let’s say the movie you want to see is “Lost in Translation,” and the label you want to give it is “creative,” and “intelligent.”
And further, you feel a little “silly” saying what you’re about to say, so you say:
“Hey, I know this sounds really silly, but I was reading this blog post the other day on this blog about the Cubs, and they said that “Lost in Translation” is really creative and intelligent. What do you think?”
Now, this might not get 100% conversions, and they might still give it a pass, but you’ll find it’s a lot better, and a lot more compelling, than “Hey, let’s see Lost in Translation!”
Obviously, you can mix this up and try out different elements, and have a lot of fun.
Needless to say, this is but one example of what you can do with massively persuasive language patterns you’ll find in