The Ultimate Guide - Manipulation by Jacob Staples (ebook reader macos txt) 📕

Summary

I will begin by saying that it took me a lot of time to study these techniques and for the most part they have worked out very well, people ARE - unfortunately - just like sheep, we are indoctrinated, we are succumb by argumentum ad populum and the dunning kruger effect. We are all hypocrites, and we are hardly different, some of us consider ourselves wolves and yet bluntly portrays it in strength and a lack of empathy, that is not a wolf, you are not a wolf. You must learn control, set yourself aside from the rest and become a dragon, or at the very least, a master silver tongue.

Anchoring

 It doesn’t matter whether it concerns pocket money or bartering: studies show that whoever puts forward the first demand or offer during negotiations strengthens their position of power and gains the clear advantage over their opponent. This is known as anchoring.

Framing

 A persuasion trick that is frequently used in everyday life is known as ‘framing’. In the process issues are presented so that the victims make a decision that has no logical basis. A study of german doctors came to the conclusion that 49% of all patients would agree to an upcoming operation if 99% of these ran without complications. But if the patients recieved the information that one in 100 cases caused complications, agreement sank to just 27% - although the content of both pieces of information is identical. Depending on the manner in which information is presented, it is possible to steer the decisions of your opponent.

Eye Contact

  Intense eye contact is one of the most emotionally effective strategies of manipulation because it ignites the brain like a firework. The emotional centre, the amygdala, is particularly susceptible to this method. Scientists found that persuasian was much easier if the person doing the convincing looked into the eyes of their counterpart for at least 55% of the conversation. Anything below this length of time decreases the chances of convincing your opponent. But beware, holding eye contact for more than four seconds at a time runs the risk of unnerving your counterpart.

Counter-Arguments

 Before a debate try to imagine possible counter arguments that your competitor might use, and consider how to weaken these contradictions. This allows you to take control and can determine the course of the conflict by robbing the opponent of their main arguments (”you might argue this… but to that i say...”).

Loaded Questions

 ”Have you stopped hitting your wife?” if a person responds to this question too quickly, they are likely to lose the conflict. Thats because: if the opponent answers prematurely and intuitively, it can only frame him in a bad light - the question implies a (negative) assumption. If the person answers ”yes”, they are admitting to having hit their wife in the past. If they answer ”no” then they are involuntarily admitting to still hitting their wife. During an interrogation police use this method of questioning in the hope that suspects intuitively give themselves up.

Conscience

 If someone tells you a secret, you might anticipate that they’re expecting you to entrust them with a secret soon after. Humans instinctively strive for close and balanced relationships. Persuasion professionals bypass this balance and demand no return for their small favours over a long time period. They make an advance payment to their customers, so to speak. At the end they can then demand a massive favour, which their counterpart is unable to refuse without a bad conscience.

Humour

People who present their message by incorporating humour are often more convincing. One beggar in london managed this famously: instead of holding a sign stating ”hungry, can you spare some change?” he carried a sign with the message ”collecting for beer money”. With this sign he not only got the most laughs, but nobody could accuse him of being dishonest, either, the result of this humour strategy? By the end of the day the beggar had more money in his hat than ever before.  

Repetition

 Repetition increases the likelihood of the message being rooted in the brain. ”Repeating yourself is even more powerful than the truth”, says mind coach Jochen Mai. ”our brain will eventually start to believe that the statement is true” according to the studies by the institute of social research at the university of Michigan. A simple habit is behind this - at some point the association automatically enters our memory.

Probing

 Whether its during a conference in the office or a lecture at school - those hoping to persuade others are often subject to verbal attacks. An example: someone tries to present an idea. Instead of listening, colleagues begin to heckle. In this kind of situation, rhetoric experts advocate a simple counter-strategy: the person being attacked should acknowledge the heckles and turn them into questions. ”A simple ‘what do you mean by that?’ or ‘can you repeat that please?’ is enough to gain the upper hand again. This ‘hearing loss’ method is one you can always deploy” says rhetoric expert Rolf Ruhleder.