The Rules of Influence

Book excerpt: "Look out, Goliath—David has a training manual! . . . One of the best books on social psychology ever written." ---Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness No one doubts the power of the majority. It makes the rules and enforces them, and most of us are willing to go along with it, most of the time. But what happens when you're not? What about when the issue is so important to you that you're willing to take on the naysayers? It doesn't matter if you're trying to sell a new product or service, persuade colleagues to try out a new business plan, start a revolution, or simply convince your family where to go for dinner. In all of these cases you're going up against the majority, and more often than not your efforts are going to come up short. Or at least that was the case before Dr. William Crano—an expert in the field of influence—applied the science of persuasion to those moments when you find yourself outnumbered and overmatched. By doing so, he has discovered proven strategies, such as working from the inside and changing the game from subjective preferences to objective decisions, and distilled these strategies and more into an extraordinary collection of rules that radically affect the likelihood of success. The Rules of Influence—the most powerful guide to being persuasive even under the most inhospitable conditions—gives you the tools to overcome overwhelming odds and take back control in every situation.