Books
75,000+ copies sold. Drawing from academic research in psychology, Methods of Persuasion explains a powerful 7-step persuasion process that follows the acronym, METHODS. You'll learn how to apply METHODS to influence people's thoughts, emotions, and behavior in nearly any situation.
Commentary From Nick
The Tangled Mind is my personal favorite. It has endless applications for designers, and it's fascinating for regular folks too. It'll make you see the world differently.
Humans learn by association. Every concept that you understand is connected to an earlier concept. So then, what happens if you retrace those connections? Wouldn’t you eventually find a starting point? Indeed, you would. The Tangled Mind argues that a few sensory concepts sculpted your perception of the world.
If you understand these principles, you can influence how people perceive anything — prices, websites, advertisements. And you’ll see how these concepts have sculpted deep-rooted beliefs and values (e.g., morality, religion, politics).
Commentary From Nick
I think this book offers the best explanation for why we make decisions. Most of the applications involve motivating yourself, but you can apply the ideas to influence decisions in any context.
You just asked yourself: Hmm, should I read the description for this book? And…here you are…reading the description. So, how did you make this decision? How do you make any decision? This book reveals the answer: Mental pictures.
Before you make a decision, you imagine the process and outcome to gauge your emotional reaction. If this imagery feels vivid and pleasant, then you confirm the decision. Using this knowledge, you can influence decisions by tweaking those mental pictures. Imagine Reading This Book exposes a fascinating quirk of the human mind, while offering practical (and unusual) techniques to influence any decision in life and business.
Commentary From Nick
Methods of Persuasion was the first book that I wrote. This book is a great introduction if you're new to behavioral science. If you’re an expert, try my other books.