The Golden Rule of Persuasion

Unlock the power of the Golden Rule of Persuasion. 

Persuasion is not merely about deliv­er­ing a mes­sage but about lay­ing the ground­work and respect­ing your tar­gets’ read­i­ness to be influenced.

Dive into the prin­ciples of the Golden Rule of Persuasion. Harness its poten­tial to estab­lish and main­tain strong rela­tion­ships — and lead with influ­ence.

Here we go:

The Golden Rule of Persuasion

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The Golden Rule of Persuasion

The golden rule for being per­suas­ive is straightforward:

• The golden rule of per­sua­sion is to lay the ground­work; nev­er sug­gest any­thing to any­one who isn’t ready to com­ply — yet.

You have to put in the work, period.

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Priming in Persuasion

Persuasion Approach: Priming

Priming is a valu­able approach to persuasion:

Priming (in per­sua­sion) = the pro­act­ive pro­cess of mov­ing an audi­ence into an action­able state of mind through mul­tiple PR activ­it­ies in a pre-planned sequence. 

This pro­act­ive approach is cru­cial in today’s inform­a­tion-sat­ur­ated envir­on­ment, where cap­tur­ing and retain­ing audi­ence atten­tion is increas­ingly challenging. 

“Priming can enhance memory recall, facil­it­ate brand pro­cessing, and influ­ence product pref­er­ences through vari­ous media.”
Source: Current opin­ion in psy­cho­logy ¹Wänke, M. (2016). Primes as hid­den per­suaders. Current opin­ion in psy­cho­logy, 12, 63 – 66. https://​doi​.org/​1​0​.​1​0​1​6​/​J​.​C​O​P​S​Y​C​.​2​0​1​6​.​0​5​.​004

Inspired by the Priming Wheel, there are many examples of poten­tial prim­ing activ­it­ies in PR.

Here are a few examples:

• Curiosity trig­ger. Encourage the recip­i­ent to seek inform­a­tion more act­ively. For example, entice them with an inter­act­ive ele­ment like a click­able link to get started.
• Emotional hook. Connect with the recip­i­ent on a per­son­al level. Share a story that they can emo­tion­ally relate to, fos­ter­ing a deep­er con­nec­tion with your message.
• Social proof. Alleviate the recipient’s appre­hen­sions by present­ing evid­ence of suc­cess from oth­ers. Utilize testi­mo­ni­als as a reas­sur­ing demon­stra­tion of third-party endorsements.
• Small ask. Gently nudge the recip­i­ent towards a low-effort com­mit­ment. For instance, request them to briefly describe a chal­lenge they’re facing in exchange for a reward.
• Value demon­stra­tion. Showcase the bene­fits of your pro­pos­al. Use visu­al or descript­ive meth­ods to high­light the advant­ages, focus­ing more on the bene­fits than the solution.
• Mutual bene­fits. Build trust by illus­trat­ing how the recip­i­ent’s suc­cess bene­fits you. Clarify the recip­roc­al nature of the bene­fits, rein­for­cing mutu­al interest.
• Trust test. Gauge the recip­i­ent’s trust in you by ask­ing them to take a small, trust-based action. For example, encour­age them to share your mes­sage with their network.
• Common enemy. Unite the recip­i­ent against a shared chal­lenge or adversary. Provide a tan­gible depic­tion of this ‘enemy’ to solid­i­fy a sense of joint pur­pose and struggle.
• Negative rein­force­ment. Illustrate the neg­at­ive out­comes of not tak­ing action. Present a vivid pic­ture of the worst-case scen­ario to under­score the import­ance of compliance.
• Big ask (“The Sale”). Make a com­pel­ling case for imme­di­ate action. Present your offer with a sense of urgency, like a count­down, to prompt an imme­di­ate decision.
• Feedback loop. Reinforce the recip­i­ent’s con­fid­ence in their decision or pur­chase. Offer encour­age­ment and express solid­ar­ity, strength­en­ing their con­vic­tion in their choice.
• Referral ask. Show appre­ci­ation for the recip­i­ent’s opin­ion and net­work. Invite them to refer col­leagues with­in their industry in exchange for a reward, demon­strat­ing respect for their influ­ence and judgment.

“Priming social con­cepts can have mul­tiple effects across psy­cho­lo­gic­al sys­tems, but under­stand­ing how these effects occur and how they are dis­tilled into non­con­scious social actions is cru­cial for under­stand­ing non­con­scious beha­vi­or.”
Source: European Journal of Social Psychology ²Bargh, J. (2006). What have we been prim­ing all these years? On the devel­op­ment, mech­an­isms, and eco­logy of non­con­scious social beha­vi­or. European Journal of Social Psychology, 36 2, … Continue read­ing

Learn more: Priming in PR: The Subtle Art of Pre-Suasion

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Persuasion = Groundwork + Readiness

Readiness is cru­cial for effect­ive per­sua­sion. Like a skilled garden­er pre­par­ing the soil before plant­ing seeds, suc­cess­ful per­suaders under­stand the import­ance of lay­ing the ground­work before pitching. 

Attempting to sway someone’s opin­ion or beha­viour before they’re recept­ive can be coun­ter­pro­duct­ive, poten­tially lead­ing to res­ist­ance or rejec­tion. Instead, assess­ing the audi­ence’s read­i­ness is essen­tial, cul­tiv­at­ing an envir­on­ment where they’re open to receiv­ing and con­sid­er­ing the pro­posed idea or suggestion.

Stakeholders, influ­en­cers, and pub­lics may not be ready to enter­tain spe­cif­ic ideas due to their emo­tion­al state, pri­or exper­i­ences, or com­pet­ing pri­or­it­ies. By respect­ing read­i­ness levels, per­suaders can increase the like­li­hood of achiev­ing their objectives. 

Laying the ground­work involves build­ing rap­port, estab­lish­ing cred­ib­il­ity, and under­stand­ing the needs and per­spect­ives of the audi­ence, all of which con­trib­ute to a more per­suas­ive inter­ac­tion when the time is right.

PR Resource: Free Persuasion PR Course

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Doctor Spin’s PR School: Free Persuasion PR Course

Use this free Persuasion PR Course to elev­ate your pub­lic rela­tions game with power­ful insights. Drive impact and influ­ence like nev­er before.

• Persuasion Definition, Meaning, and Ethics
• Persuasion Techniques
• The Golden Rule of Persuasion
• Priming in PR: The Subtle Art of Pre-Suasion
• Framing in PR: How To Bypass Confirmation Bias
• Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Public Relations
• The Priming Wheel: 12 Steps to Yes
• Pre-Suasion: Robert Cialdini on Priming (to be published)
• The Value Triangle: How To Manage Client Expectations
• The Power of Artificial Scarcity

“Since we can­not change real­ity, let us change the eyes which see real­ity.”
— Nikos Kazantzakis

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