Persuasion: The Art of Influencing People

Generally a good, well thought out book. A good basis for teaching the elements of successful persuasion. I thought it got significantly weaker at the end when he talks about personality types - its helpful to know the Jung/Myers-Briggs types but then when he starts to talk about how to influence the particular types I skipped over it, then skipped 'types you might meet' too. In my experience, personalities are so diverse that talk of types turns into stereotypes pretty quickly, and no-one I've met has actually been a stereotype. More recently, I read a helpful comment through which to interpret his remarks about Aristotle - he was seeking to influence a single decision of the court, not the behaviour patterns of people in general. show more That's why pathos wasn't higher on his list. show less

Nothing new, just a recap of stuff you are probably already aware of such as active listening. It's a good reminder of what you should be doing when you interact with others, and it certainly focussed my attention and made me think about how I was dealing with people. But overall it is just the same rehashed self-help stuff seen many times before.

An interesting, accessible and enjoyable book on the art of persuasion - cheifly understanding other people's needs and levers and tailoring your communication accordingly.

Revisit.