#62 – Robert Cialdini on Influence

 My guest this week is Robert Cialdini, Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University and author of the New York Times best-selling book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion . A new and expanded version is being release this week.

Professor Cialdini's book has had an enormous impact on those of us in the Value Investing community. In fact, when Charlie Munger read the book he was so impressed, and he benefited so much from the principles in the book, he personally reached out to Cialdini to express his appreciation, and being Charlie, he went above and beyond. I ask Cialdini to tell the story about his interaction with Munger early in the interview and you wont want to miss it.

In this episode we talk about the seven principles of influence and Cialdini weaves in stories and examples from Warren Buffet, and Berkshire Hathaway and Jeff Bezos and Amazon. Cialdini explains the psychology of why people say yes and how to apply these insights ethically in business and life.  

Topics:

• Why Charlie Munger reached out to Cialdini personally after he read his book
• How Warren Buffett uses the principles of persuasion in his Annual Letter to Shareholders
• The Seven Principles of Persuasion and how to apply them ethically
• How to defend ourselves against unscrupulous characters trying to influence us
• The principle of Scarcity and how booking sites use it to drive up revenue
• How Jeff Bezos and Amazon use the principle of Commitment to increase employee engagement
• The principle of Reciprocity and why it is so powerful
• The principle of Unity and how Cialdini came to include it in this latest version

Books & Resources

• Influence: The Psychology of Influence by Robert Cialdini

Connect with Robert Cialdini

• Twitter: @RobertCialdini

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