Introduction

Episode #1 of the course Persuasion science masterclass: part I by Andy Luttrell

Hello and welcome to this two-part course on persuasion science! In this course, we’re going to learn about influence. Influence is all about getting to connect with another person and having them comply with a request that you have. Throughout this course, we’re going to look at techniques that you can apply, but more importantly, we’ll look at the broader principles of influence so you can develop your own techniques that use the same core principles that are consistent across lots of studies in psychology.

First, let me introduce myself. I’m Andy Luttrell. I’m a social psychologist. My expertise is about the tricks and techniques that can psychologically make people more likely to comply with your requests. In the broader scope of things, I’m interested in persuasion, which is about how people end up changing their opinions.

Throughout this course, we’re going to look at real research in psychology that gets at these core psychological principles. But importantly, what I really want to do is give you the core practical techniques that you can use to get to “yes.”

To understand this, we’re going to look at principles of influence. There are a number of these overarching principles of influence, and in each of them, I want to show you how evidence from persuasion science supports them. I’ll also show you specific techniques that have been developed to use those principles in a more practical manner. Finally, I’ll also offer some applied tips and examples to give you a chance to start thinking about how you can use these techniques to accomplish whatever kind of influence goals you might have.

For each principle, I will start out by telling you a “social rule” that the principle is related to. These are the norms of our culture and society. After I show you the social rule, I’ll show you the corresponding compliance principle. These are principles that aren’t quite specific techniques, but they’re general guides to when people are likely to say yes to a request. Finally, I’ll show you some of the specific tested techniques that tap into each of these principles and allow you to accomplish your goals effectively.

Because there’s a lot to share, I’ve split this into two Highbrow courses. The second one picks up right where the first one leaves off. In total, you’ll end up learning a ton about a science-based approach to persuasion and influence. You’ll be well equipped to exert your influence in a bunch of applications!

So, let’s get right into it and move through all of these principles of influence and start to understand the psychology behind them. We’ll start tomorrow with a crucial principle of influence: “reciprocity.”

Recommended book

”How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie

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