Dave Lakhani is the President of Bold Approach, Inc., a business acceleration consultancy. A successful entrepreneur, he is a popular speaker on persuasion, in- fluence, sales, marketing, rapid ideation, and business acceleration. Always alert to the latest means of reaching and persuading potential prospects, Dave writes a blog that gets more than 10,000 visitors a week.

From Publisher

Did you know that the outcome of most persuasive events is determined before you ever say a word?

You may know how to sell, but you were probably never taught how to persuade. In this book, persuasion expert Dave Lakhani breaks down the persuasion process into easy-to-use steps. You'll learn not only how to persuade, but the biology and psychology behind persuasion.

In business, persuasion is key to every aspect of sales, marketing, and negotiations. This book reveals today's most effective persuasion techniques for business professionals. While it focuses on the business arena, these principles of persuasion can easily be successfully applied in your personal life.

Though the techniques are similar, Lakhani draws a hard line between persuasion and manipulation, with the primary distinction being intent. True persuasion is based in truth, honesty, inquisitiveness, and the ability to tell a powerful story and to meet the expectations of those you're trying to persuade. Good persuasion is a practiced art-a carefully orchestrated dance between you and the person you are persuading.

In Persuasion, Lakhani teaches you the steps in that delicate dance, showing you how to apply proven persuasive principles to common business challenges. Inside you'll find:

A map for the persuasive process, from beginning to end
A set of persuasion tools and a blueprint for using them
Seventeen specific persuasion tactics designed to instantly persuade
The Persuasion Equation
The Six Tenets of Persuasion
Steps for becoming a persuasion expert in just thirty days
Quick Persuaders- tools you'll master and useevery day

The book itself is exceptionally persuasive. It uses hard science to support its theories, citing the opinions of noted neuroscientists, psychologists, and influence professionals and features examples of persuasion at work in sales, copywriting, advertising, negotiations, and personal interactions. It shows you how to persuade your audience in small, simple steps that proceed to the desired result. Because today's prospects are sophisticated and technologically savvy, there's information on tech-savvy persuasion methods for use with Web sites, in blogs or teleseminars, or by Podcasting to a targeted audience. Learn exactly how to get your message through the electronic clutter facing decision makers today.

If you've been successful, you've probably intuitively used some of these persuasion techniques before, but this book will mentor you through a dramatic increase in your ability to persuade. Imagine how successful you'll be when you know how to strategically layer on tactic after tactic to methodically and effectively break down natural resistance, increase the emotions of acceptance and desire, and move the prospect to the right outcome-the outcome you desire.