Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Scott Adams, the world-famous comic strip artist (Dilbert) and trained hypnotist, recognized Donald Trump's powers of persuasion before nearly anyone else. Now he's expanding his controversial blog posts into a fascinating book about master persuaders like Trump, and how anyone can copy their techniques--for good or for ill.
Soon after Donald Trump declared his presidential candidacy, when most experts dismissed him as a joke who'd be gone before Iowa Scott Adams called Trump a master communicator in the same league as Abraham Lincoln and Steve Jobs. As a student of the art and science of persuasion, Adams recognized Trump's deep toolbox for persuasion. On his popular blog, Adams predicted that Trump could go all the way. The public response was ridicule, scorn, and even calls to boycott Dilbert. But ultimately, Adams was right and his critics were wrong.
So what did Adams see that the pundits missed? The short answer is the power of irrationality. We humans like to think of ourselves as rational beings, but we overwhelmingly make decisions on gut instinct, then invent reasons to justify those decisions after the fact. Emotional persuasion works despite a leader's flaws, missteps, and tacky behavior. It can overcome all appeals to logic and even self-interest.
In his new book, Adams goes beyond politics to look at persuasion tools that can work in any setting. He explains the secret tricks of the world's greatest persuaders, giving readers what he calls "access to the admin passwords for human beings." You'll learn, for instance, how to...
- Create linguistic kill shots that are refueled by confirmation bias
- Use the High Ground Maneuver to win almost any debate
- Spot the tells for cognitive dissonance so you know when others have abandoned reason
Written in the clever but relatable voice that his fans love, this is a must read if you care about persuading others in any field--or if you just want to resist the tactics of emotional persuasion when used on you.
Synopsis
"If you watched the entire election cycle and concluded that Trump was nothing but a lucky clown, you missed one of the most important perceptual shifts in the history of humankind. I'll fix that for you in this book." Adams was one of the earliest public figures to predict Trump's win, doing so a week after Nate Silver put Trump's odds at 2 percent in his FiveThirtyEight.com blog. The mainstream media regarded Trump as a novelty and a sideshow. But Adams recognized in Trump a level of persuasion you only see once in a generation.
Trump triggered massive cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias on both the left and the right. We're hardwired to respond to emotion, not reason. We might listen to 10 percent of a speech--a hand gesture here, a phrase there--and if the right buttons are pushed, we decide we agree with the speaker and invent reasons to justify that decision after the fact.
The point isn't whether Trump was right or wrong, good or bad. Win Bigly goes beyond politics to look at persuasion tools that can work in any setting--the same ones Adams saw in Steve Jobs when he invested in Apple decades ago. For instance:
- If you need to convince people that something is important, make a claim that's directionally accurate but has a big exaggeration in it. Everyone will spend endless hours talking about how wrong it is and will remember the issue as high priority.
- Stop wasting time on elaborate presentation preparations. Inside, you'll learn which components of your messaging matter, and where you can wing it.
- Planting simple, sticky ideas (such as "Crooked Hillary") is more powerful than stating facts. Just find a phrase without previous baggage that grabs your audience at an emotional level.
Adams offers nothing less than "access to the admin passwords to human beings." This is a must read if you care about persuading others in any field--or if you just want to resist the tactics of emotional persuasion when they're used on you.
Synopsis
From the creator of Dilbert, an unflinching look at the strategies Donald Trump used to persuade voters to elect the most unconventional candidate in the history of the presidency, and how anyone can learn his methods for succeeding against long odds. Scott Adams--a trained hypnotist and a lifelong student of persuasion--was one of the earliest public figures to predict Trump's win, doing so a week after Nate Silver put Trump's odds at 2 percent in his FiveThirtyEight.com blog. The mainstream media regarded Trump as a novelty and a sideshow. But Adams recognized in Trump a level of persuasion you only see once in a generation.
Trump triggered massive cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias on both the left and the right. We're hardwired to respond to emotion, not reason. We might listen to 10 percent of a speech--a hand gesture here, a phrase there--and if the right buttons are pushed, we irrationally agree with the speaker and invent reasons to justify that decision after the fact.
The point isn't whether Trump was right or wrong, good or bad. Win Bigly goes beyond politics to look at persuasion tools that can work in any setting--the same ones Adams saw in Steve Jobs when he invested in Apple decades ago. For instance:
- If you need to convince people that something is important, make a claim that's directionally accurate but has a big exaggeration in it. Everyone will spend endless hours talking about how wrong it is while accidentally persuading themselves the issue is a high priority.
- Stop wasting time on elaborate presentations. Inside, you'll learn which components of your messaging matter, and where you can wing it.
- Creating "linguistic kill shots" with persuasion engineering (such as "Low-energy Jeb") can be more powerful than facts and policies.
Adams offers nothing less than "access to the admin passwords to human beings." This is a must-read if you care about persuading others in any field--or if you just want to resist persuasion from others.
Synopsis
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the creator of Dilbert, an unflinching look at the strategies Donald Trump used to persuade voters to elect the most unconventional candidate in the history of the presidency, and how anyone can learn his methods for succeeding against long odds.
Scott Adams--a trained hypnotist and a lifelong student of persuasion--was one of the earliest public figures to predict Trump's win, doing so a week after Nate Silver put Trump's odds at 2 percent in his FiveThirtyEight.com blog. The mainstream media regarded Trump as a novelty and a sideshow. But Adams recognized in Trump a level of persuasion you only see once in a generation.
Trump triggered massive cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias on both the left and the right. We're hardwired to respond to emotion, not reason. We might listen to 10 percent of a speech--a hand gesture here, a phrase there--and if the right buttons are pushed, we irrationally agree with the speaker and invent reasons to justify that decision after the fact.
The point isn't whether Trump was right or wrong, good or bad. Win Bigly goes beyond politics to look at persuasion tools that can work in any setting--the same ones Adams saw in Steve Jobs when he invested in Apple decades ago. For instance:
- If you need to convince people that something is important, make a claim that's directionally accurate but has a big exaggeration in it. Everyone will spend endless hours talking about how wrong it is while accidentally persuading themselves the issue is a high priority.
- Stop wasting time on elaborate presentations. Inside, you'll learn which components of your messaging matter, and where you can wing it.
- Creating "linguistic kill shots" with persuasion engineering (such as "Low-energy Jeb") can be more powerful than facts and policies.
Adams offers nothing less than "access to the admin passwords to human beings." This is a must-read if you care about persuading others in any field--or if you just want to resist persuasion from others.