Persuasion In Business: Repetition Images Phrases And Repetition

Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter. Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has been studying persuasion for years, and his book reflects the serious research of people like Robert Cialdini. Adams uses Donald Trump’s campaign as an illustration of world-class persuasion techniques.

courtesy of Portfioio/Penguin Random House

Scott Adams' Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter

Whether you like President Trump or not, Win Bigly provides theory and examples of strong persuasion techniques, in a humorous format. Here are my big takeaways that business leaders can use in their daily communications.

Repetition is vital. For example, let’s say that you’ve told your employees that customer focus is vital to the company’s continued success. Adams would have you repeat it in every conversation with employees, every speech, and every written statement. Bright people often think that if they’ve said it once, the point has been made. No, the point needs to be repeated.

Early in my corporate career one of my colleagues was intent on working exactly as he had worked at a previous job. I would have fired him if I had been the boss. But our manager had an approach based on repetition. He mentioned in a hallway conversation with the problem employee that our department needs to be highly tuned in to the needs of our internal customers. And then two days later I overheard the manager making the exact same statement in a casual chat with the same employee. And again the next day, in an entirely different context, he restated his theme in virtually identical words. And it worked. It took a couple of months, but the employee whom I would have fired re-oriented his work to serve our internal customers. Repetition made the point important and memorable.

Imagery is valuable as a persuasion technique, as Donald Trump demonstrated when he said, “We’re going to build a wall.” Trump had no visual aid, but everyone imagined a wall. Big and beautiful, Trump suggested, and everyone got the “big” if not the “beautiful.” Adams points out that a more nuanced version would have described it as a secure border system, consisting of a wall in some place, fencing at other locations, with electronic surveillance in other geographies. A wonkish politician loves to display a grasp of details and nuance. Trump, instead, provided a vision of what he wanted.

When critics argued that a wall was not appropriate for the entire length of our border with Mexico, Trump conceded the point but kept referring to a wall. That discussion provided repetition. Yes, repetition pops up even when the subject is imagery. And when Trump’s opponents raised questions about the cost, Trump replied that he would get Mexico to pay for it. More arguments. Adams says that once you are arguing about how to pay for it, you’ve won the battle of the wall’s desirability.

After repetition and imagery, Adams third major theme is strong phrasing. “Make America great again” is a strong phrase. It has hard sounds, and the words are strong: make, America, and great.  His opponent’s first campaign slogan was “I’m with her.” Softer sounds, no strength in the specific words, and a focus on “her” rather than the country. The Clinton campaign tried other slogans, finally settling on “Stronger together,” which was much stronger, but not nearly as good as Make America Great Again. (And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump.)

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Persuasion isn’t just for marketing. Every business leader persuades staff members to work in alignment with corporate values and strategy. Every business leader persuades suppliers and support companies to provide great service at good prices. Most top executives spend more time trying to persuade others than they do plotting strategy. So let’s get better at persuasion.

Scott Adams has a great introduction to the subject in his new book, Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter. Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, has been studying persuasion for years, and his book reflects the serious research of people like Robert Cialdini. Adams uses Donald Trump’s campaign as an illustration of world-class persuasion techniques.

courtesy of Portfioio/Penguin Random House

Scott Adams' Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don't Matter

Whether you like President Trump or not, Win Bigly provides theory and examples of strong persuasion techniques, in a humorous format. Here are my big takeaways that business leaders can use in their daily communications.

Repetition is vital. For example, let’s say that you’ve told your employees that customer focus is vital to the company’s continued success. Adams would have you repeat it in every conversation with employees, every speech, and every written statement. Bright people often think that if they’ve said it once, the point has been made. No, the point needs to be repeated.

Early in my corporate career one of my colleagues was intent on working exactly as he had worked at a previous job. I would have fired him if I had been the boss. But our manager had an approach based on repetition. He mentioned in a hallway conversation with the problem employee that our department needs to be highly tuned in to the needs of our internal customers. And then two days later I overheard the manager making the exact same statement in a casual chat with the same employee. And again the next day, in an entirely different context, he restated his theme in virtually identical words. And it worked. It took a couple of months, but the employee whom I would have fired re-oriented his work to serve our internal customers. Repetition made the point important and memorable.

Imagery is valuable as a persuasion technique, as Donald Trump demonstrated when he said, “We’re going to build a wall.” Trump had no visual aid, but everyone imagined a wall. Big and beautiful, Trump suggested, and everyone got the “big” if not the “beautiful.” Adams points out that a more nuanced version would have described it as a secure border system, consisting of a wall in some place, fencing at other locations, with electronic surveillance in other geographies. A wonkish politician loves to display a grasp of details and nuance. Trump, instead, provided a vision of what he wanted.

When critics argued that a wall was not appropriate for the entire length of our border with Mexico, Trump conceded the point but kept referring to a wall. That discussion provided repetition. Yes, repetition pops up even when the subject is imagery. And when Trump’s opponents raised questions about the cost, Trump replied that he would get Mexico to pay for it. More arguments. Adams says that once you are arguing about how to pay for it, you’ve won the battle of the wall’s desirability.

After repetition and imagery, Adams third major theme is strong phrasing. “Make America great again” is a strong phrase. It has hard sounds, and the words are strong: make, America, and great.  His opponent’s first campaign slogan was “I’m with her.” Softer sounds, no strength in the specific words, and a focus on “her” rather than the country. The Clinton campaign tried other slogans, finally settling on “Stronger together,” which was much stronger, but not nearly as good as Make America Great Again. (And in case you’re wondering, I didn’t vote for Donald Trump.)

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