The Seven Levers
Reciprocity · Commitment & consistency · Social proof · Authority · Liking · Scarcity · Unity.
- Evidence
- proven
- Topic
- Influence
- Things to do
- 4
- Read
- 1 min
provenHow strong is the evidence?
Tested again and again, by different people, and it keeps coming out the same. You can lean on this.
- Robert Cialdini, Influence (1984, rev. 2021)
- unity added in Pre-Suasion (2016)
Why it works
These are shortcuts that are usually right, which is why they work and why they can be exploited. Knowing them tells you both what to use and when you are being used.
What to do about it
- Give first and specifically, before asking — reciprocity is the strongest and most misused of the seven.
- Get a small public commitment before asking for the large one.
- Social proof works best when the referents are similar to the person: “people on your street”, not “customers”.
- Unity is shared identity, not similarity: “we're both from Bihar” beats “we both like cricket”.
Where people go wrong
Manufacturing scarcity or proof you don't have. The levers work once; a caught fake ends the relationship.
Read next
- Give a Reason, Any ReasonCompliance with a small request rose from 60% to 93% when the ask included the word “because” — even with a meaningless reason.solid
- Small Yes FirstAgreement to a tiny request substantially raises agreement to a much larger related one later.solid
- Name What They're Feeling“It seems like…” / “It sounds like…” — naming the other side's emotion defuses it and gets you information.solid
- Repeat Their Last Three WordsReflecting the other person's own words back — as a question — makes them keep talking and makes them like you.solid