Secrets of Power Persuasion: Everything You'll Ever Need to Get Anything You'll Ever Want

I wasn't expecting much because I didn't seek out this book... it just sort of appeared in my life. I've read many books about persuasion and persuasive writing and this is a good one. Dawson's style is easygoing and straightforward. of course if you are more persuaded by individuals with academic credentials you'll want to read Hogan and Cialdini, both of whom proudly display their PHDs. Dawson, the guy is a salesman who made good and went into speaking. No time for a PHD. Working class. Part 3 focuses on charisma and how to develop it. Why ignore that people buy from people they like? You can practice all the sly persuasion wordplay you want and get very Machiavellian, but in truth just working on your charisma is a short-cut to getting what you want. Excellent book. References to NLP only crop up at the end. Dawson's techniques are all real-world tried-and-true things you can apply to a wide range of situations. It's not a book of principles really - it's a book of actual methods.

Some of the topics in this book are just common-sense, some have been widely covered elsewhere and at much greater length (e.g. Cialdini's books on Influence), but all in all this is a lovely selection of the principles of persuasion and some case stories are very entertaining to read. This book is information-rich, but there is still more you may want to learn to enhance your persuasive skills, such as Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Hypnotic Language Patterns.

Wow! I'm impressed! This is one of the best-researched, most thorough books on persuasion that I've had the pleasure of reading. Best of all - it's not just theory. The author, Roger Dawson adds tons of practical examples and applications for each technique. That means you can use this stuff immediately. By far one the best business books I've read in some time.

Great book. Extremely insightful. This book brings together lessons from many other disciplines and supplies new perspectives that are easy to apply. The book is easy to read and a diversified literary and historical background allow you to appreciate the subtle points that really demonstrate expertise in persuasion.

Roger Dawson has a great writing style. He presents lots of information, broken into very easy to grasp chapters, filledwith major point highlights and review questions. A must read for those who wish to better their persuasive powers and selling skills.