The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say "Yes" in 8 Minutes or Less!

by Kevin Hogan

New secrets to getting what you want every time
The Science of Influence shows readers how to get anyone to say "yes" in eight minutes or less. Synthesizing the latest research in the field of influence with real-world tested experiences, it presents simple secrets that help readers turn a "no" into a "yes." Every secret in this book has been rigorously tested, validated, and found reliable academically and in the real world.
Readers learn dozens of all-new techniques and strategies for influencing others including how to reduce resistance to rubble; send unconscious nonverbal messages that are consciously undetectable; make people feel instantly comfortable in your presence; decode body language; build credibility; and be persistent without being a pain.
The Science of Influence turns the enigmatic art of influence and persuasion into a science anyone can master.
Kevin Hogan, PsyD (Eagan, MN), is a dynamic motivational speaker and expert on unconscious influence and body language for the BBC, the New York Post, and such popular magazines as Cosmopolitan and Playboy. He teaches Persuasion and Influence at the University of St. Thomas Management Center. He is the author of 12 books including bestsellers such as Irresistible Attraction: Secrets of Personal Magnetism and The Psychology of Persuasion.

Genres: Psychology, Business, Self Help, Nonfiction, Communication, Leadership, Ebooks

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2004

About the author

Kevin Hogan is the author of 22 books. He is best known for his international best selling book, The Psychology of Persuasion: How to Persuade Others to Your Way of Thinking.

In the past decade he has become the Body Language Expert and Unconscious Influence Expert to ABC, Fox, The BBC, The New York Times, The New York Post and dozens of popular magazines like Forbes,Investors Business Daily,InTouch, First for Women, Success!, and Cosmopolitan.

He has become the go-to resource for analyzing key White House figures.

Hogan has taught Persuasion and Influence at the University of St. Thomas Management Center and is a frequent media guest. Articles by and about him have appeared in Success!, Redbook, Office Pro,, Selling Power, Cosmopolitan, Maxim, Playboy and numerous other publications. He was recently featured in a half dozen magazines (including wProst) in Poland.

Kevin is a dynamic, well-known international public speaker, consultant and corporate trainer. He has trained persuasion, sales and marketing skills to leaders in the government of Poland, employees from Mutual of Omaha, Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks, Cargill, Pillsbury, Carlson Companies, Fortis Insurance, Great Clips, the State of Minnesota, 3M, The United States Postal Service and numerous other Fortune 500 companies. He recently spoke to The Inner Circle and at the Million Dollar Roundtable (MDRT) convention in Las Vegas.

His keynotes, seminars and workshops help companies sell, market and communicate more effectively. His cutting edge research into the mind and keen understanding of consumer behavior create a unique distillation of information never before released to the public. Each customized program he leads is fit specifically to the needs of the group or organization. Kevin will give your people new and easy to implement ideas to achieve excellence.

Reviews

[John Wignall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Manipulative techniques that make me sad for humanity.

Are sales people really that dead inside?

[Abdullah Baghawitah · Rating 5 out of 5]

إذا كنت تبحث عن العلم الحقيقي للتأثير فهذا الكتاب هو الأفضل برأيي، لقد سعى كيفين هوجان لاختصار المئات من الأبحاث المتعلقة بالتأثير و الإقناع و عصرها في كتاب يحمل خلاصة ما قرأه و أطلع عليه، هذا الكتاب أكثر من رائع و بلاشك سأقرؤه مرات و مرات.

[Candleflame23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

مناسب جدا للراغبين بالتأثير على الجماهير .

[Sabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so conflicted about this book. The content is interesting, and likely very valuable to those in sales. However, it is presented so poorly that it is difficult to make use of the material.

[Kamal · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب فيه أفكار حلوة جدًا عن البيع والإقناع والتأثير.
وبيبدأ من حيث انتهت الكتب الأشهر في المجال ده وبيضيف عليهم كمان.

كتاب مهم للبيّاعين والمسوّقين والكوبي رايترز.
وضروري للإفلات من قبضة النصابين والمتلاعبين.

[Loy Machedo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loy Machedo’s Book Review - The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say "Yes" in 8 Minutes or Less! By Kevin Hogan.

I came to know of Kevin Hogan through Jeffrey Gitomer’s Vegas Seminar. He was one of the Speakers featured at the Seminar and so I eagerly waited for his turn to come up on to the stage and speak. Seems he was the best in the country – so why not!
He walked up on to the stage and then it began.
First my eagerness turned into surprise, from surprise to disgust and then it was just absolute boredom – with me waiting for him to finish his talk so that I could listen to the next speaker.

I have no idea what he spoke about. The only thing I do recollect is that he was horrible.

Now, when I found out he was the author of this book I purchased accidentally – which supposedly was a best seller, I kind of had the feeling that may be I misjudged this guy. May be it was one of those ‘bad-hair-day’ kind of moments for him. May be he was a good Speaker, Writer and Trainer. I mean you can’t blame me for a guy having a bad opinion because he gave a bad speech and then he has a website that sucks!

So now comes his book.

Let me tell you this bit. I browsed online to see what were the reviews others had about his book and I was a wee-bit surprised that he was practically hammered by his critics.

For instance, his book title ‘The Science of Influence: How to Get Anyone to Say "Yes" in 8 Minutes or Less!’, valid questions were being asked as to Why 8 minutes? Why not 9? Or 11? What about 4 minutes or less? Who came up with this number?

And then the other critics hammered him of plagiarism – taking material from Robert Cialdini’s book to using material borrowed from the works of Kahneman and Tversky. He was also profoundly criticized to making the book bland, boring and bitter. In fact the most humorous of them all was the mockery of his ‘models’ with ambitious scientific sounding names like "Delta model", "Omega Strategies" or "Secret of Oscillation".

In fact if I had any criticisms about this book, it would be simply this – the material was repetitive and rephrased to sound new over and over again to the point you would just turn back the previous pages to see if he had accidentally repeated those phrases. In fact, my biggest shock was this. At first I was totally mesmerized by his book and concepts. However, after I finished reading this book and when I began writing notes, I realized he had just simply dragged on a singular concept and made it sound totally sophisticated and powerful with his so called ‘subliminal’ use of words. And this in turn can be made to look manipulative in nature. So overall, it would give you the feeling the author is trying to take you on a ride, rather than sincerely educate you towards becoming a Master at the Art of Persuasion.

So does this book have nothing at all to offer you other than these critical points?

Not actually.

The very fact that I was drawn to this book with a sense of curiosity and intrigue is proof enough that there was something worthwhile about this book. In fact, the desire to get into shape and lose my belly is all thanks to Kevin Hogan who clearly put it that if we do not focus on looking attractive – the chances of success come down considerably – something that I believe totally. (but here the question is why isn’t he following his own advice?)

So what’s the final verdict?

A book that would have people either finding it a total waste of time or a book that can give you a few nuggets. So since I found it in between two worlds, I would still give him a few plus points based on the fact that though most of it was just over-hyped fluff, the few good worthwhile points (20%) was worth purchasing the book. Only suggestion Mr. Hogan – please redo your website, find out why the hell your book is being shared all over the world wide web for free( I downloaded a free copy though I purchased the original from Amazon) and finally, please for Jupiter’s sake – improve the content of your Public Speaking Appearances.

Overall Rating
4 out of 10.

Loy Machedo
loymachedo.com

[Billie Pritchett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kevin Hogan's Science of Influence is about how to influence people, in work or daily life. When I first saw this title, I was afraid of it, thinking, like some other people out there, I'm sure, that the word 'influence' as a noun or verb is often synonymous 'manipulation' or 'manipulate,' respectively. But that implies that the intention is sinister. The truth is that even though someone who is unscrupulous could used these tools for ill, that is not the intention.

Hogan basically wants to show people that due to a number of genetic tendencies and psychological mechanisms people could be influenced using different strategy sets, either to set conditions for the sale or to provide people with reasons to accept an offer. Anybody from a person trying to resolve conflicts with his or her significant other to a top-level salesperson could benefit from this knowledge, and nobody should be without it. Many of the strategies, you'll notice, you already use in everyday life, no matter what your problem or line of work may be, but this is just a more systematic and well-supported version of that information, in large part.

The reason I did not give it more stars, by the way, is because there were parts of the book that could have benefited from being a little better organized or some of the conceptual distinctions being clearer. For example, in one part of the book Hogan provides a list of characteristics a person should have or acquire before he or she wants to convince another person of something. Among the listed were "competence" and "expertise." Then later when talking about what competence is, he writes that it's identical to expertise. Then what of the conceptual distinction? This might seem a minor quibble, but the reader will see other kinds of examples; this is just the first that comes to mind.

[TheGirlWithTheHeartShapedGlasses · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a useful book for people running business than other self-help books.There are so many tricks which is based on researches.Like changing your voice,breathing and movements according to another person,showing future and possible regrets people for persuading them on an idea,changing personal environment and including family factors etc. to affect people,scaring people and then giving them solutions to persuade them for an opinion,changing form of sentences to increase purchases,talking about somethings downsides too so that you can look more honest etc.In brief book has ideas which should be considered.But I have to say that those methods might corrupt the nature of communication(by manipulation) and the idea of its based on using people's weaknesses does not seem too ethical to me.

[JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was unexpectedly impressed by this book.. Based on the title, I anticipated a lot of NLP-style techniques. (I even selected it on that basis, thinking it would provide me some examples at the other end of the spectrum to reference in an upcoming presentation. Instead, I found a very readable presentation, grounded in real psychology, but written for practical, everyday use. Hogan's sensational title follows his own principles about framing and getting small commitments right away. Many of the specific selling tactics I'm now more likely to guard against than use, but his book is definitely credible and instructive.

[Memmedaga Memmedov]

Yazarın daha önce okumuş olduğum 'Konuşarak İkna Psikolojisi' kitabında da okuyucu satış elemanıymış gibi anlatıldığı yerler vardı ama bu kitabında bu durum daha ağır basmış.
Halbuki her konuda karşıdaki kişiyi ikna edip onay alma durumu olabilir. Örneğin, bir bayana evlenme teklif edeceğim, 'evet' cevabı almak için kitabı okuyorum diyelim, pek bir katkısı olmayacaktır. Sektör olarak Pazarlama/Satış bölümünde olmadığım için yarıda bırakmak durumunda kaldım.

[Elwirka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kevin Hogan way of writting is very unpleasant for me. Chaotic and not ordered, his books seems to be written from head, without an effort to make it pleasant to read and well accessible for reader. However his knowledge is valueable and his observations are suprisingly accurate. Lot of inspirations for non-profit campaigns and interesting facts about marketing oriented on women.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

A straightforward title for this book would be: "How to Manipulate in 8 Minutes or Less!"

[Eslam · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب في المجمل حلو بالرغم من انة مشابة ل كتب كتير في مجال المبيعات بس الاسلوب حلو

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Certainly an influential book!

The author has a doctorate in psychology, and this shows quite dramatically in his book, which covers many varied aspects of influence. His sources include research in basic psychology, choice, learning, sales, and marketing. From this knowledge base, Hogan in his 320-page book develops numerous influence/persuasion applications that extend not only to the previously mentioned areas, but to advertising, politics, and different genders.

There’s certainly a lot one can learn from this book, and it’s an excellent general resource for improving one’s leadership, sales, leadership, and general persuasion techniques. I must say, however, that I don’t recall (unless I somehow missed it) the author proving his subtitle’s claim: “How to get anyone to say Yes in 8 minutes or less.” Unless, of course, the reader somehow memorizes and becomes well-practiced in all the methods the author presents…or uses his fine index.

For me, the best take-away is that found very near the end of the book on page 282, where the author discusses anti-authority message reactance (aka polarity response, as with N-N magnet repulsion): “You can’t have an authoritarian message and expect the customer to say yes. …You are pushing their anti-authority button. You are telling them they are stupid, or worse, that you are smarter than they are! If the pressure you use is directly from you and it is perceived as a win/lose, the other person says no, and they hit the brakes and dig in for a fight, defending their position more vigorously every second of the way.” The author then briefly discusses a slight exception or two; however, one need only go back to the beginning of the book to find innumerable work-arounds and strategic how-tos. You’ll also find on page 91 a way to reduce, often to your benefit, polarity responses in yourself.

Bottom-line, read this book to become more persuasive! No, wait, that might be too authoritarian. Here’s another try: As a fellow author, I highly recommend it, and look how many other reviewers do, too!

[Manar Ahmed · Rating 1 out of 5]

تضيع وقت

[Ram Ramalingam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never understood the allure in the Dale Carnagie, Cialdini schools of books until I read this one. This is a modern rendition of those old classics, and hence thankfully a little more scientific. About half the book brings out good ideas on cognitive science and behavioural economics that cause certain ideas, presented in a certain way to be more effective and better received by the world at large. Some of the book (the earlier parts - delta method etc) was the classic snake-oil stuff that Dale tried to sell.

On the whole, certainly worth a read and repeated referring. Is a good reference companion to serious reader, when accompanied with good books like - Thinking Fast and slow, or other Dan Ariely type books.

[Haytham Badawey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books is one of the best books I've read so far. The author analyzes influence tools and techniques from both scientific (psychological) perspective and practical perspective.

The book discusses how people usually make decisions based on trivial criteria and not on rational reasoning, which is a good opportunity for manipulating them into following the choices you provide them, it's straight forward, but needs to be read multiple times.

The chapters are concise and to the point, this book is very interesting and amusing! I totally recommend it.

[NH_ELT · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book is mainly written for business people,sales.But it has general informations for general audience too.there are several clever techniques that could improve your sales if they are correctly applied.I think,you should note down these,while reading.Also,the book has some facts about human mind and how people make choices,decisions.these are quite interesting.I like these parts more than other parts.I would love to read other books of the author for mind-matters,body anguage e.t.c.You should take a look!

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still reading this book, and learning more about myself in it. It is persuasive, in that it offers a unique, psychological look at why we do the things we do. He addresses the roles of the conscious and non-conscious in decision making. It's quite a perspective! I've ordered it to have on my shelf. I think I'll open it once in a while in future to remind me of what I've learned.

[Nakul Shenoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin Hogan has shared on persuasion and effective communication through his various books. In this one, he shares specific actionable information to influence anybody - especially a sales target - in minutes. There is much useful insight here even if you have read some of his other books. If you deal with people, the Science of Influence is a must read.

[Tadas Talaikis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Advertising of this book worked for me, but nothing really paradigm shifting. Being rule breaker a lot, I simply can't follow conformism way of old-school. "Pitch anything" by Oren Klaff for that has much simpler and thus better algo: either you win with your alpha-status or lose in every social interaction. No need for complicated many times heard checklists like in this book.

[Mansor Al-shehri · Rating 3 out of 5]

الكتاب رائع سيفيدك كثيراً لو أردت التأثير بالآخرين ، لا أريد المبالغة في أنه سيغير الكثير من قناعاتك الشخصية .
لكنه سيضيف إليك أشياء تفتقدها ويصحح بعض المفاهيم المغلوطه عندك وكيف تصبح اكثر واقعية.
الجميل في الكتاب أنه حوى بعض التمارين الجميله .

حقيقة لست مهتم بالجوانب التسويقية والكتاب ربما بنسبة كبيرة يستهدف المسوقين ويعلمهم كيفية اقناع الزبائن بشراء ما يعرضون .

[Priscilla VdL · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author reminds us of some neat tricks to get yourself out there...networking and such... I liked the examples that he wrote about, gets you in a different perspective.
There are some repetitions that you know can be to repetitive.

[Agit Ö. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kitabın adı gerçekten iddaalı ve zekice . Ama kitabı okuyunca adının mübalağa edilmniş olduğunu anlıyorsunuz! Kitabı okuyunca ''İstediğin kişiye 8 dakika evet dedirtirim' diyebilmek keşke kolay olsa..

[Mahdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best science in the world

[RogerV at Movoxo.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for marketers about specific languaging techniques.

[Katrece]

Saw this on a "shelf" we'll see

[Ozkan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While he was telling about the science of influence, I felt a bit stressed about the idea, he might be trying to make me think what he wants me to think the way he thinks! except, must read!

[Moe · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 sep started

[Samer Chidiac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind challenging book... But I loved it!