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I saw a statistic which says that 95 percent of what we know about the human brain has been learned in the last ten years. Science is just beginning to understand how the most complicated organ in the human body functions. Neuroscientists now have the technology to observe the brain in action through the recent development of brain imaging technology.

Dr. Richard Restak produced a five part series for PBS called The Secret Life of the Brain and he has also written a book with the same title. From the episode on the adult brain, he reaches the following conclusion – “we are not thinking machines, but rather feeling machines that think”. The fundamental paradigm shift that this has caused is that logic and reason is not the primary method to persuade and influence people, but rather it is emotional stimuli.

The most successful people in any endeavor are those who have a high degree of persuasive abilities. Two people can be selling the same exact product, yet one outperforms the other. The reason is their persuasive abilities. There are basically three ways to get someone to do something that we want them to do – force, negotiation, or persuasion. In today’s business world force doesn’t work very well and negotiation takes a lot of energy and time. Therefore, those who master the science of persuasion are going to be the most effective.

The part of the brain that receives virtually every stimuli is called the amygdala. The amygdala has the option of making an immediate emotional decision or passing the stimuli on to the frontal cortex area of the brain for a laborious analytical evaluation. In his book, The 7 Triggers to Yes, Russell H. Granger has taken this science and additional research and has identified seven factors that result in people making immediate decisions rather than passing the decision on to the frontal cortex for more evaluation.

People who understand these seven triggers and apply them in their interaction with others, will produce greater results. The seven triggers are:

1. Friendship – when someone likes you and trusts you, it is much easier to persuade them
2. Authority – credibility and expertise generate positive responses
3. Consistency – people will respond favorably when what they are asked to do is consistent with beliefs and past experiences
4. Reciprocity – people will give back when they receive something of value from you
5. Contrast – showing our proposal is better than any other alternative gives the person a frame of reference for making a positive response
6. Reason Why – the amygdala seems to accept any valid reason and doesn’t send this to the prefrontal cortex for evaluation or analysis; asking without a reason usually gets a negative response
7. Hope – people are easily persuaded by people who understand their hopes, dreams, and wishes, and can help them to achieve them

These seven triggers apply to all types of business situations. Managers can apply these principles to be more persuasive with their subordinates. Sales people can apply these to more persuasive with their prospects. People can make more persuasive presentations and get what they want more often by applying the seven triggers.