Quote
“What we present first changes the way people experience what we present to them next.”— Robert Cialdini, in Pre-Suasion (2016) · Pre-Suasion →
Why it was said
Robert Cialdini states the thesis of Pre-Suasion in its opening pages: the step before the message, what the audience is attending to when it arrives, decides how the message lands.
What it actually means
Persuasion is usually studied as the content of the argument, and Cialdini's later work moved to the moment before it. A question about adventurousness before a request for help, a photo of clouds on a furniture site, a word held in mind: each changes what the next thing means. The sentence explains why the opening of a meeting, a message or a talk is not a warm-up but the part that decides the rest.
How to use it
- 1Decide what you want the audience attending to before your point, and open with that.
- 2Notice what was put in front of you before a request, and ask whether it was chosen.