Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
New and Expanded · 2021
His best-known book introduces you to the seven principles that lead people to agree. Learn more about Influence.
Books by Dr. Robert Cialdini
Dr. Cialdini's books on influence.
His books have sold more than 12 million copies in 52 languages.
Compare the main titles to find the right book for you.
Featured books
Featured books on influence and persuasion.
Pre-Suasion
2016
This bestseller shows you how to prepare people to listen in the moment before you make your case. Learn more about Pre-Suasion.
Yes!
2008
This bestseller gives you 50 short, research-backed ways to be more persuasive. Learn more about Yes!.
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The books
Two books to start with.
Dr. Cialdini has written several books on how influence works and how to use it well.
It started with Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (1984), which set out the principles that lead people to agree to a request.
Yes! (2008) and The Small BIG (2014), written with Steve Martin and Noah Goldstein, turned the research into short, practical changes you can make to what you say.
Pre-Suasion (2016) moved to the moment before you ask: how what people focus on first changes how they respond.
Most recently, the New and Expanded edition of Influence (2021) added a seventh principle, unity.
Find these books on Amazon or at a local bookstore. Or read how the research began: Dr. Cialdini's biography.
Start here
Influence, the book behind the seven principles of persuasion.
Influence is the go-to guide for understanding why people agree to a request, and why they refuse.
The book asks a simple question, what leads a person to agree?, and shows how the answer helps you at work, at home and every time someone asks something of you.
“'Influence' is one of the best business books of all time.”
Influence, New and Expanded, includes:
- all seven principles, including unity, added in 2021
- the research behind each one, from decades of experiments and years undercover in sales training
- how to spot each principle when someone uses it on you
The moment before
Pre-Suasion: what to do before you ask.
Pre-Suasion is the playbook for anyone who wants people ready to listen before they hear the request.
It shows how what people focus on just before a message changes how they respond, and how to set up that moment ethically.
Pre-Suasion includes:
- the research on how attention shapes the decision that follows
More books
Other books by Dr. Cialdini.
Learn more about the books that have taken the science of influence to millions of readers.
Yes!
2008 · with Steve Martin and Noah Goldstein
Gives you 50 short chapters, each built on published research, with examples from sales, marketing, management and daily life.
The Small BIG
2014 · with Steve Martin and Noah Goldstein
Shows more than 50 small changes in what you say that can make a big difference to how people respond.
Influence: Science and Practice
Academic edition
The academic edition, written for instructors, researchers and students, with deeper treatment of the research behind each principle.
Editions
More editions of Influence.
Influence, Revised Edition
Six-principle edition
The classic six-principle edition, for readers who want the original.
Influence: The Comic
2012
The principles as a graphic novel, for visual learners and new readers.
Finished the book? See how you influence people.
The free Influence Assessment shows which principles you use most and where you lose people.