50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive

I’ve really tried to steer away from all the technogeekery out there, but that’s the only thing I’ve been getting news about these days. So, my apologies if your interests don’t lie in topics like Digital Rights Management or Backup and Recovery procedures. Maybe you will find this book report more interesting… it’s on my request list at the library, so I’ll let you know when I get a chance to read it. Looks phenomenal.

Here’s a good book: Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive by Dr. Robert B. Cialdini et al. This is why I like Cialdini’s new book; the authors get to the point. The book is designed for anyone in business who is interested in becoming better at understanding how to persuade or influence (isn’t that just about everyone?). The book may also help you understand why you decide to do the things you do. Even if you are a researcher or teacher or a medical doctor, and so on, and not a business person, it’s still important to understand how people are (or can be) influenced and persuaded by your words and behaviors. Each chapter focuses on a single question and is no more than 3-5 pages long. If you want to go deeper you can checkout the sources for each chapter in the Notes section. I finished the book in a week of riding the trains to the office.

The Bible Guy

Whenever we get in various circles at church, I often tell the story about how it took four years of waiting for God to open the doorway for me to use my spiritual gifts in church. People will say that they’ve tried this ministry or that ministry and nothing appeals to them. Well, there’s two reasons for that.

Ministry is not a visit to the Golden Corral. You don’t just show up, fill up your plate, try a bunch of food, and throw away what you don’t like. You also don’t select a ministry indiscriminately. If you enjoy working with children, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be happy and fulfilling God’s will for your life serving communion. Those of you studying MGT 205 will recognize this as the halo effect, the tendency to believe that competency in one area equates to competency in all areas.

Ministry is an outreach of your spiritual gifts. Billy Graham has a gift for evangelism. Therefore, his ministry is to preach on crusades. Your local pastor has pastoral gifts that allow him to lead the church. My wife has gifts of exhortation, which she uses in song to lead worship at church. You take the gifts that God has given to you, and then you channel them into a useful ministry. It took 4 years for the door to open where I could get involved in writing at church. Now, I am writing for VBS, for Christmas specials, and other projects.

Anyway, if you are unsure of your gifts, you should look online for tests to discover your spiritual gifts. Then, ask God to use those gifts to make an impact in His kingdom.