In his new book, Pre-Suasion, “Godfather of influence" Robert Cialdini has added a 7th principle of persuasion to the 6 he described 40 years ago in Influence.
He calls it unity.
Unity is less a principle of persuasion and more one of "pre-suasion."
Pre-suasion refers to the means to get agreement with a message before it's ever sent.
Unity means shared identity.
Belonging to a family, a race, a neighborhood, a club, a party, a polity, or some other group automatically predisposes you to agreeing with messages sent by other members.
Cialdini illustrates unity's persuasive power by citing Warren Buffet’s 2014 shareholder letter—considered "the best annual letter ever."
Content and copywriters, take heed!
Buffet guarantees his market predictions are accepted by readers by including this simple opening paragraph:
Now let’s take a look at the road ahead. Bear in mind that if I had attempted 50 years ago to gauge what was coming, certain of my predictions would have been far off the mark. With that warning, I will tell you what I would say to my family today if they asked me about Berkshire’s future.
