Influence

Before buying it, I looked up whether I needed to read the first one. Turns out the 2.0 isn't a sequel; it's the revised and expanded edition of the same book, so I went straight to it. It was the third or fourth book I'd read on communication and persuasion, and I don't regret it.

Cialdini organises persuasion into principles: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, scarcity and unity. It isn't a salesman's opinion; it's research, experiments, field cases. For anyone studying this, that makes a difference, because you can see the mechanism behind the trick.

After reading it, you start noticing the principles at work all the time. The stock counter running down on a website, testimonials on a landing page, free samples at the supermarket. Working in product, I started looking at a checkout screen and recognising which principle each element is trying to trigger. I also started recognising when they're trying to trigger it in me.

Each principle comes with a lot of examples, and in some chapters I'd got the point well before he finished proving it. The defence part, on how not to be manipulated, could also be more practical.

Very good for anyone who has never studied the subject, because it adds a huge amount. For those who have already read a lot about persuasion, it works as a reference, but the impact is smaller.