Persuasion Engineering Summary

Persuasion Engineering Summary

By Richard Bandler

Persuasion Engineering is a book about the engineering of influence. It also demonstrates many of the Milton Model language patterns, use of metaphors and suggestions. This makes it difficult to summarize, because it’s not just about the content.

Check out Persuasion Engineering at Amazon

Persuasion is helping people make the right decision.

No matter what you think you sell, you are really selling feelings, for example, comfort or safety. Because of this, you need to find out what feelings they want and how they interpret these in verbal and non-verbal ways.

Canned rituals – the only way you can make more money is by prospecting more and spending more time. How do you sell the other 70%? Higher closing rates come from being able to vary behaviors until you get the response you want.

When people tell you the result they want, they are really telling you how to get it, not what the real motivation is. You can also add in other dimensions by changing the length of time i.e. from a short term to long-term perspective.

the Selling Process

The two step sales process

  1. You must really want to sell it. It is difficult to sell something you don’t believe in.
  2. Induce a wanton buying state in the customer, then show them the product (state elicitation)


The selling process begins with rapport. The basis of rapport is opening all your senses to notice what is going on, if you go inside your head, you are lost. The purpose of rapport is to influence the situation. The best way to keep rapport is to demonstrate understanding behaviorally. Paraphrasing does not demonstrate understanding, instead deliver back exactly what you see and hear (words and gestures).

One of the easiest ways to start influencing is by noticing the person’s representational systems and matching them. When people are buying, either they know what they want, or they don’t. If they know, then give it to them (this sounds easy, but many sales people don’t do this). Whey they don’t, know, you need to teach them how to buy. You need to anchor the good feelings.

People understand words at the same rate they speak them. For many people, doubt is down to their right (not everyone). By putting the contract in their doubt area, you induce doubt.

We learn from noticing what is different, but like what is the same.

Your State

Your attitude is the result of the way you view the world. If you see yourself as a wimp that’s how you come across. When do you move without hesitation? For example picking up money.

When were you flirtatious courageous humorous? Anchoring these states adds flexibility. Wealth increases as you become more congruent. If you don’t do things in your head to make your world more dynamic, it won’t be.

Maturity can be a terrible thing if it gets you to reduce your behaviors and not have fun at what you do. If you don’t change your behavior to find out how to generate more business, you are not going to do well

You can’t get a positive state in someone if you aren’t in one yourself. You can build a phobia in an instant (building aversions) and keep yourself poor. Which direction does the voice in your head come from?

There is nothing wrong with being compulsive, just make sure you put the right things through the compulsion machine. Where would you like to have a compulsion? Cold calling?

You can build a propulsion machine (something that pushes and pulls you at the same time) in yourself as a motivating force. Notice $100 bills raining down, you can pick them up as soon as you do it

Their State

CIA has in interesting sales program. “Do what we want or we’ll kill you” – what do you want? “We can’t tell you it’s a secret”. People like you to influence them if you do it well – seduction

You want to induce that part of people that’s a wanton consumer also known as a teenager. Tonality is vital to inducing responses.

The ability to master language and the Milton Model, such as the use of embedded commands and tag questions adds an important new dimension to your ability to influence.

Eliciting their Strategy

The best decision strategy includes; movies that have an ending, meet necessary criteria and include the person’s driving modal operators (have to, must, should, can, will etc)

Using present form of the verb even if it occurs in the future makes it more active. Ask your customers what are you “buying” today?

The will to survive is not the strongest instinct; it’s to do what is familiar. We keep doing what doesn’t work.

Learn to ask targeted questions. What information do you actually want? “How much can you spend” is different from “how’s your finances”.

Mental Mapping

Ask questions about when they were totally satisfied with something, watch the location of their eyes. When did they decide something and make the right decision?

A person first retrieves information (notice the eye pattern) and then puts it somewhere. After they retrieve the information, where do they place the picture? They will usually gesture. Do not walk around in their pictures.

Typically, people use their hands to show you their map. They’ll point out their favorite places to put information, time and space in, and how they disregard information. Wants, needs and “like to haves” all have their own space.

Where would be a good place to sell cars – repair places. “I wonder if you can imagine what will break next”.

The easiest way to sell a used car is to have a name for it.

Building a presentation of propulsion – include the things they want, need and like to have, use the right tonality, and the roadmap. You create your own map of the person’s responses by asking questions.


Remember a time when you absolutely had to have something. It seems universal that there is not just a picture, but also a voice from behind. This is often parents telling them what they can have. By getting behind them and talking to them, you can duplicate this and install suggestions.

If you know what the objections are going to be, you can make sure they never occur. If you don’t bring them up, you won’t get them. It’s much easier to not have something in the first place than to overcome it. You can reframe anything in the products favor.

The kinesthetics always win over logic if you can get them on side.

Temporal predicates (time words) are the easiest way to move a problem. You can move it to the past, and move their hopes to the future

It’s other people who induce buyer’s remorse, you need to future pace or inoculate against it.

Click here to add a comment

Leave a comment: