Free Methods of Persuasion: How to Use Psychology to Influence Human Behavior by Nick Kolenda Page A

head from side to side while listening to the broadcast. The researchers found that, compared to students who shook their head from side to side, students who tested the sound quality by nodding their head developed a greater positive attitude toward the message in the broadcast. Due to the strong association between head nodding and agreement, getting people to nod their head before you make your request can trigger a more agreeable state of mind.
    How can you get your target to nod her head? Luckily, head nodding is a type of gesture that’s fairly easy to nonverbally extract. Whenever you’re speaking to someone, you can usually pause or raise your eyebrows to nonverbally communicate when you want that person to acknowledge one of your points, which can then trigger a head nod.
    During the moments leading up to your actual request, you should make several of those nonverbal cues for acknowledgement so that you can condition your target to nod her head. Not only would her attitude become more open-minded because of embodied cognition, but those frequent head nods will also trigger a form of inertia. If you condition your target to nod her head multiple times before you make your request, she’ll feel motivated to remain consistent with those responses by making an affirmative response to your request (the psychology behind that concept is explained in the next chapter).
    Exposed Chest. Uh-oh. You’re a store clerk, and a robber just busted through your door and pointed a gun at you. What would be your initial reaction? Most people in this situation would immediately react by throwing their arms into the air with their palms pointed outward. When people want to communicate that they’re open and they have nothing to hide, they often hold their palms outward with their arms spread to reveal their chest.
    Likewise, when people feel closed-minded, they often cross their arms or hold an object in front of them to block their chest. People often block their chest when they’re feeling defensive or closed-minded because it serves as a symbolic defense to prevent new information from penetrating their thoughts and attitudes.
    If you watch a video of Nixon’s speech when he defends himself against the Watergate scandal, after he says, “I’m not a crook. I’ve earned everything I’ve got,” he immediately steps back from the podium and crosses his arms in front of his chest, as if he wanted to make that statement and retreat without any further questions or inquiries. It reminds me of a child who insults one of his peers and then immediately plugs his ears to prevent his friend from making a “comeback.”
    Because we associate crossing our arms with greater defensiveness, this position can trigger an unyielding attitude (Bull, 1987). In fact, people in one study were able to solve significantly more anagrams when they were induced to cross their arms because that body language triggered a more persistent attitude (Friedman & Elliot, 2008). Although persistency is typically considered a positive trait, a persistent attitude will dramatically reduce your chances of gaining compliance because you’ll be less likely to change someone’s attitude.
    Instead of combating that persistency, it would be much more favorable for you to wait until your target’s body language is more conducive for persuasion. Because an exposed chest (e.g., no crossed arms, no objects being held) triggers a more agreeable attitude, that type of body language can enhance your persuasion. Rather than make your request while your target is holding an object (e.g., texting on her phone), you should wait until her hands are empty and her chest is exposed (e.g., her arms aren’t crossed).
    Posture. Finally, your target’s posture is another form of body language that can trigger a more favorable attitude. Although not necessarily connected to open-mindedness, there are a few types of attitudes associated with posture that can help enhance your