HBR's 10 Must Reads on Communication (with featured article “The Necessary Art of Persuasion,” by Jay A. Conger)

people really do defer to experts.

individuals are more likely to keep promises they make voluntarily and explicitly

people tend to treat you the way you treat them

people are more willing to cooperate with those who are not only like them but who like them

people are more likely to follow someone who is similar to them

when it comes to making tough, high-stakes choices that involve many complex considerations and serious consequences, people tend to resort to a single, dominant style. Call it a default mode of decision making

Each decision is influenced by both reason and emotion, but the weight given to each of these elements during the decision-making process can vary widely depending on the person

In our experience, people can vastly improve their chances of having their proposals succeed by determining who the chief decision maker is among the executives they are trying to persuade and then tailoring their arguments to that business leader’s decision-making style.

can vastly improve their chances of having their proposals succeed by determining who the chief decision maker is among the executives they are trying to persuade and then tailoring their arguments to that business leader’s decision-making style

All too often, people make the mistake of focusing too much on the content of their argument and not enough on how they deliver that message.