Glossary
People want to give back when you’ve given first.
A researcher who spent years inside sales and fundraising organisations worked out why people say yes. The principles (reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, scarcity, and later unity) show up in most asks that work. The point of learning them is not to manipulate. It is to stop making asks that ignore how people actually decide.
The practical version: give before you ask (reciprocity). Get a small yes before the big one (consistency). Show that people like them are already doing it (social proof). Be likeable, which mostly means warm (liking). Show why you are credible, briefly (authority). Be honest about what is limited (scarcity). And where it is true, frame it as “us” (unity).
That’s reciprocity, then consistency.
Examples from the course that use it.
“Thursday’s meeting clashes with the engineering release. I’d like to move it to Friday at ten. You get the engineers in the room instead of their apologies. Can I send the new invite today?” Reciprocity would be a stretch here, so you leave it out. Four sentences, one principle, honest.