Persuasion is not about trickery; it’s about understanding how people think, feel, and decide — then communicating in ways that respect their autonomy while making it easier for them to choose what you’re proposing. Whether you’re encouraging a client to try an evidence-based strategy, negotiating at work, or pitching an idea, effective persuasion combines psychological insight with clear, empathetic communication. Here’s a practical, research-informed guide to getting more “

“I always said that I had to put myself in the other person’s place in order to understand them.That’s how others tormented me; they tied me up and did whatever they wanted with me. And I still don’t know how I managed to get out of their place again.” — Titos Patrikios The other-directedness domain is one of the five core schema domains in Jeffrey Yo

Humans are not wired to be neutral observers. From an evolutionary perspective, the mind has developed a strong negativity bias, prioritizing threat-related information because noticing danger increased survival (Baumeister et al., 2001). Today, this bias often leads us to misinterpret ambiguous situations—delayed messages, neutral expressions, minor mistakes—as signs of serious threat or personal failure. This automatic tendency to expect the worst is known as catastrophic t