--- title: Advice: 4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research description: Face-to-face persuasion is much more effective than the same message via phone or e-mail canonical: https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-26T13:01:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:42:12.159Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research og:description: Face-to-face persuasion is much more effective than the same message via phone or e-mail og:url: https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7a471b1d1601e39/69885dc6cd1bbae2796fc957/business-people-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: business-people-handshake og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research twitter:description: Face-to-face persuasion is much more effective than the same message via phone or e-mail twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7a471b1d1601e39/69885dc6cd1bbae2796fc957/business-people-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Aug 26, 2015 1:01 PM UTC  Business people shaking hands over conference table Business people shaking hands over conference tableGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Aug 26, 2015 1:01 PM UTC ## 1) Give One Reason, Not 10 Via [Brain Candy: Science, Paradoxes, Puzzles, Logic, and Illogic to Nourish Your Neurons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307588033/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307588033): --- > “” --- (To learn how to get people to like you, click [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/).) ## 2) Make Your Pitch Short And Confident Via [Brain Candy: Science, Paradoxes, Puzzles, Logic, and Illogic to Nourish Your Neurons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307588033/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307588033): --- > “” --- (To learn how to win every argument, click [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/09/how-to-win-every-argument/).) ## 3) People Are More Suggestible When They’re Tired Via [Brain Candy: Science, Paradoxes, Puzzles, Logic, and Illogic to Nourish Your Neurons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307588033/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307588033): --- > “” --- (To learn how FBI hostage negotiators convince people, click [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/hostage-negotiation/).) ## 4) Make Your Request Personal Via [Brain Candy: Science, Paradoxes, Puzzles, Logic, and Illogic to Nourish Your Neurons](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307588033/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0307588033): --- > “” --- (To learn how to use FBI negotiation techniques to lower your bills, click [here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2015/01/lower-your-bills/).) **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/04/4-tips-for-being-more-persuasive/)**_._** **Join over 205,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior Expert](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/10/how-to-get-people-to-like-you/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/"},"headline":"4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research","datePublished":"2015-08-26T13:01:23.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:42:12.159Z","description":"Face-to-face persuasion is much more effective than the same message via phone or e-mail","url":"https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7a471b1d1601e39/69885dc6cd1bbae2796fc957/business-people-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd7a471b1d1601e39/69885dc6cd1bbae2796fc957/business-people-handshake.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"business-people-handshake","caption":"business-people-handshake","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4010652/be-more-persuasive/","name":"4 Secrets to Being More Persuasive, Backed by Research"}}]}] ```