Reading books can broaden your mind, whether you’re studying for an exam or whether you’re trying to be the best leader that you can be.
The field of psychology arguably has more to offer than any other because the study of the human brain can help us understand the way our minds work.
It can be hugely beneficial to have a thorough grounding in some key concepts when you’re trying to win new business or land a sale.
Let’s take a look at seven of the best psychology books on the market for people who want to help and influence others.
1. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
by Robert Cialdini
You can tell what this book is about from the title alone. Cialdini takes the reader through some of the different psychological techniques that salesmen and other “compliance practitioners” use to convince people to say yes when they would normally say no.
You can learn how to harness the author’s six weapons of influence to have the same effect on your own leads and prospects.
2. How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
Carnegie’s book is arguably one of the most influential non-fiction books of all time, up there on a par with Sun Tzu’s The Art of War in terms of how popular it is among businessmen and self-improvement advocates.
It’s about little things like remembering people’s names and treating them as though they’re the most important person in the world that will help you become more popular, more charismatic, and ultimately more influential.
3. Everything is Negotiable: How to Get the Best Deal Every Time
by Gavin Kennedy
This book is all about striking deals, which are the foundations of modern business.
Kennedy shares ten top tips to help you to negotiate better deals for yourself which can be applied in a wide variety of different situations, and by getting better deals, you can get more out of your life and work.
4. What Everybody is Saying
by John Navarro
Everybody has something to say. We’re not talking about the average thing that comes out of people’s mouths, but rather how subtle differences in their body language can tell us what people are actually thinking.
5. Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage
by Paul Ekman
This book shares the science behind Fox TV’s Lie To Me and takes a look at how to spot a lie, whether you’re in the office or whether you’re catching your kids out.
Much research has been carried out into how and why we lie about things. This book builds on those studies to provide a fantastic overview of how lies and our lives are interlinked.
6. The Like Switch
by Jack Shafer
This book is written by an ex-FBI agent and is almost like a modern-day equivalent of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People.
The interesting thing about it is that Schafer has a simple suite of universally identifiable friend signals that can help you make friends with anyone of any nationality, regardless of whether you speak the same language or not.
7. What’s Your Bias?
by Lee de-Wit
This new release is all about the different ways that people think and use the latest research to show that our political divides might not be as black and white as we think.
Most importantly, it provides some actionable tips for meeting in the middle ground and establishing a rapport with people, no matter whether you agree with them or not.
This is good news if you want to progress in your career because sometimes you’ll have to work with people who you wouldn’t necessarily pick out if you had a choice.
Conclusion
Stephen King famously called books “a uniquely portable magic”, and that’s equally true whether we’re talking about horror novels or non-fiction books like these with life-changing messages inside them.
That said, psychology isn’t magic. It’s a science, and it’s ready and waiting for you to harness it.
Get started by reading one of these seven life-changing books today. You won’t regret it.
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Which Psychology Books Have Helped You Influence People?
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