If you are looking for the best books on influence and persuasion, you have come to the right place.
My credentials: I am a sociologist, a psychologist buff, member of the American Psychology Association, and I founded, lead, and focus on the “power dynamics” domain of influence and social skills.
I worked on sales, been very successful in life at influencing people, and I read many books on sales, influence, and persuasion.
And this is my current list of best persuasion books.
11. Pitch Anything
This is the equivalent of The Power Moves applied to VC pitching and persuasion.
Oren Klaff indeed focuses on persuading through understanding power dynamics and coming across as the most powerful man in the room.
At times I feel this attitude might be counterproductive unless you really know what you’re doing and you can counterbalance it with warmth, but power dynamics are certainly something you should learn to improve your persuasion skills.
10. The Art of Closing The Sale
I wanted to put a good book on sale on this list as well.
And The Art of Closing The Sale provides a good overview both in terms of mindsets and in terms of sales techniques.
9. Propaganda
And now by friends, please roll out the red carpet and blow the trombones for… The Godfather of the influencing and persuasion books!
And, between us, the Godfather of media manipulation for the masses as well :).
Propaganda is the equivalent of The Prince for power moves and The Art of War for strategy.
And the most surprising thing?
Some passages are so crazy actually in the Donal Trump era that you will go check the publication date just to be sure you picked the right book!
8. Creating Lasting Change
By T Robbins
Review (removed)
When it comes to the best persuasion books we might want to lend an ear to a guy who’s come from nothing and with no education and built an empire based on coaching and information.
That guy is Tony Robbins and he knows a thing or two about making people follow him.
7. Getting Past No
Getting Past No is an underappreciated gem. Ury has written such “Getting to Yes” and “The Power of a Positive No“, which are equally powerful.
But what’s so special about Getting Past No is that it focuses on difficult negotiation, difficult people, and changing people’s minds when things seem to be escalating and getting stuck.
And you want some of those “difficult people’s skills” in life :).
6. Pre-Suasion
This is the sequel of Influence, but it might have actually been its prequel. Pre-suasion focuses on the science of priming (which newer studies have called into question by the way).
However, “replication crisis” notwithstanding, priming is much more real, and Pre-Suasion will teach a thing or two about preparing the ground for your persuasions.
5. Blindsight
By Johnson and Guhman
Summary | Amazon
This is more large-scale persuasion in the sense of marketing.
But since there is most certainly an overlap between persuasion, influence, and marketing, then we need to reserve a spot for a book like Blindsight, which happens to be one of the very best books at the intersection between marketing and neuroscience.
Plus, there are also plenty of golden nuggets for interpersonal persuasion.
4. Influence
Influence needs no introduction.
And if you need any, then I will presuppose that it’s the first time you are researching information on influencing and persuasion :).
Influence is possibly the biggest seller of all the persuasion books and for good reasons.
A litany of persuasion books that came after it either reference or basically paraphrase Cialdini’s main 6 principles.
3. Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways Ways to Be Persuasive
By J Goldsetein et al
Summary | Amazon
This is a bit like Influence expanded version, providing more examples and more research to give supercharge your power of changing people’s minds (and making more sales, as it adds quite a bit of marketing as well).
2. Methods of Persuasion
You might wonder how a book you probably never heard before is on this list?
And even higher up than “Influence” and “How to Win Friends” -which isn’t even on the list-?
Well, we don’t rank books and courses on popularity.
We rank out of quality and value-added.
Plus, it’s always a pleasure for us to bring to you a few lesser-known books that can be better than the more well-known ones.
What I appreciate most in books on influence like “Methods of Persuasion” is that it does not list a bunch of “triggers” or “techniques”, but instead lays out a more comprehensive approach to interpersonal persuasion.
That makes it highly practical, especially for those looking to persuade and influene others in flesh and blood, rather than with marketing.
Kolenda walks you through a persuasion attempt from before making the request, to after making it with a daily, relatable example.
Methods of Persuasion will likely you make you a better persuader, and I hope more people will follow Kolenda’s example of applying persuasion to everyday interactions.
1. Persuasion, Social Influence, & Compliance Gaining
By Robert H. Gass and John S. Seiter
Summary | Amazon
Persuasion, Social Influence, & Compliance Gaining is deepest, most researched, and most updated resource on persuasion and influence.
As a handbook it’s denser and reference-heavier than most other books on this list. But the authors do a great job weave a cohesive, big-picture view of persuasion, including strategies, techniques, and practical takeaways on how to apply it in your life.
Learn More
Also consider:
- Maximum Influence: Good overview of 12 well-researched influencing principles
- The Social Animal: Not your typical “book on persuasion”. But it shares many golden nuggets on influence and changing people’s minds. It’s based on science and research, and that makes it one of the best resources available.
A Foundational Course For Persuasion
By Lucio Buffalmano
Overview | Reviews
Let’s be real, guys:
No low-value man can easily influence high-value men -or women, for that matter-.
High-value men naturally look down on those who are “below them”.
It’s human nature.
So, in truth, the foundational work to become a persuasive man is to become a high-value man.
THEN, on top, you add this or that technique.
Power University is the ultimate course to become a high-power, high-quality man.
Once people start to look up to you, they will WANT to be influenced by you.
That’s the biggest “secret” of influence and persuasion.
Change Log
- Removed Straight Line Persuasion (April 2025), Jordan Belfort’s course on sales. It made this list thanks to a couple great tips on vocal tonality.
However, the rest of the course was average and a couple of great tips aren’t enough to feature on a list of the top influence and persuasion resources - Added Persuasion: Social Influence and Compliance Gaining as the richest and most updated evidence-based overview on persuasion to date (April 2025)
