Mind Tricks That Win People Over and Help You Get Ahead

When you’re working hard and doing all you can to achieve your goals, anything that can give you an edge is powerful and will streamline your path to success.

Mind tricks won’t make you a Jedi, but using the brain’s natural quirks to your advantage can have a positive impact on everyone you encounter.

None of these tricks are deceitful or disingenuous, except for number six, and I trust that you’ll only use that one with good reason.

As soon as you become aware of these 12 tricks, they start popping up wherever you look. With minimal effort on your part, their unconscious influence on behavior can make a huge difference in your day-to-day life.

1. When a group of people laughs, each member of the group can’t help but make eye contact with the person they feel closest to

This trick can make you an astute observer of relationships of all types. It can tell you which members of your team are bonding and learning to trust one another, just as easily as it can tell you if you might have a shot at landing a date with a certain someone. Of course, you’ll learn a lot about how you feel about other people just by paying attention to whom you make eye contact with.

2. When someone does a favor for you, it actually makes them like you more

When you convince someone to do you a favor, they unconsciously justify why they are willing to do so. Typical justifications include things such as “he’s my friend,” “I like him,” and “he seems like the kind of person who would return the favor.” These justifications serve you perfectly. Not only did you just get help with something, but the other party also likes you more than they did before.

3. Silence gets answers

When you ask someone a question and they’re slow to respond, don’t feel pressure to move the conversation forward. Remaining silent plays to your advantage. Moments of silence make people feel as though they should speak, especially when the ball is in their court. This is a great tool to use in negotiations and other difficult conversations. Just make certain you resist the urge to move the conversation forward until you get your answer.

4. Open hands and palms create trust

There’s an employee policy at LEGOLAND that says whenever someone asks where something is, the employee “presents” (open-palm gesture) their directions instead of “pointing” them. This is because the open-palmed gesture conveys trust, making people more likely to agree with what you’re saying and to find you friendly and likeable. Pointing, on the flip side, is generally seen as aggressive and rude.

5. Nodding your head during a conversation or when asking a question makes the other person more likely to agree with what you’re saying

The next time you need to win someone over to your way of thinking, try nodding your head as you speak. People unconsciously mirror the body language of those around them in order to better understand what other people are feeling. When you nod your head as you speak, you convey that what you’re saying is true and desirable, and people are more inclined to agree with you.

6. If you have to tell a lie, add embarrassing details to make it more believable

The more detailed a lie is, the more likely people are to believe it. When you add detail, people begin to put a picture to your story. When you include embarrassing details, the picture becomes all the more vivid and believable. After all, if you were going to make up a story, you would be much more inclined to make yourself look good.

7. People remember unfinished things better

The natural tendency to remember unfinished things is called the Zeigarnik effect. Ever notice how some television commercials get cut off early? The company paying for the commercial cuts it off so that it sticks in your head longer than other commercials. The best way to forget unfinished things (commercials or songs) is to finish them in your head. If a song gets stuck in your head, try singing the last lines to yourself. You’ll be amazed how quickly it goes away.

8. Chew gum to relax and focus

Chewing gum actually lowers your cortisol levels, the hormone responsible for stress. But chewing gum doesn’t just reduce stress, it also makes you more alert and improves your performance in memory-oriented tasks. It does so by increasing the blood flow to your brain and alerting your senses. When you experience a stressful situation while chewing gum, your body is less likely to go into the primal fight-or-flight mode (which results in poor decisions and inability to focus).

9. People’s feet reveal their interest

When talking to someone, pay attention to their feet. If their feet are aimed at you, they’re interested and listening to what you’re saying, but if their feet point away from you, they’re most likely disinterested and mentally checked out.

10. When you meet someone new, work their name into the conversation in order to remember it

The goal here is to repeat their name three times in the first five minutes. It works extremely well, but the trick is to do it naturally. When you rattle off their name unnecessarily, it sounds foolish and awkward. Try to use phrases like “Hello ____,” “Nice to meet you _____,” and “Where are you from _____.”

11. Showing excitement makes other people like you

This one goes back to the idea that we mirror the behavior of those around us. If you show excitement when you see someone, they naturally mirror that excitement back at you. It’s an easy way to make a strong first impression and to get people to like you.

12. Maintain eye contact for 60% of a conversation

The key to eye contact is balance. While it’s important to maintain eye contact, doing so 100% of the time is perceived as aggressive and creepy. At the same time, if you only maintain eye contact for a small portion of the conversation, you’ll come across as disinterested, shy, or embarrassed. Maintaining eye contact for roughly 60% of a conversation comes across as interested, friendly, and trustworthy.

Mindblowing Mind Tricks You Can Use To Fool All Your Friends 3

19. Let’s say you’re carrying something you don’t want to be carrying. Easy fix, just follow rarabara’s advice: “If you want to get get rid of an object, for example walking with a friend after you bought a 2l coke bottle and want him to carry it, just keep talking to him while handing him the bottle, most of the times people will just take the object automatically without thinking.”

20. Here’s how to win rock, paper, scissors every time: “Right before you are about to count (or interrupt the count) catch the person off-guard with a personal question, or something directed at them. Then immediately after just resume the count like nothing happened. Most of the time the person will throw scissors as a sort of automatic defensive mechanism.”

21. Use your eyes to control people, according to unimatrix_0: “People naturally look in the direction they want to go, so they’ll look at your eyes to ascertain which way you’re heading. This also means you can divert someone else’s path by looking in a direction that would cause a collision.”

22. Finally, the master of them all, according to farceur318: “Go up to someone in a restaurant and tell them to close their eyes and picture a playing card. While they are doing this, eat as much of their food as you can and run away.”

Mindblowing Mind Tricks You Can Use To Fool All Your Friends 2

9. When you tell a joke in a big group of people, the person who you turn to look at first is the person you’re closest to.

10. Do this to someone: Tell them to look into your eyes and say they can’t stop looking.
Ask them what they had for lunch three days ago and chances are they won’t be able to answer. It’s very hard to remember something without moving your eyes.

11. Whispering something to someone almost guarantees that they’ll whisper back.

12. When trying to find something, look right to left instead of left to right. You’re more likely to miss things because your eyes are used to looking one way.

13. If you want someone to believe a totally untrue story, repeat it three separate times adding details each time. For example: “You can say to someone ‘remember that time at school, when Mr Smith accidentally ran over the math teacher in the teacher’s car park?’ The first time they won’t and will question you, but then repeat the same thing later with a couple of details thrown in and the third time you mention it, they will remember it happening.”

14. According to SpenFen, use the power of priming. For example, Tell someone this: “What is the word spelled ‘S-H-O-P’?” Make sure that they say: “Shop.” Then immediately ask them: “What do you do when you come to a green light?” Their answer will likely be wrong.”

15. Having someone do a favor for you is a good way to get them to like you more.

16. If you’re playing a game against someone and you want them to mess up, ask them how exactly they’re playing so well. They’ll overthink it.

17. If you want to mess with someone who’s counting something, say a set of numbers in order instead of saying random numbers. They’re brain will catch onto the pattern.

18. From Two_Times_Thirty: “Bet a friend/family member that they can’t taste the difference between whole/2%/1%/skim milk, or some combination thereof. Blindfold them and have them begin tasting the milks. Now, replace the last milk with orange juice. The brain prepares the body for milk, and the unexpected acidity usually causes a gag reflex, and sometimes vomiting. Keep a bucket handy.”

Mindblowing Mind Tricks You Can Use To Fool All Your Friends

1. Try this game: Ask people these questions, in this order: “What’s 1+1? What’s 2+2? What’s 4+4? What’s 8+8?” Then ask them to name a vegetable. They almost always say carrot.

2. When arguing with someone, act much calmer than them. This can cause them to say something particularly irrational which you can use against them.

3. Nodding your head while asking a question makes the other person more likely to agree with you.

4. When high-fiving, look at their elbow and you’ll never miss.

5. If you have a song stuck in your head that you can’t seem to get out, think of the end of the song and it should go away. This is due to something called the Zeigarnik effect, which is basically your mind having a problem with things left unfinished.

6. If you want to get your child to do something, say, drink milk, do what Tigerlily1510 says: “Ask your son if he wants milk and he’ll say no, but ask him if he wants milk in a blue cup or a red cup and he’ll choose a colour and drink his milk! Magic!”

7. Use silence to your advantage when negotiating. People have a natural tendency to be uncomfortable with silence, and will often do whatever it takes to break it. Just be patient.

8. If you want someone to believe your lie, add an embarrassing detail about yourself. For example: “Instead of saying, “No I wasn’t at Jimson James’ house. I was with Randy the whole time.” Try saying, “No I haven’t been to Jimsons’ in a while. I clogged his toilet so I don’t think his parents want me over there for a while… so me and Randy hung out.”

clever psychological tricks that everyone should know

The following psychological tricks will make your life easier and help you cope with stressful situations. They’re well worth reading.

1. When a group of people laughs, people instinctively look toward the group members they feel closest to (or want to feel closest to).
2. Chew gum or eat food if you’re doing something that would normally make you feel nervous. It tricks a primal part of your brain into thinking you couldn’t be in danger because you’re eating.
3. If somebody is angry at you and you stay calm, they’ll probably get angrier, but they’ll be ashamed at themselves later.
4. If you ask someone a question and they only give you a partial answer, maintain eye-contact and stay silent. The person answering will usually assume that the original answer wasn’t good enough, and they’ll keep talking.
5. Emotional expressions are one way to cause emotions. If you want to feel happy, smile as wide as you can.
6. Don’t say or write, “I think“ or ”I believe". It’s implied anyway, and it sounds like you lack confidence.
7. Before interviews, imagine you’re old friends with your interviewers. You’re in charge of the way you perceive your situation, and your comfort will be infectious.
8. If you make yourself be really happy and excited to see other people, the next time they see you, they’ll probably be a lot happier and more excited about it. (Dogs do this trick to us all the time!)
9. People are more likely to agree to a smaller favour if they deny a larger one or two first.
10. Many physical effects of stress are the same as those of exhilaration (e.g. heavy breathing, speeding heart, etc.) If you reframe your threatening situation as a challenging one, your stress will become exhilaration.
11. Most people can’t tell the difference between brilliance and confidence. If you seem like you know what you’re doing, people tend to rally around you.
12. If you work in customer service, put a mirror behind you. Customers will be nicer because nobody wants to see themselves being a jerk.
13. If you’re in a group meeting and expect someone to take you to task, sit right next to them. They’ll lose the pack mentality that makes them feel safe to attack you. At the very least, they’ll mitigate their meanness.
14. When you’re on a first date, take your date somewhere exciting. They’ll associate you with that thrilling feeling.
15. Try to notice someone’s eye colour when you meet them. People like you more for the slightly increased eye contact.