Dr. No #59 – How to Persuade Smart People (Who Think They’re Smarter Than You)

Hey lawyer,

Persuasion isn’t about manipulation. It’s about making smart people want to follow your advice — and letting them think it was their idea all along.

Here are 7 persuasion principles every senior lawyer should know (and actually use).

1. Food for Thought

Which fights are you losing — not because you’re wrong, but because you explained it badly?

2. The 7 Effects of Influence

1. The Pratfall Effect
People trust you more when you show small flaws.
Try: “We didn’t anticipate this risk fast enough — here’s how we fix it.”
Competence with honesty builds authority.

2. The Sawyer Effect
Make work feel like play. Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer convinced others to pay him for painting a fence.
GC takeaway: Turn compliance into bragging rights. “The fastest-approved process in the business” beats “mandatory training.”

3. The Reciprocity Rule
Give before you ask. Help a business lead once, proactively. Uprompted. Watch how quickly your next request gets approved.

4. The IKEA Effect
People value what they helped build. Let the business tweak one clause — they’ll defend the whole contract like it’s their child.

5. The Contrast Principle
Frame tough asks next to something worse. “We could spend €500k on litigation… or €50k fixing this now.” Easy choice.

6. The Authority Bias
Don’t just be credible. Signal it. Speak in outcomes, not laws. “This reduces revenue risk by 12%,” lands harder than “Clause 4.2 mitigates exposure.”

7. The Social Proof Principle
“Every other department has already signed off” — the GC’s Jedi mind trick.

3. Mental Model — The Map is Not the Territory

The legal plan isn’t reality. Reality is messier, louder, political, and run by humans. Don’t fall in love with your own map — adjust it as the terrain shifts.

4. AI Booster — Plus

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5. Quote to Reflect

“Persuasion is achieved by the speaker’s personal character.” – Aristotle

I read this as an audience is more likely to be persuaded if they perceive the speaker to have credibility (conveys expertise), good sense (is trustworthy), and goodwill (has a genuine concern by the audience).

P.S.
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Stay cool,

Rosa and Manuel