今天乃至每一天，我们都成了广告商、筹款人以及政治家们的目标人群，他们劝说我们买东西、做事情或者以某种方式思考。而且他们也十分擅长于此。
Over the years, they’ve learned a lot about which features to build into a communication and which psychological strings to pull at to *elevate its success. But by concentrating so intently on the message itself, they’ve missed a crucial component of the process.
这些年来，他们已经学了不少沟通中的技巧特点，以及如何波动人们的心弦，从而提升成功几率。但这些人如此专注于信息本身，却忽略了劝说过程中的重要一环。
Research done in the last 15 years shows that *optimal persuasion is achieved through optimal pre-suasion–the practice of arranging for people to agree with a message before they even know what’s in it.
过去15年间所做的研究表明，最佳的说服靠的是最佳的先发影响力 —— 在人们还不知道信息内容之前，就让他们对这些内容表示赞同。
Pre-suasion works by focusing people’s attention on a selected concept, which in turn *spurs them to overvalue it over related ones. In one study, visitors to an online sofa store were greeted with images of either soft clouds or small coins in the background of its landing page. Those who saw the clouds were more likely to prefer soft, comfortable sofas for purchase whereas those who saw the money preferred cheaper models.
先发影响力将人们的关注点都聚焦到某一选定的概念上，如此一来，和其他相关概念相比，人们会过分关注这一概念。在一项研究中，打开一家沙发网店的顾客会在登录页面的背景中看到柔软的云朵或是小硬币。看到云朵的人更倾向于购买柔软舒适的沙发，而看到钱币的人则喜欢更便宜的款式。
Long before scientists started studying the process of pre-suasion, a few notable communicators already had an *intuitive understanding of it.
早在科学家们开始研究先发影响力这一过程之前，一些著名的沟通者就已经对其有了一个直观的认识。
For example, in 1588, thousands of British troops, who were gathered against a sea invasion by Spain at Tilbury in the UK, were deeply concerned that their leader Queen Elizabeth I, as a woman, would not be up to the *rigors of battle. In addressing the men, she dispelled their fears pre-*suasively – first acknowledging their concern by admitting a weakness, which established her honesty for whatever she said next, and then following it with a strength that *demolished this perceived weakness. “I know,” she asserted, “I have the body of a weak and *feeble woman. But I have the heart of a king, and a king of England, too.”
例如，1588年，成千上万名英国士兵集结于英国蒂尔伯里，对抗西班牙的海上入侵。士兵们都十分担心，他们的女王伊丽莎白一世，作为女性无法承受战争的艰苦。但在伊丽莎白一世对士兵们的演讲中，她令人信服地提前消除了他们的担忧 —— 她首先向士兵们承认了自己的弱势，这也为她接下来所要说的话建立起了信誉。随后她以一种坚强的意志摧毁了这一明显的弱势。“我知道，”她称道，“我有着女人的瘦弱躯体，但我也有一颗君主的心，英王的心。”
It’s reported that so long and loud were the cheers after this *pronouncement that officers had to ride among the soldiers ordering them to restrain themselves so the queen could continue.
根据记载，这段话说完，响亮的喝彩声久久不息，官员们甚至还不得不驾马到士兵队伍中，命令他们安静下来，好让女王能够继续讲话。
The same pre-suasive, honesty-establishing tactic was employed in the late 1950s by the advertising firm Doyle Dane Bernbach to introduce the oddly shaped Volkswagen Beetle. The “We’re ugly but...” campaign tactically admitted to *cosmetic limitations before *trumpeting the auto’s strengths such as economy, reliability and simplicity. Credited with cracking open the US market for compact cars, the ad campaign has been rated among the greatest of all time.
在上世纪50年代末，多伊尔·戴恩·伯恩巴克广告公司也使用了同样的先发影响力技巧建立起了信誉。该公司将形状奇特的大众甲壳虫引入市场。该汽车的“我们很丑但是……”的广告活动有策略地承认了外观上的局限性，随后强调了这款车型在经济、可靠性以及简约程度上的种种优势。这场广告运动打开了小型汽车的美国市场，被认为是史上最伟大的广告宣传。
With considerable success, *practitioners of social influence have always featured persuasive prods–glowing testimonials, emotional *tugs, last-chance opportunities – in their appeals. Perhaps because of that success, they’ve mostly missed an accompanying truth. For maximum impact, it’s not only what you do; it’s also what you do just before you do what you do.
基于先前大量的成功案例，具有社会影响的从业者们总是以热情洋溢的有力证词、强烈的情感表现，机不可失，时不再来等作为宣传的主要内容。或许也是因为那样的成功，他们在大多数情况下都忽略了一个与之相伴的真理。要想让影响最大化，并不仅仅在于你做了什么，还在于在开始做事之前，你都做了些什么。
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