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The counterintuitive way to be more persuasive | Niro Sivanathan

Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more. What’s the best way to make a good point? Organizational psychologist Niro Sivanathan offers a fascinating lesson on the “dilution effect,” a cognitive quirk that weakens our strongest cases — and reveals why brevity is the true soul of…

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What’s the best way to make a good point? Organizational psychologist Niro Sivanathan offers a fascinating lesson on the “dilution effect,” a cognitive quirk that weakens our strongest cases — and reveals why brevity is the true soul of persuasion.

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85 Comments

  1. E

    January 21, 2021 at 8:56 pm

    What a dull speaker!
    I gave up halfway through.
    Would have been sooner but I couldn’t get to the phone

  2. Emil Bruun

    January 21, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    just noticed his eyebrows…

  3. AC Fatemi

    January 21, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    Very interesting!!!!! Explains a lot! Now I understand what I might be doing wrongly in getting my message across…..
    Very helpful 🤨🧐😏🙁🤔😉😁

  4. Lisa Love Ministries

    January 21, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    Proverbs 9:10

  5. Home Wall

    January 21, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    You certainly see it all arguments, where the other party focuses only on the weak arguments, ignores the strong ones, and may even add an ad hominem.

  6. That Guy

    January 21, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    “They don’t add up, they average out”

    • Alby Shinyfield

      January 22, 2021 at 12:58 am

      Thanks for quoting this, I didn’t hear it 5 seconds ago

  7. 61ueSat

    January 21, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    I am a Japanese. I’m not good at listening, so this video was very educational. It’s very easy to hear. And the material is very beautiful and the way of speaking is cool. I will come here again

  8. rcisneros310

    January 21, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    This is dumb. The dinner set is viewed as less because pieces being broken implies the set was mishandled and the “fine” pieces could be imperfect as well.

    Tom is viewed as performing lower in scholastic achievement because retention per hour of study is different for each person, and Tom has distraction such as his siblings and grandparents. Additionally, billiards are often looked upon by society as lower-level, seedy activity which implies a lower IQ.

    • Dude Sweet

      January 21, 2021 at 10:11 pm

      Yeah it’s interesting but I think impractical for any practical use in the real world. The pharm ads are different, definitely sketchy and intentional emotional manipulation as all marketing is but with a more serious impact than a Cheetos commercial, and should not be allowed.

  9. Henry Collins

    January 21, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    Jeez. That’s a lot for some plates and bowls.

  10. MissAtlantique

    January 21, 2021 at 10:05 pm

    Women know that by writing a long text to a man, he will only read one sentence and will stop focusing on the rest 😀 ….we still do that none the less. Brilliant talk. Always good to remind ourselves about such things

  11. Lucian Durietz

    January 21, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    in just 4 words: “sometimes less is more”

  12. Bobo

    January 21, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    Can’t believe how many people are among the public, are we not meant to be in lockdown?

    • gage saber

      January 21, 2021 at 10:45 pm

      This was recorded in May 2019

  13. Connor

    January 21, 2021 at 10:43 pm

    Finna use this to win among us cheers mate

  14. TOSStarTrek

    January 21, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    KISS principle

  15. Elvis Coso

    January 21, 2021 at 10:56 pm

    You misspelled manipulative in the title of the video.

  16. Funkstar124

    January 21, 2021 at 11:06 pm

    Its just the mathematical side and rational side of your brain weighing up risk. It’s like having a bucket of poison having 20% switched to water, 10% orange juice. What you see in minds eye? you no longer see a complete bucket of poison. It literally dilutes it.

  17. Serf Life

    January 21, 2021 at 11:26 pm

    There is no such thing as drug side effects, there are only effects. The difference is one of those effects are being marketed to you while the others are not.

  18. Daniel Miraziz

    January 21, 2021 at 11:39 pm

    The “Gish gallop” technique often used in debates shows the exact opposite effect.

  19. Naveed Ghalib

    January 21, 2021 at 11:45 pm

    Magic number is 3 arguments. Always 3

  20. LuciferMorningstar

    January 21, 2021 at 11:48 pm

    Ctrl+B on those eyebrows

  21. Andrei Vegas

    January 21, 2021 at 11:57 pm

    Ted became political agenda and left extremist propaganda

  22. Haoxu Wang

    January 22, 2021 at 12:03 am

    I question this guy’s experiment methodology. One time experiment is too unreliable, and I wonder how he framed the questions, 190ero for that?

  23. Chris

    January 22, 2021 at 12:29 am

    there might be some truth to it but the larger set with btoken cups also represents buying into risk that the plates may in fact contain faults.
    you completely ignored this factor

    • RGW88

      January 22, 2021 at 12:51 am

      I have to spend time getting rid of the broken one’s. That cost me MY time, the most valuable thing I am willing to trade with.

  24. Roseanne Roseannadanna

    January 22, 2021 at 12:33 am

    Am I not normal? Because in my mind I said I would pay the same.

    • Matthew Knipfer

      January 22, 2021 at 12:46 am

      You were hearing the premise of the experiment as the question was being asked. Knowledge of each set affects your decision. The point of this experiment is that absent knowledge of alternate sets, is your preliminary valuation affected by unnecessary info (broken plates)?

    • Roseanne Roseannadanna

      January 22, 2021 at 1:00 am

      @Matthew Knipfer ohhh…I was just listening to the items and I thought, “I’d pay the same for both sets.”

  25. iloveagdolls30

    January 22, 2021 at 1:09 am

    Amazing

  26. v a s

    January 22, 2021 at 5:58 am

    Fantastic approach! I need to practice that for when I need it!!!

  27. Michael B

    January 22, 2021 at 5:59 am

    A good lesson.

  28. Christopher Hayden

    January 22, 2021 at 8:09 am

    They don’t add up, they average out. Interesting. It makes sense.

  29. Muhammad Faiaz

    January 22, 2021 at 8:16 am

    The main listen of the video is “You cannot increase the quality of an argument by simply increasing the quantity of your argument” and “stick to your string arguments because your arguments don’t add up in the minds of the receiver they average out.”

  30. Aldo

    January 22, 2021 at 8:18 am

    This guy has some magnificent eyebrows

  31. Hagay Muzan

    January 22, 2021 at 10:11 am

    Not all minds behave this way, some people know how to separate different information and react only to the important things. Personal experience.

    • Alpha Zulo

      January 22, 2021 at 11:10 am

      Yes… This is the first comment…. May be general populas is too dumb to understand what is being delivered to them or…. Or they are too genius and understand that they only havr to look at things superficially so that the words of others don’t penetrate their hearts.

    • dryzalizer

      January 22, 2021 at 9:02 pm

      Thanks for mentioning this, I didn’t react any differently to choices in the scenarios he gave like the subjects did.

  32. Archibald Belanus

    January 22, 2021 at 10:26 am

    Nobody spends 31h/week studying outside of class. If you do, well damn, you chose the wrong course.

  33. Donny Sandley

    January 22, 2021 at 10:42 am

    Just go’s to prove what I have thought for years 🤨 people on average are idiots 🤭

  34. Alpha Zulo

    January 22, 2021 at 11:13 am

    Renamed
    How to sell to the masses

  35. astera 0

    January 22, 2021 at 11:27 am

    Please caption kurdish

  36. Hannes

    January 22, 2021 at 12:06 pm

    Very interesting talk! I would be interested if juggling around the sequence of the side effects of the drug is enough to change the attitude towards it. Like, this drug might cause cold feet, …and heart attack PERIOD. Instead of having the minor effects at the end.

  37. Mandrake

    January 22, 2021 at 12:27 pm

    I disagree. Broken pieces in a PREMIUM dinner set would mean that the set is no longer complete, and there would likely be empty spaces in its velvet-lined display case, or similar, reducing its aesthetic quality… which is important in a PREMIUM dinner set. It would also suggest that the set has suffered a big impact of some kind, and there may be hidden damage to the other items, such as imperceivable hairline cracks and weaknesses. You’d also have the added inconvenience of disposing of the broken items.

    I feel this talk attempts to brush over the complexities of purchasing items – and physics – with conveniently simplified strawman examples, whilst also suggesting there is no inherent value in things such as aesthetics, human intuition, and convenience.

    • Alfonso J. Ramos

      January 22, 2021 at 1:34 pm

      The talks argues for keeping argument simple, and follows its own advice.

      I agree that the way people priced the items in the experiment is not unfounded. Which supports that the effect is real, even if not as irrational as portrayed, and that is enough to take advantage of the effect. The talk avoids the topic, and in doing so appeals to a larger audience.

      (This is my attempt to follow the advice, how did it go?)

    • Mandrake

      January 22, 2021 at 1:51 pm

      ​@Alfonso J. Ramos You did well. As a software developer I have to reduce complicated things to ‘layman’s terms’ constantly for people to understand, a skill I learned was essential years ago.

      Ultimately, all I’m saying it that the devil is frequently in the detail, and it isn’t always a good idea to brush over it.

  38. Big Dee

    January 22, 2021 at 1:41 pm

    Become a full time professional victim … the world is ur oyster

  39. Robert Snyder

    January 22, 2021 at 1:52 pm

    Who is this guy sampling? Certainly nobody willing to attend or even watch a TEDx talk

  40. Сладости от Машеньки

    January 22, 2021 at 2:03 pm

    Я ничего не понимаю но я слушаю чтобы понять

  41. Muzeena Rassip

    January 22, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    That’s a good analysis now I know why I come across as unconvincing to some 😒

  42. BrightStories

    January 22, 2021 at 2:41 pm

    We need THESE PEOPLE, not Kardashians…

  43. NarpsHD

    January 22, 2021 at 2:49 pm

    So when i want to persuade someone about something good i tell them less good about it.And when i want to defend something bad i tell them more bad about it…We humans are pretty stupid huh…

  44. Kendrick Raphael Ticoalu

    January 22, 2021 at 3:46 pm

    That was surprisingly pretty good

  45. Fakhruddin Shabbir Husain Musaji

    January 22, 2021 at 4:53 pm

    In short stick to strong arguments, and then shutup. Talking more and more will only ruin it..

  46. Fevronija Kesic

    January 22, 2021 at 5:03 pm

    So helpful! Thank you!

  47. Prasanna

    January 22, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    I can appreciate the speaker exploring the flaws of what we pay attention to and educating people about it for a change rather than selling out to ad companies or social media but to me it seems without direction.. ok there is this flaw, now what?.. isnt the whole point of researching flaws to fix em by compensating their detrimental effects rather than using them as loopholes?

  48. Ben Richards

    January 22, 2021 at 8:04 pm

    I think we should analyse what is skewing the perceived value for hundreds of students. A mean of £390?

  49. Train Kinder - Simple Leadership Hacks

    January 22, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    Awesome talk. Less is really more. Thank you for sharing!

  50. True Crime Queen TV

    January 22, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    Love the channel! Stay safe everyone!

  51. Linn Le

    January 23, 2021 at 1:41 am

    👍

  52. Colton Snyder

    January 23, 2021 at 3:49 am

    This is really interesting, especially when considered along with game theory.

  53. RECRUITMENT SUNSTONE

    January 23, 2021 at 4:58 am

    You theory and exams from Thinking: Fast And Slow (Kahneman Daniel). You talk ours mind use Diagnostic and Undiagnostic to implied System 1 and System 2 in Daniel’s book

  54. Tom van de Craats

    January 23, 2021 at 8:24 am

    Going to sleep is important. But so is waking up. Excellent delivery

  55. James Rad

    January 23, 2021 at 10:52 am

    The opener is one of these Daniel Kahnemann “all people are idiots/irrational” things. xD

  56. Mountain Whale

    January 23, 2021 at 2:19 pm

    I like how the speaker avoids diluting his own argument, thereby showing AND telling it. Quite clever.

    • Matt Thomas

      January 26, 2021 at 12:26 pm

      Except now I assume there are broken cups and horrifying side effects not being mentioned. Which there clearly are.

    • Mountain Whale

      January 26, 2021 at 2:17 pm

      @Matt Thomas I don’t see what you mean?

  57. William Ross

    January 23, 2021 at 9:24 pm

    At first I thought the talk was gonna be how to persuade someone to give you the last set of plates you wanted at the store.

  58. reedofwater

    January 23, 2021 at 10:26 pm

    This guy has never been overwhelmed by my daughter’s barrage of reasons for ice cream.

  59. Hasnain Qaiyumi

    January 24, 2021 at 7:11 am

    But isn’t telling only relevant quantity of information would mean, omission of other relevant information, because omission of complete information is considered wrong in many jurisdictions.
    In some cases organisations can be penalised

  60. Niranjan Hanasoge

    January 24, 2021 at 10:48 am

    Niro insinuates that pharma ads mention minor side-effects deliberately in order to manipulate the viewers. That’s not correct. Pharma companies are required by law to disclose all side-effects, major as well as minor.

    Isn’t it obvious that people reach different conclusions if you give them incomplete, censored information rather than complete, uncensored information? Niro and his Ph.D. student had to do an experiment to prove that? In his dissertation, did the Ph.D. student, advised by Niro, exclude the “minor” details of the experiment in order to appear more persuasive to the examiners? No wonder these behavioral “scientists” have no credibility left.

    Oh, and he’s also wrong about politicians being persuaded by arguments. They’re persuaded by self-interest–money, power, and votes—not public good. As are your fellow voters. So if you want to influence votes a certain way, you appeal to emotion, prejudices, and self-interest. Even the ancient Greeks and Romans knew that, as did Shakespeare and Trump.

  61. Invisible

    January 24, 2021 at 11:17 am

    he has big eyebrows

  62. Ashmyka Ferns

    January 25, 2021 at 10:12 am

    The graceful burma peripherally offend because picture seasonally scream following a true random. little, soggy handicap

  63. Motivation

    January 25, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    Five persuasive techniques for you to become successful in life:

    Establish trust and develop credibility.
    Understand the reader’s purpose and align your own.
    Pay attention to language.
    Consider tone.
    Use rhetoric and repetition.

    Cheers.

  64. 오레오쿠키

    January 25, 2021 at 3:38 pm

    이 강연의 핵심은 무엇인지 1시간째 생각 중인 1인;;;

  65. Joe L

    January 25, 2021 at 4:51 pm

    I would pay less for the second dinnerware set because I do not want to take the garbage. I would have to throw away the broken dishes.

  66. Htopher Ollem

    January 25, 2021 at 7:03 pm

    this and many other psychological techniques are used against the populus by corporations and politicians to influence our thoughts, biases, and decisions without our even being aware of it.

  67. Valentin Bonnarde

    January 26, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    To be more persuasive to dumb people though

  68. WillDaBeast

    January 27, 2021 at 5:18 am

    thickest eyebrows I’ve ever seen!!!

  69. Ajay Aur Sarikansh

    January 28, 2021 at 12:14 pm

    Indians are literally Amazing ✨

  70. MrSidney9

    January 28, 2021 at 7:24 pm

    Wow, very eye-opening. And delivered persuasively too. The presentation lives up to the message

  71. Jet W

    January 29, 2021 at 5:00 am

    Basically, he is trying to convey the message of speaking less and get to the point. but he spent more than 2 minutes and a half talking about the plates. I almost lost my patience. Although I like his main point, unfortunately, his talk showed me more “the counterproductive way to be more persuasive” 🤷

  72. Why So Sad?

    February 1, 2021 at 8:42 am

    i didn’t understand the last part related to pharmaceutical ads. including the minor problems diluted the severity and made it seem it was less harmful? is that what he meant?

  73. jamesonknott

    February 1, 2021 at 5:31 pm

    If you’ve ever been in an argument on the internet you’ve seen this. If you start with one fantastic counterpoint and include a few weaker counterpoints — whoever you’re talking to will find the weakest one and attack it. They won’t even remember the strong one.

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