From the creator of Dilbert, an unflinching look at the strategies Donald Trump used to persuade voters to elect the most unconventional candidate in the history of the presidency, and how anyone can learn his methods for succeeding against long odds.

Scott Adams—a trained hypnotist and a lifelong student of persuasion—was one of the earliest public figures to predict Trump’s win, doing so a week after Nate Silver put Trump’s odds at 2 percent in his FiveThirtyEight.com blog. The mainstream media regarded Trump as a novelty and a sideshow. But Adams recognized in Trump a level of persuasion you only see once in a generation.

Trump triggered massive cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias on both the left and the right. We’re hardwired to respond to emotion, not reason. We might listen to 10 percent of a speech—a hand gesture here, a phrase there—and if the right buttons are pushed, we irrationally agree with the speaker and invent reasons to justify that decision after the fact.

The point isn’t whether Trump was right or wrong, good or bad. Win Bigly goes beyond politics to look at persuasion tools that can work in any setting—the same ones Adams saw in Steve Jobs when he invested in Apple decades ago. For instance:

· If you need to convince people that something is important, make a claim that’s directionally accurate but has a big exaggeration in it. Everyone will spend endless hours talking about how wrong it is while accidentally persuading themselves the issue is a high priority.
· Stop wasting time on elaborate presentations. Inside, you’ll learn which components of your messaging matter, and where you can wing it.
· Creating "linguistic kill shots" with persuasion engineering (such as “Low-energy Jeb”) can be more powerful than facts and policies.

Adams offers nothing less than “access to the admin passwords to human beings.” This is a must-read if you care about persuading others in any field—or if you just want to resist persuasion from others.



Named Person: Donald Trump; Donald Trump; Donald Trump; Donald Trump

Contents: Preamble: The day my reality split into two --
Introduction (where I prime you for the rest) --
Part 1. Why facts are overrated --
The most important perceptual shift in history --
About facts --
Persuasion vocabulary --
Part 2. How to see reality in a more useful way --
The myth of the rational mind --
How strong is persuasion? --
The persuasion filter --
Cognitive dissonance --
Confirmation bias --
Mass delusions --
When reality bifurcated --
The making of a hypnotist --
Part 3. How President Trump does what others can't --
The time of kings --
President Trump's talent stack --
Trump's Rosie O'Donnell moment --
The persuasion stack --
Setting the table --
Go bigly or go home --
Is President Trump a "natural" persuader? --
Part 4. How to use persuasion in business and politics --
How to design a linguistic kill shot --
How to use visual persuasion --
How to make people imagine you as President --
How I got the VP prediction wrong --
How to persuade by association --
How to create effective campaign slogans and logos --
Godzilla gets in the game (or does he?) --
How to get away with bad behavior --
How a trained persuader evaluates scandals --
How to win by a hair(cut) --
How to create two ways to win, no way to lose --
How to use the high-ground maneuver --
A grab bag of Trump's quickest and easiest persuasion tools --
Part 5. Why joining a tribe makes you powerful and blind --
How I used the persuasion filter to predict --
Why I endorsed Clinton (for my safety) until I didn't --
The third act --
Was I predicting or causing? --
Election night --
Appendix A: The persuasion reading list --
Appendix B: How to be a better writer --
Appendix C: How to find out if you are a simulation --
Appendix D: Trump's many mistakes.