Pre-Suasion

Think of your SFH-Outcome (See, Feel, Hear) then prime your interlocutor into a conducive state. Don't start with what you want, start with what would be more likely to get your interlocutor into a state that would be most conducive to agreeing with what you want to reaching your SFH-Outcome (See, Feel, Hear).

Example

• PersonB wants you to do X.
• You don't want to do X. Because of Y.
• You presume there is sympathy from PersonB in regards to Y.

You could approach with:

"I don't want to do X... Because of Y"

However, the initial "I don't want to do X" has higher likelelyhood of priming PersonB into a state of rebuttal.

While if you were to reverse this into:

I have been struggling with Y. Hence, I was wondering if I can avoid doing X as it makes Y worse.

Now PersonB has higher likelyhood to be primed for sympathy, rather than rebuttal.

Priming is Neural Activation

When we prime someone into a particular state, we activate the neurons in their brain associated with that state. These activated neurons can then fire with greater ease.

In the example above, starting with "I don't want to do X" activates neural pathways related to resistance and opposition in your interlocutor's brain. This makes them more likely to respond defensively or argumentatively because those neural circuits are already warmed up and ready to fire.

Conversely, beginning with "I have been struggling with Y" activates neural networks associated with empathy and concern. This primes your interlocutor's brain for a compassionate response, making them neurologically more receptive to your subsequent request to avoid doing X.