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Ethical Persuasion Unlocked

Ethical Persuasion Unlocked

By: Patrick van der Burght
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Ethical Persuasion Unlocked explores what truly drives business growth — blending lessons from the science of human decision-making and ethical persuasion with the broader expertise shared by our guests. Hosted by Patrick van der Burght — business partner of Dr. Robert Cialdini, Founding Member and Licensed Trainer of the Cialdini Institute, and author of How to Hear YES More Often — this podcast helps professionals, teams, and entrepreneurs apply behavioural science and practical business strategies to grow with integrity. Each episode reveals how today’s leaders, sales teams, and entrepreneurs can achieve the business success that has always been within reach. The opening episodes focus on the psychology and science of persuasion — a skill the World Economic Forum ranks among the top three most urgent for modern organisations to develop. You’ll gain scientifically sound strategies, practical examples, and case studies showing its powerful impact on communication and results. As the series expands, you’ll hear insights from CEOs, thought leaders, and experts on leadership, team management, selling, scaling, customer relationships, conversion, negotiation, online influence, and more. If you want to reach your goals faster, strengthen relationships, motivate action, and understand the hidden drivers behind “YES,” this show gives you the science and systems to do it — without manipulation. Follow now to unlock proven ideas for business growth, influence, and ethical success. Website: https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/ Book: https://yesmoreoften.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ethicalpersuasion Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-van-der-burght/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ethicalpersuasion/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethical_persuasion/ Twitter: https://x.com/yesmoreoften TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ethicalpersuasionCopyright 2026 Patrick van der Burght Economics Marketing Marketing & Sales Science Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Dress for the "Yes": How Appearance Can Multiply Your Results by 400%

    Dress for the "Yes": How Appearance Can Multiply Your Results by 400%
    May 19 2026
    Whether we like to admit it or not, human beings judge a book by its cover. When people meet you for the first time, their brains look for rapid, subconscious shortcuts to determine if you are credible, competent, and worth listening to.One of the most powerful shortcuts is Trappings, the outward clues of success, such as finely styled clothing, a luxury watch, or a well-groomed appearance.In this episode, Patrick explores how dressing to impress acts as an invisible amplifier for the Principle of Authority. He shares eye-opening research by Dr Robert Cialdini that shows how appearance alone can drastically increase compliance, boost starting salaries, and make people far more receptive to your ideas. More importantly, he breaks down how to use this science ethically, ensuring your outward appearance genuinely reflects your true character and capabilities.In This Episode, You'll Learn:✅ The Texas Jaywalker Study: Why a business suit caused 3.5x more pedestrians to follow a stranger into traffic against a red light.✅ The 400% Multiplier: How wearing a high-quality outfit or subtle designer label dramatically increased survey participation, starting salaries, and charity donations.✅ System 1 Thinking: Why the intuitive part of the brain makes decisions about your competence within a single second based on what you wear.✅ Navigating "Tall Poppy Syndrome": How to utilise the power of appearance in cultures that actively push back against boastful displays of wealth.✅ The Ethics of Appearance: Why renting a lifestyle you don't actually live is manipulative, and how to comfortably embrace the nice things you do own.✅ The "One Level Better" Rule: The ultimate, foolproof guide to choosing the perfect outfit for any room, meeting, or presentation.Your Ethical Persuasion ChallengeApply the "One Level Better" Rule: Look at your calendar for tomorrow. What is the standard attire for the people you are meeting? Plan an outfit that is exactly one level better. (If they wear jeans and a t-shirt, you wear jeans and a collared business shirt).Audit Your Zoom Attire: It is easy to dress casually when presenting to familiar colleagues online. But remember, dressing down can slowly erode the perception of your authority. Try adding a jacket or vest to your next virtual meeting.Embrace Your Nice Things: If you own a beautiful watch or a finely tailored suit, stop saving it for "special occasions." Wear it! Allowing your outward appearance to reflect your hard-earned success is an ethical and highly persuasive business strategy.Resources Mentioned:Article: Read Patrick's entertaining and empowering article: The Power of Appearance: How Trappings Persuade Before You Speak https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/2025/09/25/the-power-of-appearance-how-trappings-persuade/Previous Episodes to Catch Up On: Ensure you have listened to Episode 2 - https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast/0002-the-science-of-human-decision-making-stop-talking-to-the-wrong-brain/ Episode 10 - https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast/0010-the-science-of-social-proof-how-one-image-tripled-results/ Episode 13 https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast/0013-the-principle-of-authority-how-to-build-credibility-and-trust-before-you-speak/Book Recommendation: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert CialdiniFree Membership Portal: Access early episodes and exclusive events. https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast-member-area-registration/Discovery Call: Ready to empower your leadership team with science-backed, ethical influence training? Book a call at https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/discovery-callPatrick’s Social Media Links:Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ethicalpersuasionLinkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-van-der-burght/Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/ethicalpersuasion/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ethical_persuasion/Twitter - https://x.com/yesmoreoftenTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@ethicalpersuasionBook Page - https://yesmoreoften.com/Personal Profile - https://patrickvanderburght.com
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    26 mins
  • The Ultimate Leadership Test: What Does Your Team Do When You Leave the Room?

    The Ultimate Leadership Test: What Does Your Team Do When You Leave the Room?
    May 12 2026
    Managing a team by relying purely on authority and financial incentives is an incredibly expensive and exhausting strategy. While bonuses might create a short-term spike in performance, they rarely build long-term loyalty.In this insightful conversation, Patrick sits down with fellow Cialdini Institute Licensed Trainer Andrei Bob to discuss the intersection of Lean Management and the science of persuasion. Andrei shares profound insights from his time working with large manufacturing companies, revealing that the true secret to operational efficiency isn't just better procedures—it is ethical influence.Whether you are leading a factory floor, a sales team, or an entire corporation, you will learn how to shift your team's motivation from external pressure to internal drive.In This Episode, You'll Learn:✅ The Limitations of Financial Motivation: Why relying on bonuses creates a culture where employees only ask, "What will I earn extra?" before stepping up.✅ The Cat and Mouse Test: How to measure your true influence by looking at how your team operates when you are not in the room.✅ The Unity Principle: How to align conflicting departments (like Sales and Production) by establishing a shared identity and mission before discussing individual KPIs.✅ The Power of Co-Creation: Why asking your team to define their own targets creates significantly more internal pressure to succeed than simply assigning them a quota.✅ Public Commitment: A brilliant, ethical strategy to ensure your team follows through on their promises by making their commitments active, voluntary, and public.✅ Modelling Behaviour: A masterful story of a Philips CEO who used the Principle of Reciprocity to transform the cleanliness of an entire manufacturing plant.Your Ethical Persuasion ChallengeFind the Shared Goal: Before your next tense cross-departmental meeting, spend the first five minutes establishing a shared mission. Remind everyone of the overarching goal you are all working towards before diving into individual KPIs.Stop Assigning, Start Asking: The next time you need to delegate a project, do not hand out tasks. Present the challenge to the team and ask, "Who would like to take the lead on this?" Watch how much more committed they are to a task they volunteered for.Model the Behaviour: Identify one standard you have been struggling to enforce with your team. Before you bring it up again, ensure you are flawlessly modelling that exact behaviour in your own daily work.Resources Mentioned:Guest: Andrei Bob. Connect with Andrei and share your insights with him on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreibob/Book Recommendation: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert CialdiniFree Membership Portal: Access early episodes and exclusive eventshttps://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast-member-area-registration/Discovery Call: Ready to empower your leadership team with science-backed, ethical influence training? Book a call at ethicalpersuasion.com.auPatrick’s Social Media Links:Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@ethicalpersuasionLinkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-van-der-burght/Facebook - https://web.facebook.com/ethicalpersuasion/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ethical_persuasion/Twitter - https://x.com/yesmoreoftenTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@ethicalpersuasionBook Page - https://yesmoreoften.com/Personal Profile - https://patrickvanderburght.com
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    41 mins
  • The Contrast Phenomenon: How to Make a Big Ask Feel Small

    The Contrast Phenomenon: How to Make a Big Ask Feel Small
    Apr 28 2026

    While not an official "Principle of Persuasion" on its own, the Contrast Phenomenon is a powerful psychological lever that acts as an amplifier for every single one of Dr. Cialdini's seven universal principles.

    In this highly practical episode, we explore how the human brain naturally compares things to whatever it just experienced. By understanding this, ethical leaders and sales professionals can completely shift how their audience perceives the cost of a product, the effort required for a project, or the scale of a favour.

    You will discover why going from "small to large" is a critical error in pricing and negotiations, and how presenting your most comprehensive option first can dramatically increase your overall success rate.

    In This Episode, You'll Learn

    ✅ The Psychology of Contrast: Why a heavy weight suddenly feels light, and how you can apply that exact same brain science to your business proposals.

    ✅ Sharon’s Letter: A hilarious and memorable masterclass in shifting perspective to deliver bad news.

    ✅ The T-Mobile Case Study: How a simple reordering of three phone plans—without changing the prices at all—recovered 34.4% of their top-tier sales.

    ✅ The Fundraising Mistake: Why starting your pitch with your lowest price (or smallest donation) actively works against you by making the larger options feel enormous.

    ✅ Framing the Ask: How to ethically compare the cost of a solution to the long-term cost of a problem, making your fee feel highly insignificant.

    Your Ethical Persuasion Challenge

    Audit Your Pricing: Look at your website, your brochures, or your latest proposal. Are you presenting your smallest option first? If so, you are making your premium options look far more expensive than they are. Try flipping the order so you present your most comprehensive solution first.

    Frame the Effort: The next time you need to ask your team to complete a challenging task, briefly mention a much larger, more time-consuming alternative that you successfully managed to avoid. Watch how much more receptive they are to the smaller task!

    The Perspective Shift: Think about an investment you are asking a client to make. Now, find an ethical, genuine comparison to place before it that makes the investment feel small (e.g., comparing a one-time training fee to a decade of employee wages).

    Resources Mentioned:

    Previous Episodes to Catch Up On: Ensure you have listened to the first 16 episodes, especially the foundational deep dives into the universal principles of persuasion! https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast/

    Book Recommendation: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Dr. Robert Cialdini

    Free Membership Portal: Access early episodes and exclusive events. https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/podcast-member-area-registration/

    Discovery Call: Ready to empower your team with science-backed, ethical sales training? Book a call at https://ethicalpersuasion.com.au/discovery-call/
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    30 mins
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