Cialdini Influence Design

When to use this skill

• Persuasive emails, pitches, proposals, and campaign messaging.
• Internal influence communications requiring buy-in.
• GTM or marketing copy that needs credible proof structures.
• Situations where persuasion must remain ethical and non-manipulative.

Required inputs

• Objective, audience, and desired action.
• Available proof points and constraints.
• Channel, tone, and execution timeline.

Workflow

1. Define target behavior and decision context.
2. Identify barriers, motivators, and decision criteria.
3. Select 2-3 Cialdini principles that best match context.
4. Build traceability matrix: principle -> evidence -> claim.
5. Draft channel-specific message variants with clear CTA.
6. Run ethical risk check and adjust risky framing.

Ask-first questions

1. What action should the audience take and by when?
2. Which proof points are verifiable today?
3. What ethical or legal boundaries cannot be crossed?

Assumption policy

• If proof is incomplete, clearly mark assumptions and confidence.
• Do not use fabricated urgency, fake social proof, or inflated authority.
• State when claim strength exceeds evidence strength.

Output contract

1. Context
2. Decision or Recommendation
3. Analysis
4. Risks
5. Next Actions
6. Assumptions

Guardrails

• Every persuasive claim must map to verifiable evidence.
• Keep emotional framing proportional to factual support.
• Include at least one trust-preserving alternative for skeptical audiences.
• Reject coercive language or misleading scarcity.

Resources

• references/cialdini-principles.md

  - Principle selection and usage cues.

• references/ethical-guardrails.md

  - Non-manipulation and compliance checks.

• templates/persuasion-brief.md

  - Decision-ready persuasion template.

• examples/persuasion-cialdini-example.md

  - Golden example with proof mapping.

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