Robert CialdiniFounder Cialdini Institute & NYT Bestselling Author

People Are 16x More Likely to Say YES in Person #shorts

20 Oct 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:03

In this YouTube short, social influence expert Robert Cialdini cites a study showing that identical requests made in person receive about sixteen times more agreement than the same requests sent via email. He explains that the drop in human connection when communicating through screens makes it easier for people to refuse. While acknowledging that technology’s rise is inevitable, Cialdini argues that we should deliberately infuse elements of human connection into our digital communications to improve persuasiveness and relational quality. The segment ends with the interviewer prompting him to elaborate further.

Chapters

There's a study that showed that if you make the same request of people by email versus online— excuse me, versus in person, you get 16 times more assent in person than by email. It's the same request, but the human connection is pulled away. Think of how easy it is to say no to people on email. It's just some words on a screen. Mm-hmm. You don't have a real connection to that person. You don't have a chance to really come to feel connected to that individual. And so anything we can do to— we can't stop technology. That's ridiculous. That's like standing in front of a bullet train. You know, it's coming at us. It's going to happen. But what we can do is infuse human connection into our digital communication devices and outs.
Yeah. Tell me more about that.