Simple Trick to get People to do a Favor

There's a simple trick that makes people more likely to say "yes" when you ask for a favor. Give them a reason.  Researchers went to a library and asked to cut in line at the copy machine and a little more than half of people said yes. But when they asked if they could cut in line because they were in a rush, almost all said yes.

There's a simple trick that makes people more likely to say yes when you ask for a favor make sure you tell them why you need their help.

Way back in 1977, a researcher at Harvard had people go to a library, and ask if they could cut in line at the copy machine.  But they asked in a couple different ways.

First they just said, "May I use the Xerox machine?"  And 60% of people let them cut in line. But when they asked, "May I use the Xerox machine, because I'm in a rush?" 94% of people let them cut in line. That is a huge difference. Now when someone tells me they are in a rush, even if I am in a rush as well I just want to get them out of my way so their spastic energy isn't hovering over me!

So the result of the research is people are 34% more likely to do you a favor if you give them a reason. And the reason you give doesn't even have to be legitimate or even worthy. They just need to hear something. The researchers also tried asking, "May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?" which didn't really make sense because obviously they needed to make copies, but even when they phrased it that way, 93% of the people let them cut in line.

[Source: JamesClear.com]