Five stages of influence and non-verbal suggestion

By buying a vote the author means an active action: you must inspire trust (matching) and lead. He chooses the word "suggestion" not because he considers himself a self-taught hypnotist but because it precisely describes an action aimed at the right perception of you by those around. You can call it influence: every person affects others one way or another, if not by word then by behaviour.

Basic principles

Three principles underlie everything in Mafia, including individual style.

1. Become red for the whole table: do not be voted out.
2. Understand the game: determine whom to remove for the win.
3. Collect votes against the opponent: make your opponents leave in the votes.

Sitting out to the winning round

This skill is covered in detail in a separate lesson. Here only the general conclusion: so that you are not voted out before time, you must make players feel your usefulness, preferably really having it.

Non-verbal suggestion

1. Clothing

Whom will you trust and listen to: a person who looks like a gypsy, a door-to-door pan salesman, or a speaker? If you are generally adequate you will choose the third. It is proved that clothing and appearance directly affect the impression made (the claim belongs to the author). To be heard and followed you need a fitting image: no funny clothes, crumpled T-shirts, sportswear. Classic suits, black, white and especially blue colours cause subconscious respect and trust, the author believes. He advises finding photos of speakers for a more precise idea. Only rarely do speakers look sloppy, and then they adapt to their main audience or have strong PR behind them.

2. Inner state

How you present yourself through gestures and non-verbal signals. People trust the self-confident, and it is important to trust yourself for them to follow you. Remove tightness, a high voice, jerky gestures, a darting gaze, the wish to hide: these are signs of fear and insecurity. Emotions and fears are transmitted by the body, and it shows. Look at anyone nearby: you can tell how self-confident he is. You are just as visible to the whole table. Calm, eye contact with those around, smooth confident gestures are your best friends.

3. Naturalness

A person with straight posture but darting eyes; gesturing brightly but without emotion; with a high voice but a tight body: this is unnatural. Any mismatch undermines trust. If you decided to present yourself confidently, be good in everything. Or find a balance between what you are now and the image you want to create. Inner consistency is very important.

A single structure of influence

All effective influences have the same sequence of stages. The absence of any sharply (sometimes down to zero) lowers the probability of success. The model applies to all spheres of life.

Stage 1. Fixing (catching) attention

To persuade and be heard you must focus attention on yourself. A critical mistake: continuing the speech when the person is not listening or has "closed". First restore contact and only then continue. It is important to give attention (it creates return contact) to the player being bought. If you understand that attention belongs to you, go on. If not: catch it.

Stage 2. Preparing the ground

The reaction to everything new is instinctive defence, a block. If you are a stranger, a significant part of your words will pass through close analysis and not be taken on trust. Before influencing you need to calm the person's subconscious a little and let him get used to you. Combined with an interesting, rich speech this lets those around really hear you. If you rely on conscious actions, this is the time, after contact is established, to explain clearly why, what for and who the mafia is. If arguments are few and you need a not entirely considered vote, distract conscious attention (matching, confusion, information overload). The arguments at this stage must be substantial. The best arguments are worth leaving for the minute of the deciding round.

Stage 3. The influence itself

In the middle of the speech give a clear command to vote for a specific player. Influence bypassing consciousness is done without changing tone, simply as conversation: "You raise a hand against the fifth player", "black no. 3 must be removed by your hand." If you address consciousness, bring out the call to vote brightly.

Stage 4. Period of integration

Give the planted action time to take hold. The player being bought is at this time persuading himself further, building what was said into his decision-making system. During this time the settings become his own thoughts. It is important to keep the tone and tempo of the talk as after fixing attention. Do not raise a triumphant eyebrow or hide a sly smile ("aha, suggestion thrown in"), just continue the speech. If you are buying a specific player, it makes sense to move attention to those around so that he absorbs what was said. The arguments here may be not as substantial as before stage three.

Stage 5. Completing the communication

Let us return conscious control to everyone the speech was directed at. We do not need to leave "warmed-up" players prepared for another's influence for later action: a late speech is more effective than an early one. Repeat the call to vote where needed and finish with the words "thank you" or "pass". Better to sum up yourself than to have the host cut the speech off. This creates a feeling of completeness.

Example speech

"The fifth player is black. I put no. 5 up for a vote. He changed his opinion on player no. 3 three times since round zero, removed red no. 7 and, ignoring the red town, played against me, whom two killed players left as red. You remove only the fifth in this round. If these two arguments are suddenly not enough, remember that this player dug at us to sow conflict. He did nothing for the town's victory. The black team: no. 5, no. 7, no. 9. The town has already sorted it out, just raise your hand correctly. Thank you, pass."

The author advises trying different variations, without these points and with them, to understand the effectiveness of the construction.

The author's conclusion

Everyone influences and persuades. What matters is not the fact of influence but how well you do it. A master of communication, unlike a beginner, does not throw words to the wind and always understands what he says and why. Words are needed to call for action and for change.

For the red

Recognise the structure: if a player first matches for a long time, then in the middle of the speech names a colour without emphasis, and at the end repeats the call, you have a person using all five stages. This does not mean he is black. It means he should be listened to more carefully.

Practice

Prepare three speeches for the critical round (different slots, different colours) by the five stages. Read each aloud and record on camera. Mark the stage you skipped.

Typical mistakes

• Starting with a call without contact.
• Laying out strong arguments too early.
• Showing that you "cast the line".
• Not finishing the speech with a repeated call.

Source of the idea. The chapter "Qualitative raising of the level of play", sections "Collect the votes" and "A single structure of influence", from Dmitry Novik's book "Mafia in the Style of Zen" (2020). The claims about clothing and proven effect belong to the author.