Answer by Krishna Vedavyas:
These are the tricks that I have been using on my friends for a while now:
- Giving them a choice without giving them a choice: If you want someone to do something for you and you don't want to give them a choice to do it or not, just give them a choice to do some of it or all of it. This is a trick my mother used to play on me. I absolutely hated Okra as a kid. So while cooking Okra, mom used to ask me if I want 3 or 5 Okras. I automatically used to say 3 Okra there by choosing to eat Okra and there by doing what my mom wanted!
- Senses dependent recall: Try this in a simple way. Watch a movie you never watched while playing a game you never played on your phone. Next time, whenever you watch the movie you will remember the game or whenever you play the game you will remember that movie. In the very same way, try chewing a gum while studying for an exam and then while writing the exam chew the same flavored gum, you would recall the answers easier than before.
- If you can't convince them, confuse them: Let's take it in a business perspective: If you are developing an app/website that helps you order food from different restaurants of selected cities, just saying that might not convince all the investors you want. Instead, include a huge set of geeky terms into your manifesto saying that you are going to analyse people's food habits depending on the day of order, season, time, weekends, holidays, place, gender and a bunch of other defining differences and there by improve recommendations for people alike. This will bag more investors than the prior one. Christopher Nolan does this with his films by confusing audience with a lot of scientific/technical detailing.
- If you can't confuse them, corrupt them: Continuing above example: Investors aren't dumb enough to fall for your confusing manifesto. At least not all of them. So you can't just talk your way into making them invest on your project. So just give them want they want, advertise their companies or the companies that pay them on your app. As simple as that. Micheal Bay does this with his films with a lot of product placements that will satisfy investors and producers and with lot of bomb blasts and action sequences that will satisfy audience and trick them into actually believing that the movie is good irrespective of the story quality. So the point here is.. Convince, Confuse and Corrupt are the three C's of life everyone should opt to achieve success.
- Detect your Stalker: Ever get the feeling that someone is watching you, but you're not sure? Try yawning and then glancing at your suspected stalker. If they yawn, then you know they've been watching you, since yawning is contagious or look at your watch. If they are indeed watching you they will usually look at their own watch.
- Chunked recall: This is generally used for phone numbers on day to day basis. For example, say my phone number is +9177997977xx. It's really confusing with all the sevens and nines to remember it individually. 7-7-9-9-7-9-7-7-x-x would be a nightmare to remember and rather confusing. Instead try chunking the number 779-9797-77x or 77-99-79-77xx. By chunking information you can remember more.
- Paternal Wisdom: If you want people to take your words more seriously just say, "This was what my father taught me when I was a kid". People tend to believe in fatherly advises.
- Song stuck in your head: Nine out of Ten psychologists agree that "Unfinished" things gets stuck in your head. If you want to make it go away just think about the end of the song and get back to your work.
- Do not round up statistics: This is a classic. All the stores/companies use this to lure customers and also to get concession on tax. Non rounded up things look more legit than rounded up things. So stores make it 99 cents instead of 1 dollar. In the same way, when a friend asks you to review a book or a movie don't give them a rounded figure. Give them a figure with decimal value like 3.25/5 or something. This will make them feel like it's well thought out and legit.
- Hold your glass with left hand in parties: People like warm handshakes. People tend to like people with warm handshakes. So always hold your glass with your left hand so that your right hand doesn't turn cold. Also make sure your right hand isn't sweaty because that's just disgusting.
- Confrontation complication: You want to avoid getting confronted or ratted out by certain person? Just sit beside them. It will make them feel extremely awkward to confront or rat out on someone who is right next to them. No one can sit next to a person that they are about to bad mouth.
- Rock Paper Scissors: Do you want to win a Rock Paper Scissors game? Just ask the opponent some (any) question! Their brain automatically goes into defense mode to prep to answer question and almost always people defensively throw Scissors.
- The Silent technique: Nothing is worse than a silent listener. People will go to any extent to break your silence and while talking or negotiating and sometimes they even give up their key point just to make you interested. If you want a friend to open up about something, just ask him/her a question and if you feel like they just gave you have of the actual answer, maintain eye contact and stay silent.
- Order of counting: When you are working on something like in gym or swimming laps or anything, you will most likely complete the whole set if you count in reverse order like 10-9-8-7-6…. rather than 1-2-3-4…. Deadlines are more effective backwards as they rejoice your energy!
- Social Joke breaker: If someone is cracking a joke about you or your friend in a group, just pretend that you can't hear them and ask them to repeat. Then stop them in between for answering a text or something, apologize and ask them to repeat again, no joke is funny for the third time and no one in the group laughs.
- The concept of Sale: Making people believe that they are gaining from a deal is an art. Give something useful for free with something less useful and it makes people to buy the overly priced less useful thing to gain something useful. It will automatically make them feel like the pricey less-useful thing is a useful thing too.
- Achieving technique: To achieve a goal, stop visualizing the end and start visualizing the processes to achieve that goal and the future beyond the goal. This will make people work harder than before.
- Changing plans to your advantage: When you are taking a girl out, take her to someplace exciting like Roller Coaster ride or a horror film or something that involves activity, something that makes her heart pump more blood than usual norm. That will rise their Adrenaline there by making her think that she is more interested in you rather than the activity.
- Changing surroundings to your advantage: This is tricky! When you are meeting someone you would like to gain trust of, meet at a place of their choice! Research the place before you meet. They most definitely will feel that they are in a comfort zone when you meet them and you can use it against them for your advantage by using the surroundings with appropriate contemporary conditions.
- Give before you take: No matter what! You have this one thing with you that is of no use to you but can help others with their stuff. Find that thing and give it to the appropriate person that you want to gain trust of. He/She will appreciate it and will be willing to help you even by going out of their way.
- Take to gain trust: This works like a charm. If you want to make someone trust you, take something from them. It doesn't matter how small it is (like a tissue on the table or a pen in their pocket) Once a thing passes from their hands to yours, their brain registers it as an investment in you. People tend to trust their investments there by trusting you. Also asking people favors will train their brain that they like you.
- Swear a little when you can: Swearing a little can help you increase your social skills. Even adding an innocent word like "Damn" can make you more persuading.
- Chewing Gum: When you are about to do something that is going to make nervous and you really want to get rid of those jitters Chew Gum. This is why sports people chew gum before and sometimes during the game! Because it will make your brain think that it is in a safe situation and there is certainly nothing to worry about because you are eating. So your brain will put you in a state of relaxation so that you can enjoy your food.
- Buy the first round and get free booze for rest of the night: When you are in a group and you don't have money to last the entire night, go buy the first round of booze for every one in the group or on the table, everyone else will buy the other rounds and you will be surprise how much you can make your fellow boozers spend on you just because you bought the first round. "I got the first round guys" will trick them even after completion of a circle.
- Anxiety clean up: If you ever feel anxious about something and you are not even sure why or you are really anxious about some result you have been waiting for a while now, just go ahead and clean up your room or your work space, your brain will see this as everything around you is well organised and everything will be fine. This is why OCDed people are so obsessed with hygiene.
- Opening and Closing statements: Opening and conclusion are the only things that people are going to remember and they are the only things that matters. So when you are in an interview or if your are giving a speech, just come up with a great opening and conclusion. Never open with a joke, that will just make you look like an unprofessional unless you are utterly famous.
- It's not what you said, it's the way you said: No matter how harsh your response to something is going to be account into other peoples feelings and know how to express and explain. Even the deadliest things can be explained with ease if you maintain the phase of the conversation in an excusable way.
- Notice the eye color when you first meet someone: This is text book psychological trick. Every post about psychology tricks contains this. The explanation is really simple. If you try to observe the person's eye color you obviously are going to have to look into their eyes for a second or two. People tend to trust people who maintain eye contact.
- Identify your admirer in a group: If you want to identify your admirer in a group of people just crack a joke and observe, the person who admires you will look at you longer while laughing than the rest/ they would look at you first.
- Questioning continuously is the key of any conversation: If you are chatting with someone and you really want to keep this going just text questions, even your answer for a question can be a question. People feel obligated to respond to a question there by fulfilling your purpose.
- Mirroring body language and slang words: If you want someone to agree with you or like you while having a conversation, pick a slang word they often use and their body movement while using it (believe me everyone got one) You mirror that and they will like you more.
- The selfish self image: Show that you are a little selfish. Believe me everyone is selfish and when they meet a fellow selfish person they will obviously tend to find common things there by liking you. Know where to stop though. (You don't want to end up creeping them out)
- Asking the meaning/story of their name: Not everyone likes their name, but everyone get used to it eventually. So you asking them the meaning of their name or the story behind the name will make them like you more.
- Ask for something bigger than you actually need: This is another trick everybody knows. Ask for a bigger deed which will obviously get rejected and when they reject it ask for a smaller deed which you actually need. They will feel guilty and obligated to help you out.
- Show your dark side: Nobody trusts a person without a dark side. You want to make someone trust you! Reveal a small amount of your dark side. A childhood tragedy or a relationship gone wrong anything. If you are really that sane and don't actually have a dark side make up a story. People will trust you more once you share the dark side that's been bothering you.
- Know where to stop: This is continuation to the above but can be treated as it's own point too. Know where to stop even if you are revealing your dark side or anything else. You never overstay your welcome and that applies to conversations too. Do all your tricks while you are welcome always keep an eye about where and when to stop.
- Know what the other person thinks about themselves: Everyone has a self image about themselves in their head. Once you know what they feel about themselves you can use it against them and make them dance.
- A compliment that makes the receiving end insecure: This is funny and tricky. Find that one thing that doesn't look or feel good about someone else (like a broad forehead or pointy nose) and compliment something nearer to it saying that the thing you just complimented covers up for the other thing. That will make them a little insecure and will make them cave.
- Never give the data first.. Give a story: Although data is always accurate people tend to believe in stories and overlook data. So when you are giving someone some data, give it with a story first.
- Be a person of your word: Always be a person of your word. Always keep your word. This isn't some trick. This is just the basic thing to make people to trust in you.
- Timing your accusation aptly: When you are going to accuse someone try not to accuse them the second you know about it. Save it for sometime and when the time feels right say this: "I trusted in you so I didn't ask you about this before, but now that you have lost my trust here it comes (and then accuse them)", this will make the person on the other end of the conversation extremely nervous and emotional.
- The Argument weapon: When arguing with someone, act much calmer than them. This can cause them to say something particularly irrational which you can use against them.
- The embarrassing detailing: When you are lying to someone right to their face and don't want to get caught, just add some embarrassing detail to it. People tend to believe those lies because no one likes to share embarrassing details unless they are true.
- The Epic search technique: You adapted reading from left to right so while searching something in a page or anywhere search from right to left. It will drastically reduce the chances of missing something.
- The rhyme game: Ask someone "What is the word spelled J-O-K-E", make sure they actually say the word. Following ask them "What do you call the white part of the egg?" or “What is the word spelled ‘S-H-O-P’?” Make sure that they say: “Shop.” Then immediately ask them: “What do you do when you come to a green light?” Their answer will likely be wrong.
- Furious Forehead technique: If you are mad at some one that you are obligated to talk for next few minutes, stare at their forehead while talking, it will make them really uncomfortable.
- The Path Finder: Ever wish you could clear the path you walk in? In crowded areas, look in the direction in which you intend to go and watch the walkway just open up. In busy areas and crowded streets, people tend to watch other people's eyes to see which direction they will go so they can go the opposite way. (Doesn't apply for queues)
- Arrive early the first time you meet someone: It's not punctuality issue or anything, it's just people that people will think that you are more interested and invested in them when you arrive early.
- The card trick for food: Go to someones table in a restaurant and ask them to close their eyes and picture a playing card and while they do that eat all their food and run like hell.
- Playing dumb is always smart: Whoa! Finally fifty. I have been saving this for the last because this was the first thing I have ever learnt (on my own with out help) to trick people. Always play dumb. At-least know when to play dumb. Trick people into believing that you are too dumb to pull off something and they will never doubt you with anything
- EDIT: Thanks for the suggestion Präṩäńẗh. Okay, as per his suggestion I will add a trick to this list for every 50 up-votes it bags. (Given that mere copy pastes of quotes from famous personalities isn't proper way of answering the actual question).
- Making long answers on Quora interesting: To make long Quora answers interesting add pictures (may be some pop culture references) in between paragraphs.
Suggested by Daniel Șuteu- Giving a bold presentation: If you want your presentation to stand out and to make people think that it was bold, add pictures as less as possible because if you can't give an effective presentation without pictures you are not up to the potential they expect you to be. Instead add cool stories, plot twists, opening ice breakers, humorous self mockery and end your presentation on a rather serious note.
- The OCEAN Test: If you want to stop judging someone and start analyzing you have to take these five things into consideration, Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. Perfectly balancing these five is considered "Ideal" behavior.
- The forbidden fruit: No matter what, the forbidden fruit is always tasty. ALWAYS. So if you want to sell something to someone or make some boy/girl to want you, present it or you as UNAVAILABLE. You may not notice this the very next moment but eventually it or you will become the forbidden fruit and people will die to have just one bite.
Sources: Life experience, Internet.