Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation [Hardcover]

I have read many books over the years which claimed to have the key secret to everything in life, and invariably they come up somewhat lacking. However, this book is perhaps the polar opposite in that it does not claim to be "the answer" and yet in many ways probably is. I bought the book because it came up in my Amazon recommendations, so in that sense I had no real bias as to whether it would be good or bad, but I was initially impressed when it arrived by the glowing recommendation from Seth Godin on the back. Whilst Seth might not be everyone's cup of tea, he doesn't dish out his praise for just anyone. Thankfully, the book itself lived up to such lofty expectations, and, although the sceptic in me hates to say so, this is probably one of the most interesting and useful books I have read. It doesn't have the answers to everything in life (not that it claims to), but it does provide a very solid foundation as to why a lot of the answers are what they are.

The book itself is split into 3 parts, the first two of which are generalised theory of Sally's understanding of what fascination is as a concept, and her interpretation of its 7 facets. The final part is effectively an action plan for putting the theory into practice in your own life. I found it rather specific in this regard, and since I am not actively looking to promote a product or service, some of the exercises were a little academic. Others with a need to fascinate their wares might find it more useful. But for me, it was the first two parts which were the real gold dust.

Sally explores her 7 'triggers' for fascination with excellent examples which are meaningful, relevant, and get you thinking. Her writing style is a good demonstration of her own understanding of what she is talking about, as she effortlessly seems to manage a balance between detail and intrigue. Nothing is skimmed over, but nothing is laboured either, and the writing feels fresh and welcoming. "Fascinating", if you will. There is some overlap between some of her triggers, but that she acknowledges is often part of their strength. I also pondered half-way through whereabouts "humour" would fit in, as this seemed to be a subject that didn't easy slot into one of her trigger categories and wasn't covered much, yet can be a real crowd-puller in itself. Maybe it is a mix of all the triggers?

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in what makes people tick, especially what makes groups of people tick. Even without the application of the third part, just the initial two parts are more than merit enough to buy the book in its own right. It will be invaluable to anyone who has a product, service, idea or philosophy to sell to a target audience, and is struggling to add the "wow factor". But even for those like me who are just reading for pleasure, it's an excellent book.

Highly recommended.

There is always a good market for this kind of poorly written pseudo-research because many people want simple solutions to complex problems. With an enthusiastic and attractive presenter it can even come over as quite reasonable but sadly it is pure twaddle. Breathless nonsense dressed up as "psychology" that does little more than tell you you should be "fascinating" over and over.
Please trust me on this, go and have some fun rather than read this book, at least then you might have an experience that you can tell people, they might even find you a little bit more fascinating.

A very interesting book with lots of stories to accompany the technical aspects but very little 'How to' for the reader. For me to get value from this it needed to include ideas and suggestions on how I could apply the subject of fascination to develop my business.