Nearly everybody loves secrets. When you share secrets with people, you gain a great deal of trust from your listeners.
“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but . . .
“Can you promise me you won’t say anything to anyone about what I’m going to tell you?”
“Off the record, I think you should know…. "
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone about that, but here’s how it works…
Statements like these show that you are confiding in your listener. When you confide in people, you tend to get reciprocal behavior. Once communication is completely open on intimate levels, persuading your counterpart is a very simple outcome to achieve.