Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions Book Review

Title: Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

Writer: Guy Kawasaki

Review Written by: Karen Benardello


Persuasion, while important when trying to influence potential clients and consumers to change brands or companies, isn’t always an easy task. Instead of using the difficult assignment of persuasion, author Guy Kawasaki suggests enchanting people in his new book “Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions”. The entrepreneur offers some helpful tips on how to overcome other people’s established habits and encourage them to support your cause.

In “Enchantment”, Kawasaki draws on his experience from his time serving as the chief evangelist of Apple, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist to not only explain what enchantment is, but to also explain how to obtain likability and trustworthiness, overcome resistance and make enchantment endure. The author states that enchantment is not merely getting what you want; it also brings a voluntary and lasting change in other people. By being likable, trustworthy and presenting a cause that others can embrace, enchanters can change other people’s opinions and actions. But enchanting people doesn’t mean manipulating them; it entails changing skeptics and cynics into believers and the undecided into the loyal. Kawasaki also claims that enchantment can happen during any relationship and activity, ranging from informal Facebook messages to high-level corporate negotiations.

Kawasaki’s suggestions are geared towards, and beneficial to, both organizations trying to enchant potential clients and customers and individuals trying to enchant possible employers and supporters of their cause. For example, the author advises his readers to immediately and completely disclose their interests, and be completely knowledgeable about their causes, so that they can fully obtain the trust of those they’re trying to enchant. Trust is an important aspect of all relationships, business or personal; relationships aren’t beneficial if both parties can’t trust each other.


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