The Art of Seduction Read Free

periphery of your target's life —a pproach through a third party, or seem to cultivate a relatively neutral re- lationship, moving gradually from friend to lover. Lull the target into feeling secure, then strike. 3 Send Mixed Signals page 185
    Once people are aware of your presence, and perhaps vaguely intrigued, you need to stir their interest before it settles on someone else. Most of us are much too obvious — instead, be hard to figure out. Send mixed signals: both tough and tender, both spiritual and earthly, both inno- cent and cunning. A mix of qualities suggests depth, which fascinates even as it confuses. An elusive, enigmatic aura will make people want to know more, drawing them into your circle. Create such a power by hinting at something contradictory within you. 4 Appear to Be an Object of Desire—Create Triangles page 195
    Few are drawn to the person whom others avoid or neglect; people gather around those who have already attracted interest. To draw your victims closer and make them hungry to possess you, you must create an aura of desirability — of being wanted and courted by many. It will become a point of vanity for them to be the preferred object of your attention, to win you away from a crowd of admirers. Build a reputation that precedes you: If many have succumbed to your charms, there must be a reason.
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    5 Create a Need—Stir Anxiety and Discontent page 203
    A perfectly satisfied person cannot be seduced. Tension and disharmony must be instilled in your targets minds. Stir within them feelings of discontent, an unhappiness with their circum- stances and with themselves. The feelings of inadequacy that you create will give you space to insinuate yourself, to make them see you as the answer to their problems. Pain and anxiety are the proper precursors to pleasure. Learn to manufacture the need that you can fill. 6 Master the Art of Insinuation page 211
    Making your targets feel dissatisfied and in need of your attention is essential, but if you are too obvious, they will see through you and grow defensive. There is no known defense, how- ever, against insinuation — the art of planting ideas in people's minds by dropping elusive hints that take root days later, even appearing to them as their own idea. Create a sublanguage —
    bold statements followed by retraction and apology, ambiguous comments, banal talk combined with alluring glances — that enters the target's unconscious to convey your real meaning. Make everything suggestive.
    7 Enter Their Spirit page 219
    Most people are locked in their own worlds, making them stubborn and hard to persuade. The way to lure them out of their shell and set up your seduction is to enter their spirit. Play by their rules, enjoy what they enjoy, adapt yourself to their moods. In doing so you will stroke their deep-rooted narcissism and lower their defenses. Indulge your targets' every mood and whim, giving them nothing to react against or resist.
    8 Create Temptation page 229
    Lure the target deep into your seduction by creating the proper temptation: a glimpse of the pleasures to come. As the serpent tempted Eve with the promise of forbidden knowledge, you must awaken a desire in your targets that they cannot control. Find that weakness of theirs, that fantasy that has yet to be realized, and hint that you can lead them toward it. The key is to keep it vague. Stimulate a curiosity stronger than the doubts and anxieties that go with it, and they will follow you.
    Phase Two: Lead Astray — Creating Pleasure and Confusion
    9 Keep Them in Suspense—What Comes Next? page 241
    The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken. More: You have ceded them power. The only way to lead the seduced along and keep the up- per hand is to create suspense, a calculated surprise. Doing something they do not expect from you will give them a delightful sense of spontaneity —t hey will not be able to foresee what comes