Patrick Van der Burght: Ethical Persuasion Part 1 How People Make Decisions

By Jennie Bellinger | January 19, 2026 |

About Patrick Van der Burght: Patrick van der Burght is an international expert in ethical persuasion, influence, and decision-making. He is a business partner of Dr. Robert Cialdini—author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion—and a founding member of the Cialdini Institute, the only active, licensed Cialdini Institute worldwide.

A certified influence specialist and trainer across Australia and New Zealand, Patrick has spent over two decades teaching professionals how to persuade ethically, accelerate results, and build stronger relationships across sales, leadership, marketing, and team environments. He is also the co-author of How to Hear “Yes” More Often (2024) and host of the podcast Ethical Persuasion Unlocked.

In this episode, Jennie and Patrick Van der Burght discuss:

Why persuasion is not manipulation—and how ethical influence creates lasting behavior change
The science of decision-making through Daniel Kahneman’s System One and System Two thinking
Why selling feels harder today as attention spans continue to shrink
How logical arguments often fail to move people toward action
Why Dr. Cialdini’s principles of persuasion act as decision triggers rather than sales tactics

Key Takeaways:

Persuasion isn’t about pushing—it’s about prompting. The most powerful influence happens when people feel, “I chose this,” not “I was sold this.”
Your brain’s autopilot (System One) makes most decisions. If your message is 100% logic and data, it’s speaking to the 5% that decides the least.
Attention is today’s scarcest resource. In a world of pings, pop-ups, and endless scroll, there’s rarely enough focus left to run deep, analytical thinking.
When sales conversations rely only on rational explanations, they often create indecision rather than clarity.
Ethical persuasion activates the right mental shortcuts so people can decide faster, with confidence, and without regret.

“I would argue that a lot of those no’s aren’t actually no’s. They’re indecision.” — Patrick Van der Burght

Connect with Patrick Van der Burght:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patrick-van-der-burght

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/patrick.burght/

CONNECT WITH JENNIE:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/badassdirectsalesmastery

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badassdirectsalesmastery/

Website: https://badassdirectsalesmastery.com/

Show: https://badassdirectsalesmastery.com/blog/

YouTube: COMING SOON!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/badassdirectsalesmastery/

Email: jennie@badassdirectsalesmastery.com