Marketing

Russell Brunson’s $3.2 Million Presentation: The Influence Psychology

In one 90 minute presentation, Russell Brunson generated $3.2 million in sales.

You’re about to learn the psychology and influence principles that made it happen. This in-depth analysis of Brunson’s $3.2 million presentation will show you how he got into the minds of the 9000 audience members and convinced them to buy his product.


Once you understand the techniques used by Brunson, you can copy and paste them into your life to have massive influence over people. If you’re an entrepreneur or salesperson, these techniques can give you a short-cut to rapidly expanding your sales. Or if you want to positively impact the lives of more people, this will help with that.


This is the only place on the internet that you’ll find such a detailed breakdown of what was one of the most profitable presentations in history for free. Brunson does have his own product 10X Secrets, which explains the presentation from his perspective. But it’s $300 USD. 


I haven’t bought 10X secrets myself. I don’t know what it contains. And I’m not an affiliate for that product or any other ClickFunnels products.  But if you enjoy this article and want to learn more about Brunson’s presentation methods, you could take a look at it.


In this article, I’m going to explain…

  • How Brunson leverages authority bias to influence the audience
  • A secret technique he uses to grab the audience’s attention and hold it
  • 6 Powerful human desires Brunson taps into
  • How you can leverage reward and recognition to motivate people to do what you want
  • The exact words you can use to appeal to people’s desire for ease and convenience 

Keep in mind that these insights are based on my observations only. These observations may not always accurately reflect Russell Brunson’s intentions when he delivered the presentation.

But, whether or not Brunson intended to have the effect I describe doesn’t matter. The presentation was highly effective because of these influence principles that I explain in this article. 

SCARCITY & URGENCY


Scarcity is one of the most commonly used influence principles by marketers. It’s common because it’s so effective. Brunson deploys scarcity right from the get-go by only giving online viewers a limited window of time to watch the presentation.

This creates a sense of urgency that inspires viewers to watch the entire presentation before the clock expires. He even has a countdown clock on the page to further evoke this sense of urgency. 

robert cialdini scarcity


Many speakers including Brunson, will deploy the use of scarcity in their sales pitch. Most commonly, the speaker will offer a deal that is only available to the audience on that day. Others may have a limited number of spots available in their course or program.

 Airlines use scarcity to create a sense of urgency so travelers will book their flights…

CREDIBILITY & AUTHORITY

In the first few minutes of the presentation, we see Brunson is speaking in front of a huge audience of 9000+ people. This instantly generates credibility, even if you’ve never heard of Russell Brunson before. 


Simply speaking on stage in front of even a small audience creates a perception of authority. People will assume you have a certain level of expertise just because you’re speaking in front of an audience.

But this effect becomes far more pronounced when the speaker is in front of such a large audience. People think that only true experts and celebrities speak in front of such large audiences. 

Towards the beginning of the presentation, Brunson asks to have the lights in the room dimmed and asks the audience members to turn on the flashlight on their phones. The camera pans out over the thousands of flashlights in the audience. 

This was most likely an intentional move by Brunson to ensure that everyone watching the replay online would see just how many people he was speaking in front of, boosting the sense of authority.

During the presentation, Brunson continues to build his credibility by sharing the story of how he first made a million dollars online in one year. Everyone in the audience is a business person who would like to make a million dollars online in one year themselves. So by offering this information, Brunson gains a lot of extra credibility. 

Brunson also leverages authority by association. This occurs when someone associates themselves with an influential figure and ‘borrows’ their authority.

The presentation is given at Grant Cardone’s 10X conference. Grant Cardone is an influential figure in the entrepreneurship space and well known amongst Brunson’s target audience. By speaking at Cardone’s conference he gains some of the authority that people associate with Cardone. 

Later in the presentation, Brunson talks about how he created a funnel for Tony Robbins. He has probably built funnels for thousands of people. So why use the funnel he built for Tony Robbins as an example?

Because Tony Robbins is an influential figure, whom 95% of his audience will know and respect. Knowing that Tony Robbins sought out Brunson to build a funnel for him, instantly boosts the audience’s perception of Brunson. 

When people view you as an authority, they are far more likely to accept anything you say as truth. This opens the door to influence people as you wish.

P.S. I go into more detail on the power of authority and credibility in my article on JT Foxx, who uses authority bias better than almost anyone in the world.

OPEN LOOPS & CURIOSITY

You know when you watch a show on Netflix and the episode ends with a cliff hanger? You absolutely can’t resist watching the next episode to find out what happens next?

That’s an open loop. 

The loop is opened in the first episode. And they’re not going to close the loop until the next episode. It’s how the writers ensure that the audience is compelled to watch the next episode.

An open loop basically poses a question (loop opened) and leaves you seeking an answer (to close the loop). The secret is to leave your audience waiting for an answer.

Hollywood movie writers use open loops to keep viewers engaged throughout the entire movie. Reality TV shows use open loops just before commercials to ensure viewers come back after the commercial. 

A good open loop will create such a strong desire in your audience to ‘close the loop’ that they can’t possibly tune out until it’s been closed.

Clickbait advertisers understand this concept of open loops extremely well and use it to create irresistible titles that people are desperate to click on. 

Russell Brunson engages his audience with an open loop within the first 5 minutes of his presentation. He says “I’m going to tell you how to instantly outspend your competitors and ethically steal all potential customers in your market.”

Who doesn’t want to ethically steal all potential customers in their market?

This gets the audience’s attention. The loop has been opened. But then he makes everyone wait to get an answer. As long as that loop is open, the audience is going to listen to him carefully waiting to find out how they can ethically steal all potential customers in their market.

The timing of this open loop is particularly important. He deploys in very early within the presentation, right when it’s critically important to capture the attention of the audience.
 
If you can’t get the attention of your audience early in a presentation, they will tune out for the remainder of it. It’s the same with blog posts, YouTube videos, sales presentations and movies. 

Brunson creates another open loop at the beginning of his sales pitch. Right when he needs to have the audience’s full attention.

This time he tells the audience that his offer includes a way to get ClickFunnels for free. Everyone in the audience would like to get ClickFunnels for free. The loop has been opened. Now the audience is going to hang on every word that comes out of Brunson’s mouth until they find out how they can get ClickFunnels for free. 

COMPETITIVENESS, RECOGNITION & BELIEF

This one concept is one of the main reasons Russell Brunson and ClickFunnels have become so successful.

It’s called the 2 Comma Club and the psychology behind it is incredible. 

The 2 Comma Club is a club of ClickFunnels members who have built funnels that generated over $1,000,000 in sales. Brunson introduces the 2 Comma club during his presentation. 

This club is extremely clever because it taps into so many powerful human desires, making it almost impossible to ignore. These desires include:

  • Winning/Competitiveness
  • Recognition
  • Reward
  • Status
  • Hope
  • Community

In his book Cashvertising, Drew Eric Whitman talks about the 8 human desires that are biologically programmed into humans. One of these eight desires is ‘To be superior….winning…keeping up with the Jones’

Humans are competitive by nature. People want to prove their superiority over others. And this particularly holds true for entrepreneurs (Brunson’s audience). They want to win. They want their business to beat other businesses. 

By tapping into people’s competitive nature, you can motivate them to take action and go beyond what they would do otherwise. 

Sales people make more sales when they are competing against their peers. Athletes are driven to practice every day so they can beat other athletes. Social media influencers are driven to produce more content to beat out their social media rivals. Follower count is the scoreboard. 

Knowing this, many apps have adopted the concept of gamificationGamification introduces competition into otherwise non-competitive pursuits like learning languages. 

Duolingo, the world’s most popular language-learning app use leaderboards to tap into their users’ competitive nature. Users receive points for completing language lessons and can see how they rank against other users.

I even found myself practicing my Spanish a lot more recently, because of my competitive desire to rise up the leaderboard and beat other people (who I don’t even know).

Strava has become the world’s number one fitness app because it encourages people to compete against others and exercise more to receive rewards. 

One of the reasons competition is so effective in driving human behavior is that people seek recognition. In fact, motivation studies suggest recognition is an even greater motivator than money.

Competition becomes even more powerful when rewards are on offer. Even non-monetary rewards are strong motivators. Strava motivates its users by rewarding them with badges for completing challenges. 

YouTube motivates it’s content creators to create more videos and generate more subscribers by rewarding them when they achieve subscriber milestones. YouTube channels receive a Gold Play Button when they reach 1 million subscribers

Russell Brunson’s 2 Comma Club appeals to people’s competitive desires. They want to be part of the 2 Comma Club themselves. And to increase motivation, Brunson has set up rewards and recognition for those who make it into the 2 Comma Club.

2 Comma Club members are featured on the 2 Comma Club website (recognition) and they receive a trophy from ClickFunnels when they make it. 

ClickFunnels also leverage the power of competition, reward and recognition in their affiliate program. To motivate their affiliates to generate more sales, ClickFunnels introduced the Dream Car Award. 

When an affiliate generates 100 sales, ClickFunnels will cover the lease payments for the affiliate to lease their dream car. And they get featured on the website (recognition)…

But the 2 Comma Club creates one more crucial outcome that makes it so effective…

It gives the audience belief.

Without belief, reward and recognition won’t be enough to motivate people to act. If someone doesn’t believe that they can achieve the outcome that delivers the reward and recognition, they won’t bother. 

Brunson shares the story of online entrepreneur John Reese, who became the first person to make $1 million in a single day online. When Brunson first heard about this, it gave him the belief that making a million dollars online was possible. 

The 2 Comma Club gives the audience hope and belief that they can do it too. They can make $1,000,000 from building a funnel.  Seeing people just like them who made it into the 2 Comma Club gives them the belief that it’s possible. 

Brunson shares a video testimonial from a couple who were in the audience at the same event just 12 months ago. They had since made it into the 2 Comma Club. Knowing that someone who attended the same event was able to do it, makes it more relatable to the audience. When it becomes more relatable, the audience will develop an even stronger belief that it’s possible. 

EASE & CONVENIENCE

Russell Brunson knows that most people are lazy.

He knows the people in his audience want results. He knows they want results now and they don’t want to have to work too hard for results.

Throughout the presentation, Brunson makes multiple appeals to people’s desire for ease and convenience. Firstly, he deploys a tactic that I call “the one.”

Everyone wants “the one.” They want “the one course” that will teach them everything they need to know about making money. They want “the one person” (their soulmate) that will make them happy. They want “the one coach” who will be able to teach them everything they need to know. They want “the one car” that has every feature they need.

If you can frame your solution as “the one” that is perfect for your audience and solves all their problems, you will influence many more people.

The reason the one is so appealing to people largely comes down to ease and convenience. Searching for the perfect life partner, car or coach is difficult. It takes time and it’s stressful. 

People delight in finding “the one” because they can call off the search. It’s a weight off their shoulders. This is why headlines and book titles like this are so compelling…

This book The ONLY Investment Guide You’ll EVER Need by Andrew Tobias has sold over a million copies because people don’t want to read dozens of investment books if they can just read one.

The one is also irresistibly appealing to people because they fear buyer’s remorse. Everyone has had a bad experience where they bought a product, married a partner or hired the wrong employee and then later realized it wasn’t “the one.” They suffered buyers remorse.

If you can show people that you are the one or your product is the one, your audience will feel excited and have hope. Even better if you can show them why your competitors aren’t the one.

Brunson positions ClickFunnels as The One. He promises the audience that ClickFunnels is the one thing they need to 10X their businesses. It’s the secret ingredient they all need. 

He shows the audience how it’s the one piece of software they need. Once they have ClickFunnels, they won’t need landing page software, email marketing software, webinar software, shopping cart software. ClickFunnels is all they need.

This appeals to people because it can potentially save them money. But it also appeals to people’s desire for ease and convenience. Everyone would much rather have one single software that can do everything rather than 10-20 different ones.

In his sales pitch, Brunson makes another subtle but highly effective attempt to frame ClickFunnels as the one.

He asks “How many of you have been trying for a while to get this internet thing figured out?” He knows that a lot of people in the audience have tried all sorts of online marketing strategies..

  • Facebook ads
  • Webinars
  • YouTube videos
  • Instagram
  • Shopify

And he knows that most people haven’t achieved the success they want using these strategies. But they’re at the 10X event because they want something that will work. They want the one.

When Brunson asked that question, many people in the audience would have started to feel excited. Brunson was giving them hope. Hope that they had finally found the one thing that will work for their business.

Brunson continues to appeal to the audience’s desire for ease throughout the presentation. Consider the following quote from Brunson..

“If you follow this process, I promise you that you will 10x your company in the next 12 months.” The keyword here is process. People want a process to follow because of the implication that someone has already figured it out for them. They don’t need to do the hard work of figuring out how to make money with funnels themselves. They just follow the process. 

It’s why so many authors or marketing gurus will use words like ‘formula‘ or ‘method‘ in their book titles or headlines. These words imply that there is a process to follow that leads to success.

Brunson provides the audience with his video script formula. His goal is to remove the perceived difficulty of every step in creating a funnel.

Providing the audience with a formula or a process also increases their belief that they can be successful. 

During the presentation, Brunson tells the audience he is going to give them the cheat code to funnels.  That term is so powerful because it implies that there is a shortcut…something that will save time and overcome difficulty. 

As well as appealing to the audience’s desire for ease, he also overcomes their resistance to difficulty. 

Many people would be concerned that building their own funnel would be difficult and overwhelming. They are worried that it would be hard learning how to use ClickFunnels. Brunson overcomes this fear by showing a demo of how to build a funnel in just six minutes using ClickFunnels.

After watching the full presentation, the viewer has the impression that success with ClickFunnels is easy and almost guaranteed.

Although the reality is that success is much more difficult than Brunson would have you think. 

SUMMARY..WHAT NEXT?

Now you have the influence principles that were used to make a whopping $3.2 million in just 90 minutes by one of the smartest marketers in the world.

And by the way, the $3.2 million is just sales from the 10X event. Brunson has most likely made many more millions in sales from that one influential presentation since posting it online.

Take some time to think about how you can use open loops, authority, scarcity and ‘the one’ concept in your own business and life. There are many different ways of applying these powerful ideas. And when applied correctly they are highly influential. 

It’s worthwhile watching the 90 minute presentation by Russell Brunson to see exactly how he does it. To avoid making this post too long, I didn’t even include many of the tactics he uses in the presentation. For example…how he uses the rule of reciprocity, by giving everyone in the audience a small gift. That act of generosity makes audience members feel like they need to reciprocate the good deed.

If you do decide to watch the presentation, just be warned. The psychology is so powerful that you will likely feel compelled to buy his product valued at $1997 by the end of the presentation. 

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