Look, it's a tough world out there, and it helps if you have the Midas touch when it comes to getting people on side, right?

But when our womanly wiles fail (apparently we're meant to have some), and our power of persuasion fall a little short, it's important to have a back-up plan.

And according to a recent study, a few choice words are all you need if you're trying to get certain people on the same page as you.

Conducting an experiment of over 600 people, Nicolas Guéguen, a behavioural scientist, concluded that the words 'You will probably refuse, but' work wonders when it comes to persuading people to do something.

Splitting his participants into two groups, the first was asked: "You are probably interested in organisations for children with health problems. I wonder if you could help us by making a donation?"

The second group was asked: "You are probably interested in organisations for children with health problems. You will probably refuse, but I wonder if you could help us by making a donation?"

The researcher established that those who were met with the words' You will probably refuse, but' were more likely to delve deep than those who weren't,

Results confirmed that of the group who were asked the second question, 39.1 per cent donated in comparison to 25 per cent in the first group.

So, it looks like a little bit of reverse psychology goes a long way.