The aforementioned tactics are used for negative manipulation. However, there are some targets that these tactics cannot apply to and at times a social engineer may also prefer some positivity in the attack. The following are some positive manipulation methods.

• Disconnecting emotions from the attack: A social engineer cannot afford to use his or her real emotions in the attack. This will open the attacker to manipulation from the target which is a reversal of the whole attack. That is why a social engineer acts like his or her pretext. His or her mind has to differentiate between the real person and the pretext. Fake emotions are used but the attacker never lets the emotions leak down to his or her real personality. By disconnecting real emotions from the attack, a social engineer is able to remain in control of the attack even when the target becomes upset, rude, or mad.
• Looking for the positive: To light up some moments, a social engineer can look at humorous things to joke about or to compliment. Just by finding something for the target to smile about can improve the chances of success in a manipulation attack. If, for example, the target is a receptionist, by complimenting the look of the reception's desk with an eye on the design or just by mentioning some good reputation of the organization in the streets might go a long way in unlocking the chances for success in the organization.
• Making positive assumptions: A social engineering attack is a big task and the attacker needs all the motivation he or she can get. To lift up spirits, the social engineer should assume that everything will go according to plan. If it does not, the attacker should assume that the backup plan will work or the exit procedure will flawlessly come through. In the interactions with targets, a social engineer should speak with some assumptions. When interacting with a security guard manning the entry point of a building, the social engineer should say things such as ...on my way out after repairing the printers, I will tell you something I heard about this organization. This positivity eases the guard's strictness and makes it easier for the social engineer to gain access to the organization even if he does not have the required invitation. If the social engineer makes the mistake of being negative and expecting failure, the chances of success will be slim. A statement such as If only you will allow me to get in and speak with HR... might seem too needy and automatically the guard will deny entrance. The expectation of failure can also show up in microexpressions and other non-verbal cues. Once picked up by targets, the social engineer looks suspicious and is treated with strictness.

• Using different opening lines: At this point, one may borrow some information from dating sites. OkCupid (https://www.okcupid.com/), which is one of the leading online dating sites, did a research on the response rate of girls to pick up lines. They found that big compliments were disastrous when used and most girls ignored messages with words such as beautiful, hot, or sexy. Words that had a better effect on girls were cool and awesome. Similarly, girls ignored messages with usual greetings such as hi or hey. Greetings such as howdy or hola had a better response rate. With that information, assuming that the targets are girls in dating sites, it is apparent that normal approaches will not work. It is typical human behavior; people will ignore the normal and be attracted to the unusual. Therefore, a social engineer will use different approaches such as being sent for urgent repairs, coming to an urgent meeting, or dropping a very important thumb drive to get information on an organization. The social engineer will also not use an obvious path in his or her interaction with a target.
• Using past tense: In the instances where a social engineer is dealing with negativity from a target, it is important to distance the negativity from the current situation. This gives a newer opportunity. If, for example, a receptionist denies the attacker a chance to meet the target who might be the CFO of an organization, the target can reset the attack. Take a simple statement such as When you said that I cannot see the CFO, were you aware I was with him yesterday and I agreed to meet him today because I might be held up as from tomorrow? The social engineer has reset the mindset of the receptionist by throwing away the denial in the distant past and increasing pressure to see the CFO. The receptionist will also be forced to move from the past into the current and this might just get the engineer the chance to see the CFO.
• Seeking and destroying: This might be confusing in a section we said was for positive manipulation tactics. However, it is not aimed at causing negative impacts to the target. A social engineer identifies and plans on how to handle disruptions to his or her attack. They practice beforehand on how an interaction will go so as to find out areas where they might find challenges. This gives them an early opportunity to seek and destroy anything that can be thrown in their paths.