Influence is quieter than you think. It’s the friend who chose differently and made it easier for you to.

Hardly any of what changes people’s behaviour is persuasion. Mostly it is the discovery that an option exists at all. Watching one person order something else, leave early, decline the dare or say they are not drinking tells everybody in earshot that the alternative is available and survivable. No argument got made, and the room moved anyway.

You do not have to announce anything. Make your actual choice visibly, without justifying it or turning it into anyone else’s business. Somebody nearby has been waiting for permission they will never ask for.