Mastering the Art of Persuasion

HBR IdeaCast

Harvard Business Review

Hbr, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Business/management, Harvard, Business/entrepreneurship, Teams, Leadership, Economics, Management, Innovation, Communication, Strategy, Business, Marketing, Business/marketing

4.3 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2020

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jonah Berger, professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, says that most of us aren’t approaching persuasion the right way. Pushing people to behave how you’d like them to or believe the same things you do just doesn’t work, no matter how much data you give or how many emotional appeals you make. Studying both psychology and business, he’s found better tactics for bringing people over to your side. One of the keys? Asking questions so people feel like they’re making the decision to change. Berger is the author of the book "The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind."

Transcript

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0:00.0	How do you navigate gender in your workplace?
0:04.0	HBR's fan favorite podcast Women at Work is back with personal stories, the newest research,
0:09.6	and practical advice on navigating divorce, disability, and career failures.
0:14.0	Listen for free to H.B.
0:16.0	Women at Work wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the HBRI Ideacast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard. How do you get someone to back your ideas, buy your products, or behave in a different way?
0:49.0	Whether it's a boss or a peer, customer or client, supplier supplier or investor or maybe people failing to wear masks during a pandemic.
0:57.3	How do you get them to see things your way, especially if they initially disagree with you,
1:01.5	discount you, or even worse don't even know you're there.
1:05.2	Even with irrefutable data and emotional appeals, it can be really hard to change another person's mind.
1:10.6	Most of us get extremely stuck in our opinions, preferences, and habits.
1:14.0	Today's guest argues that it's possible to push even the most resistant people in new directions.
1:19.1	He says that persuasion starts with recognizing the reasons why affecting change is so very
1:24.1	difficult and then developing strategies to overcome those obstacles.
1:28.6	Jonah Berger is a marketing professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School,
1:32.7	an author of The Catalysts,
1:34.3	How to Change Anyone's Mind.
1:36.2	And a quick note to listeners, we spoke to Jonah a while back
1:39.1	before the pandemic and its fallout.
1:41.3	But we checked in with him for an update on how these ideas apply now,
1:44.7	and you'll hear that conversation, all areas of life really.
2:05.7	Some people seem a lot better at it than others.
2:08.6	So what's the number one mistake that most people make in this area.
	...

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