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10% Happier with Dan Harris

The Science of Persuasion | Vanessa Bohns

10% Happier with Dan Harris

10% Media, LLC

Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.612.9K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2023

⏱️ 67 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

New episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for free, with 1-week early access for Wondery+ subscribers.

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It can be difficult to grasp how much power of persuasion we actually have, or how to wield it wisely. 


In today's episode we look at science-based strategies for observing the effect we have on others, and how to better deal with our fear of rejection, and asking for favors. 


Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. She is the author of You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why it Matters.


In this episode we talk about:


  • How much we often underestimate our own influence 
  • Why it's so hard to say no
  • Why people are paying attention to us more than we think
  • The impact of asking for things in-person
  • The responsibility that comes with being in a position of power
  • What it means to experience your own influence 
  • And how we can be more aware of the influence we have



Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/vanessa-bohns-550


Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This is the 10% happier podcast.

0:06.3

I'm Dan Harris.

0:08.3

Hello, everybody.

0:12.5

Unfortunately for me, and you may have noticed this in your own life, people do not just automatically

0:18.2

do whatever I want them to do.

0:20.5

The world does not bend to my will.

0:24.0

Not for lack of trying, or perhaps more accurately, not for lack of trying skillfully.

0:29.3

Today, we're going to hear from a researcher who has been studying the best ways to influence,

0:34.2

to persuade Vanessa Barnes is a social psychologist and a professor of organizational behavior

0:39.8

at Cornell University.

0:41.5

She's the author of a book called You Have More Influence than You Think, How We Underestimate

0:46.2

Our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters.

0:49.5

In this conversation, we talked about how much we often underestimate our influence,

0:53.8

why it's so hard for people to say no, why people are paying more attention to us than

0:58.4

we might think, the impact of asking for things in person, the responsibility that comes

1:04.1

with being in a position of power, why we should work on getting perspective rather than

1:08.7

taking perspective, and what it means to experience your own influence and how we can be more

1:13.9

aware of the influence we have.

1:17.3

We'll get started with Vanessa Barnes after this.

1:21.7

Before we get started with today's episode, if you've been around TPH land for any

1:26.4

length of time, you've probably heard me name drop Joseph Goldstein.

1:31.0

He started out as my meditation teacher then became my friend and then we teamed up to

...

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