How to Get People to Do Stuff: Master the art and science of persuasion and motivation

Book description

We all want people to do stuff. Whether you want your customers to buy from you, vendors to give you a good deal, your employees to take more initiative, or your spouse to make dinner—a large amount of everyday is about getting the people around you to do stuff. Instead of using your usual tactics that sometimes work and sometimes don't, what if you could harness the power of psychology and brain science to motivate people to do the stuff you want them to do - even getting people to want to do the stuff you want them to do.
 
In this book you’ll learn the 7 drives that motivate people: The Desire For Mastery, The Need To Belong, The Power of Stories, Carrots and Sticks, Instincts,  Habits, and Tricks Of The Mind. For each of the 7 drives behavioral psychologist Dr. Susan Weinschenk describes the research behind each drive, and then offers specific strategies to use. Here’s just a few things you will learn:

  • The more choices people have the more regret they feel about the choice they pick. If you want people to feel less regret then offer them fewer choices.

  • If you are going to use a reward, give the reward continuously at first, and then switch to giving a reward only sometimes.

  • If you want people to act independently, then make a reference to money, BUT if you want people to work with others or help others, then make sure you DON’T refer to money.

  • If you want people to remember something, make sure it is at the beginning or end of your book, presentation, or meeting. Things in the middle are more easily forgotten.

  • If you are using feedback to increase the desire for mastery keep the feedback objective, and don’t include praise.

  • Table of contents

    1. Title Page
    2. Copyright Page
    3. Dedication Page
    4. About the Author
    5. Contents
    6. Acknowledgements
    7. 1. The Seven Drives
      1. The 7 Drivers of Motivation
      2. Too Manipulative?
    8. 2. The Need to Belong
      1. When People Feel Connected, They Work Harder
      2. Use Nouns, Not Verbs
      3. Harness the Power of Others’ Opinions
      4. Make Sure the Right Person Does the Asking
      5. Incur Debt
      6. Get People to Say No
      7. Use Imitation
      8. Mimic Body Language to Build Rapport
      9. People Will Imitate Your Feelings
      10. Go Viral
      11. The Science of Bonding
      12. How to Get People to Trust You
      13. Syncing the Brains of Speakers with the Brains of Listeners
      14. When Competition Works and When It Doesn’t
      15. People Follow Leaders
      16. What Are You Saying with Your Hands?
      17. Your Face and Eyes Are Talking, Too
      18. You Communicate Meaning with Your Tone of Voice
      19. Clothes Do Make You
      20. How to Become the Leader in a Few Seconds
    9. 3. Habits
      1. The Science of Habits
      2. How Habits Get Formed
      3. How to Intentionally Engage the Unconscious
      4. How to Create a New Habit in Less than a Week
    10. 4. The Power of Stories
      1. I Feel Your Pain (Literally!)
      2. Our Internal Stories Drive Our Behavior
      3. How to Turn on a Persona
      4. The “Crack” Strategy
      5. The “Anchor to a Persona” Strategy
      6. Start Small
      7. Going Public
      8. Writing Increases Commitment
      9. Prompt a New Story
    11. 5. Carrots and Sticks
      1. Getting People to Do Stuff Automatically
      2. What the Casinos Know
      3. Choose from Five Basic Schedules of Reinforcement
      4. Continuous Reinforcement: How to Get People to Do Something New
      5. Variable Ratio: How to Get People to Keep Doing It
      6. Variable Interval: How to Get Stable Behavior
      7. Fixed Ratio: How to Get a Burst of Behavior
      8. Why a Fixed Interval Schedule Isn’t as Effective
      9. Rewarding Baby Steps
      10. Picking the Right Reward
      11. When to Give the Reward
      12. Negative Reinforcement
      13. Punishment
    12. 6. Instincts
      1. Fear, Attention, and Memory
      2. Fear of Illness and Death
      3. Fear of Loss
      4. Quantities Are Limited
      5. When People Want Familiar Brands
      6. We’re Control Freaks
      7. Safety and Participation
      8. New and Improved!
      9. Keep ’Em Comin’ Back for More
      10. Novelty and Dopamine
      11. Food and Sex
    13. 7. The Desire for Mastery
      1. Mastery Trumps Rewards
      2. Make People Feel Special
      3. Challenge Is Motivating
      4. Autonomy Encourages Mastery
      5. When Struggling Is a Good Thing
      6. Give Feedback to Keep Motivation Going
      7. Go with the Flow
    14. 8. Tricks of the Mind
      1. Your Lazy Brain
      2. Looking for Blame
      3. Use Coherent Stories
      4. The Power of Primes
      5. Messages of Death
      6. Anchoring: When a Number Is Not Just a Number
      7. Familiarity Breeds Content
      8. Make It Hard to Read
      9. Lulled with the Status Quo
      10. Make People Uncomfortable
      11. Craving Certainty
      12. Don’t Make People Think Too Much or Too Long
      13. To Sound Profound, Make Sure Rhymes Abound
      14. Simple Names Are Best
      15. How to Get People to Remember Stuff
      16. The Schematics in Your Head
      17. Two Words That Can Change Everything
      18. Metaphors Have the Power to Change How We Think
      19. Seize the Moment
      20. Time Is Money
      21. People Value Experience More Than They Value Things
      22. Wandering Minds
      23. Get People to Stop Thinking
      24. Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: The Power of Regret
      25. Doing the Heavy Lifting
    15. 9. Case Studies: Using Drivers and Strategies in the Real World
      1. Get People to Donate Money
      2. Get People to Take Initiative
      3. Get Someone to Hire You as an Employee
      4. Get Someone to Accept a Job Offer
      5. Get Someone to Hire You as a Vendor
      6. Get Children to Practice Music
      7. Get Customers to Be Evangelists
      8. Get People to Vote
      9. Get People to Live a Healthier Lifestyle
      10. Get People to Use Checklists
      11. Get People to Recycle
      12. Get Customers to Be Actively Involved
      13. Get People to See the Other Side
    16. 10. The Strategy List
      1. The Need To Belong
      2. Habits
      3. The Power of Stories
      4. Carrots and Sticks
      5. Instincts
      6. The Desire for Mastery
      7. Tricks of the Mind
    17. Appendix A. References
    18. Index
    19. Ad Page

    Product information

    • Title: How to Get People to Do Stuff: Master the art and science of persuasion and motivation
    • Author(s): Susan Weinschenk
    • Release date: March 2013
    • Publisher(s): New Riders
    • ISBN: 9780133122336