Two weeks ago, on November 13-14, 2008, we held the first ever open Principles of Persuasion (POP) Workshop in Toronto, and from all reports, it was an incredible success.
41 participants from Canada's leading institutions and corporations took part in the 1.5-day program, the only one of its kind in the world designed and certified by the world's foremost expert on the science of persuasion and influence - Dr. Robert Cialdini.
Thank you to all the participants, to Debbie Barlow at HRD, and to the attentive staff at St. Andrews for making this such a tremendous experience.
The next open POP will be held on April 23-24, 2009 at the St. Andrews Club in downtown Toronto. Act quickly though - space is limited and we are already very close to capacity for April 2009. To register online, please visit www.regonline.com/pop.
25 November 2008
24 November 2008
Broken Window Theory and the Cialdini Effect
Last week, the Globe and the National Post quickly picked up on the findings of a Dutch research paper, published in the respected journal Science. The research claims that urban decay is contagious - that people are more likely to defy social norms (e.g., littering, stealing), if there is evidence in plain view that others have already done so.
It's a riff on Gladwell's Broken Windows Theory, first put forth in The Tipping Point, in which Gladwell described, and then explained, the sharp reduction in crime in New York City during the late 80's and 90's. Social contagion also builds upon Dr. Cialdini's Social Proof principle, which states that people are more likely to do something if they observe others doing the same thing.
It's also likely one of the most under-utilized of the persuasion principles. Whether you're in sales or marketing, whether you're trying to influence 1 or 1000 people, whether you're the client or the vendor, it doesn't matter... NEVER forget to provide proof of what similar others are doing. Why rely just on your own persuasion power when you can harness the power of other people to get the job done more effectively?
As Dr. Cialdini has said so eloquently in testimony before the U.S. Congress and at 10 Downing Street last year: "As a rule, people grossly underestimate the guiding role that others play in choices and the extent to which their actions in a situation are determined by the (previous and current) actions of others."
Read the full Globe article here.
It's a riff on Gladwell's Broken Windows Theory, first put forth in The Tipping Point, in which Gladwell described, and then explained, the sharp reduction in crime in New York City during the late 80's and 90's. Social contagion also builds upon Dr. Cialdini's Social Proof principle, which states that people are more likely to do something if they observe others doing the same thing.
It's also likely one of the most under-utilized of the persuasion principles. Whether you're in sales or marketing, whether you're trying to influence 1 or 1000 people, whether you're the client or the vendor, it doesn't matter... NEVER forget to provide proof of what similar others are doing. Why rely just on your own persuasion power when you can harness the power of other people to get the job done more effectively?
As Dr. Cialdini has said so eloquently in testimony before the U.S. Congress and at 10 Downing Street last year: "As a rule, people grossly underestimate the guiding role that others play in choices and the extent to which their actions in a situation are determined by the (previous and current) actions of others."
Read the full Globe article here.
23 November 2008
Get DropBox
Do you know DropBox? It's this FREE amazing, fantastic, online utility that is essentially a virtual thumb drive - especially useful if you use multiple computers on weekly basis. They just came out of beta recently, and it's such a useful little utility that I thought it would be a crime not to let people in on it. After losing my 5th thumb drive in a year, DropBox was the ultimate find.
From LifeHacker:
"Freeware application and web service Dropbox instantaneously backs up and syncs your files over the Internet and to any computer. After you install the application, it will create a Dropbox folder on your hard drive. Any file you put inside that folder will automatically be synced and monitored for changes, and each time a change is saved, it backs up and syncs the file again. Even better, Dropbox does revision history, so if you accidentally saved a file and wanted to revert to an old version or deleted a file, Dropbox can recover any previous version. See the video above for a full demonstration."
I believe DropBox may still be "by invitation only". If you want an invite, just holler.
From LifeHacker:
"Freeware application and web service Dropbox instantaneously backs up and syncs your files over the Internet and to any computer. After you install the application, it will create a Dropbox folder on your hard drive. Any file you put inside that folder will automatically be synced and monitored for changes, and each time a change is saved, it backs up and syncs the file again. Even better, Dropbox does revision history, so if you accidentally saved a file and wanted to revert to an old version or deleted a file, Dropbox can recover any previous version. See the video above for a full demonstration."
I believe DropBox may still be "by invitation only". If you want an invite, just holler.
11 November 2008
Yes We Can
With two federal elections come and gone (yes, we had one here in Canada in October, and of course, Barack "Yes We Can" Obama recently triumphed in the US elections), we're reminded once again how important a role that influence and persuasion play in our daily lives. For what else do elections stand on if not a candidate's (and his team's) ability to influence eligible voters in their direction?
With that in mind, have a listen to Dr. Cialdini's latest interview with Ted Robbins of National Public Radio. Cialdini vividly dissects the process of how to effectively change people's behaviour by invoking two powerful principles: consistency and social proof.
Listen to the audio file, or read the article here.
With that in mind, have a listen to Dr. Cialdini's latest interview with Ted Robbins of National Public Radio. Cialdini vividly dissects the process of how to effectively change people's behaviour by invoking two powerful principles: consistency and social proof.
Listen to the audio file, or read the article here.
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