Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that if you show people that others like
Speaker 1: them have done something, they will be more confident that
Speaker 1: they can do that same thing too. Today's tip, like
Speaker 1: several other recent ones, comes from Robert Chaldeeni's book Persuasion,
Speaker 1: about ways that you can prepare people to be open
Speaker 1: to your requests or suggestions. One of Chaldeeni's principles of
Speaker 1: persuasion is social proof, which he defines as the principle
Speaker 1: that people think it is appropriate for them to believe, feel,
Speaker 1: or do something to the extent that others, especially comparable others,
Speaker 1: are believing, feeling, or doing it. In other words, if
Speaker 1: other people like you are doing it, you should also
Speaker 1: do it. You may see this in your kid's desire
Speaker 1: to conform to trends. You may also see it when
Speaker 1: your alma mater tells you that some high percentage of
Speaker 1: your fellow alums support the annual fund, so obviously you
Speaker 1: should too. Chaldeini explains that the power of social proof
Speaker 1: is feasibility. If other normal people are doing something, it
Speaker 1: doesn't seem that much of a reach for you to
Speaker 1: do it. For instance, in my family, I've found that
Speaker 1: if one of our friends has taken a trip somewhere
Speaker 1: that starts to seem like the kind of place we
Speaker 1: could vacation, nothing has changed and nothing was stopping us
Speaker 1: from going there first. But we take our cues from
Speaker 1: people we see as peers. If you are in the
Speaker 1: business of motivating people, you can use this insight to
Speaker 1: your advantage. For instance, if you are trying to motivate
Speaker 1: people to send agendas for meetings twenty four hours in advance,
Speaker 1: you can send around an email noting all the people
Speaker 1: who did send their agendas twenty four hours in advance
Speaker 1: for the last few meetings. If Beyonce sends her agendas
Speaker 1: twenty four hours ahead of time, this means nothing for
Speaker 1: the rest of us. But if Wanda in accounting can
Speaker 1: do it, well you can too. You can use the
Speaker 1: principle of feasibility to persuade yourself. You may be wondering
Speaker 1: if it's possible to earn an executive MBA while working
Speaker 1: in your current job and parenting, But if you learn
Speaker 1: that one of your colleagues did it a few years ago,
Speaker 1: well you might start looking into applications, or maybe you
Speaker 1: talk to people on your block and realize that your
Speaker 1: neighbor three doors down earned a degree while working and
Speaker 1: raising small kids. Again, if Beyonce can do it, that
Speaker 1: means nothing for the rest of us. But your neighbor
Speaker 1: is probably much like you. If she can do it,
Speaker 1: you can not. Everybody is inclined to be a trailblazer,
Speaker 1: but when we see similar people who have followed a
Speaker 1: certain path already, we may be open to joining in.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.