WEBVTT - My Favourite Tip: Richard Wiseman - Add a bit of magic to your presentations

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<v Speaker 1>Do you know any magic tricks? If you don't, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>it's time to learn one, because it might improve the

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<v Speaker 1>way that you work. And that's certainly been the case

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<v Speaker 1>for psychology professor Richard Wiseman. Scientific American described Richard as

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most interesting and innovative experimental psychologists in

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<v Speaker 1>the world, and Richard's love of magic has improved his

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<v Speaker 1>work as a psychologist in some unexpected ways. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>it's helpful when he's conducting experiments or research into the

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<v Speaker 1>psychology of magic and illusions, but the lessons magic teachers

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<v Speaker 1>about performance and holding an audience's attention have been just

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<v Speaker 1>as valuable. So how has magic helped Richard learn how

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<v Speaker 1>to craft remarkably better presentations? My name is doctor amanthe Imber.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm an organizational psychoicist and the founder of behavioral science

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<v Speaker 1>consultancy Inventium. And this is how I work, a show

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<v Speaker 1>about how to help you do your best work. On

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<v Speaker 1>today is my Favorite Tip episode. We go back to

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<v Speaker 1>an interview from the past and I pick out my

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<v Speaker 1>favorite tip from the interview. In today's show, I speak

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<v Speaker 1>with Richard and we start by discussing how magic has

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<v Speaker 1>made him a better psychologist.

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<v Speaker 2>I think magic's quite unique because the solutions tricks are

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<v Speaker 2>normally brilliantly elegant and simple, and normally for any what

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<v Speaker 2>magician would call an effect, like a levitation for example,

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<v Speaker 2>that's an effect. Then you have method, which is how

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<v Speaker 2>it's done. There's always another way. You learn there's always

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<v Speaker 2>another way, and that magic evolves. So the way magicians

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<v Speaker 2>float people now is not the same as it was

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<v Speaker 2>thirty years ago, certainly not the same as it was

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<v Speaker 2>one hundred years ago. So you'd learn there's always another way,

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<v Speaker 2>and that if you can find that way, then you

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<v Speaker 2>can perform the trick in a new kind of new

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<v Speaker 2>new way. So I think that's important obviously that most

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<v Speaker 2>of the solutions are lateral. You know, there is a

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<v Speaker 2>reason why audiences don't think of them is because they're

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<v Speaker 2>a bit like those lateral thinking puzzles where you've made

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<v Speaker 2>assumptions and trapped yourself in a in a little box.

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<v Speaker 2>I think that's helpful. So I think those are the

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<v Speaker 2>sort of obvious strategic ones. There is also with magic.

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<v Speaker 2>If you perform a lot, you have to keep an

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<v Speaker 2>audience with you, and I think that skill, obviously for

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<v Speaker 2>live is useful. But even writing wise, you just think

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<v Speaker 2>how can I make how can I keep an audience

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<v Speaker 2>with me? And certainly when I'm writing lay books of

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<v Speaker 2>non technical books, how do you keep an audience with you?

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<v Speaker 2>So I always remember the first time I wrote I

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<v Speaker 2>think it was one of the drafts of The Luck Factor.

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<v Speaker 2>I'd written something like, I don't know one of my

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<v Speaker 2>studies that lucky people miss opportunities. Sorry, lucky people spot opportunities.

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<v Speaker 2>We brought them into the lab, we got them to

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<v Speaker 2>do this, and my editor said, you've just given away

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<v Speaker 2>the goods too soon that first line. You've told us

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<v Speaker 2>what the experiment was all about, right, instead of that Right,

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<v Speaker 2>we did an experiment to discover if lucky people tended

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<v Speaker 2>to spot opportunities, and the results were astonishing, And now

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<v Speaker 2>you're hooked. Now you're like, oh, what did you do?

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<v Speaker 2>And it's a very simple thing, but you suddenly realize

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<v Speaker 2>that often as writers or speakers, we tell people the

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<v Speaker 2>answer and then we explain the answer, and you think

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<v Speaker 2>it's way better to hook people. And magicians are good

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<v Speaker 2>at that kind of thinking.

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<v Speaker 1>What are some other principles that you've learned as a

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<v Speaker 1>magician and mastered it as a magician? That you've found

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<v Speaker 1>have been really useful in making your other work, your

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<v Speaker 1>main work, more engaging.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, so it's tactical because I do work on

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<v Speaker 2>the psychology of magic, so obviously you have to know

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<v Speaker 2>magic to do that. And so they've had one of

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<v Speaker 2>the most successful things, which is the Quacology YouTube channel,

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<v Speaker 2>which started really early within two years of YouTube being

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<v Speaker 2>out there, and we did it just because it was

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<v Speaker 2>a fun way of sharing content. But I certainly weren't

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<v Speaker 2>doing it for money. And that's another big driver on

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<v Speaker 2>this is I always think you can tell passion projects

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<v Speaker 2>from projects the person's getting paid for and doesn't really

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<v Speaker 2>want to do it. It has a flavor and you

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<v Speaker 2>can tell, you know with it. I don't know what

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<v Speaker 2>it is, but within seconds of somebody starting to give

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<v Speaker 2>a talk, you can tell where they want to be

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<v Speaker 2>there or not, and if they don't want to be there,

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<v Speaker 2>you start to think, well, I'd rather it wasn't as well,

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<v Speaker 2>so because it's hard when you're giving the same talk

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<v Speaker 2>again and again and again and again. And so one

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<v Speaker 2>of the tips actually actually comes from magician I shouldn't.

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<v Speaker 2>Rea is a very famous magician, but I won't say

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<v Speaker 2>who that the problem you've got as a speaker is

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<v Speaker 2>you're going to walk out and give this talk. In

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<v Speaker 2>fact that I'm doing at the weekend, doing the Lucky Talk.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been doing that talk for twenty something years. You

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<v Speaker 2>have to walk out and it has to feel to

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<v Speaker 2>that audience like this is the first time you've given it,

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<v Speaker 2>and you're giving it for them. And I said to

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<v Speaker 2>my friend, his magician, how do you cultivate that actor?

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<v Speaker 2>You're doing your act twice a day, and they said,

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<v Speaker 2>it's really straightforward. I stand in the wings and I

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<v Speaker 2>tell myself the truth, and the truth is that one

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<v Speaker 2>day I won't be doing this. I'll be too old,

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<v Speaker 2>or the audience won't turn up, or I'll have an

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<v Speaker 2>accident or whatever it is, I won't want it. One

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<v Speaker 2>day I will not be doing this. And he said,

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<v Speaker 2>I let the sadness of that go into my bones,

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<v Speaker 2>and then I think it's not today, though, and I

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<v Speaker 2>walk out and I do that now. I do it

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<v Speaker 2>because you, and that keeps you in that moment, because

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<v Speaker 2>you won't be anything you do where it's writing books

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<v Speaker 2>or making videos, where I will not be doing it forever.

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<v Speaker 2>There'll come a day when I'm not doing it, and

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<v Speaker 2>we all assume these things are going to continue. They won't.

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<v Speaker 2>They won't. So live in the moment and enjoy at

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<v Speaker 2>that moment and for a live event that I think

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<v Speaker 2>carries So I think those are all kind of magiciany

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<v Speaker 2>thinking things. Magicians tend to be quite a thoughtful lot.

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<v Speaker 1>I hope you enjoyed this little extract from my chat

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<v Speaker 1>with Richard Wiseman. If you're keen to listen to the

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<v Speaker 1>full interview, there is a link to that in the

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<v Speaker 1>show notes. If you're looking for motives to improve the

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<v Speaker 1>way that you work, I write a short fortnightly newsletter

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<v Speaker 1>that contains three cool things that I've discovered that helped

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<v Speaker 1>me work better, ranging from software there and gadgets that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm loving through to interesting research findings. You can sign

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<v Speaker 1>up for that at Howiwork dot com. That's how I

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<v Speaker 1>Work dot co. How I Work is produced by Inventium

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<v Speaker 1>with production support from Dead Set Studios. And thank you

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<v Speaker 1>to Matt Nimba, who does the audio mix for every

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<v Speaker 1>episode and makes everything sound so much better than it

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<v Speaker 1>would have otherwise. See you next time.