The Power of the Word ‘Because’ in Influence and Persuasion
Psychologist Ellen Langer and her colleagues did a simple experiment. In it, she showed the power of the word ‘because’ to trigger compliant behavior.
Watching this video is worth 1 Management Courses CPD Point*.
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Influencing and Persuading
This video is part of course module number 2.6.3
Program 2: Manager as Communicator
Course 6: Influencing and Persuading
Section 3: The Psychology of Influence and Persuasion
Other videos in this section include:
🎬 WIIFM? How to Use Self-interest to Influence and Persuade https://youtu.be/sVf70Hj5pOs
🎬 Peer Pressure: The Awesome Power of Social Proof https://youtu.be/1HWkoIAgOuc
🎬 Use the Power of Scarcity with Integrity https://youtu.be/jAh–JIlxaU
🎬 Getting Agreement by Slicing up the Pie https://youtu.be/i9SNyDM4eFw
🎬 The Jiminy Cricket Effect: Cognitive Dissonance and the Urge for Consistency https://youtu.be/dzUMLoWQgKo
🎬 Momentum: How to Make it Easy for them to Say ‘Yes’ https://youtu.be/uQwP5EEbcY0
🎬 Paradox of Choice: Influencing through Selection https://youtu.be/Iuf7s_rb_hE
= = LESSON NOTES = =
Helen Langer, Arthur Blank and Benzion Chanowitz did an experiment in 1978 – paper: https://bit.ly/3bQf4Pw They asked 120 students if they could use a library photocopier first, just after the student had reached it, in 3 different ways.
‘Why’ is our natural response to a request. If we don’t know the answer, we’ll never be motivated. ‘Why’ is a massively powerful word.
It’s ‘because’ that provides the answer. Or, as Langer and her team discovered, signals that there is an answer.
So, whenever you try to influence or persuade someone, never do so without a ‘because’.
= = RECOMMENDED EXERCISE = =
1. Notice how you feel when people ask you to do something and either do or do not tell you why… give you a because. (2 MC CPD Points)
2. Whenever you ask someone to do something or accept a point of view, start to introduce the word because and give them a clear reason. Notice how this impacts your results. (2 MC CPD Points)
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Free Resources
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Paid resources
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= = RECOMMENDED READING = =
📖 My own book on Influence (introductory level)
– How to Influence in Any Situation (Brilliant Influence 2nd Ed) https://geni.us/dAS7
📖 Excellent books at a more advanced level
– Influence: Science and Practice (a classic) https://geni.us/DIX0kFL
– Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change https://geni.us/3nBJM
– The Influence Agenda (for Stakeholder Engagement) https://geni.us/InfAg
– Methods of Persuasion https://geni.us/EVYP
– Presuasion https://geni.us/aBZo0XO
– 5 Paths to Persuasion https://geni.us/Vg2vB
⭕️ Links to our book recommendations are affiliated through Amazon
Managers Need a Basic set of kit to do your job well. Here are my top recommendations: https://kit.co/MikeClayton/manager-s-work-kit (the links are affiliated)
= = MANAGEMENT COURSES CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) POINTS = =
You can record your Management Courses CPD points on our free, downloadable CPD record log.
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– If you also carried out all of the recommended exercises, score a total of 5 MC CPD points
00:00 – The Power of the word ‘because’
00:21 – Helen Langer, Arthur Blank, and Benzion Chanowitz: 1978
01:11 – Results of Langer’s experiment
03:02 – ‘Because’ is powerful
03:16 – Why ‘because’ is so powerful
04:54 – The conclusion
#Influence #ManagementCourses #Because
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