WINNING PEOPLE'S MINDS AND LIBIDOS


     

    1. Why Should We Care

       

      • Everything we want is controlled by others (e.g., professional advancement, child custody, occupancy/use permit, media coverage)
      • Behavior modification techniques transfer some of that control to us
      • We’ll cover behavior modification principles, key considerations, negotiations, presentations

       

    2. Principles of Behavior Modification

       

      • Approaches: direct (coercion), intellectual (changing beliefs), emotional (affecting feelings); works because people strive to reconcile feelings, beliefs, and actions
      • Assessing the audience: knowledge, beliefs/feelings, concerns/desires, physical state
      • Role of settings: large group, social circle, interview, debate, negotiation
      • Defining objectives and tactics: what do we want this time and how will we get it

       

    3. Direct Behavior Modification

       

      • Done through application of power
      • Types of power (positive/negative): physical (liberation/jail, relief/pain), economic (reward/bribe/fine, patronizing/boycott, productivity/strike), political (ability to influence votes and workers), social (praise/condemnation, love/withdrawal, peer pressure), religious (redemption/sanction), virtual (connections, appearance, carriage)
      • Initially resented, but then accepted (abolition, hate crimes, labor contracts)
      • Quick and effective, but requires power

       

    4. Intellectual Behavior Modification

       

      • Conscious mind: filters and interprets our experiences and stores them in subconscious mind; discriminating, analytical, single thought; like CPU
      • Subconscious mind: stores perceptions of experiences filtered/interpreted by CM; also repeated notions; unable to discriminate between fantasy and reality, large storage; like HD

       

      • Intellectual BM appeals to conscious mind, so must pass analytical test; content over form
      • Source credible: appearance, podium, intro, credentials, no ax, witness
      • Content credible: similar (agreement, positioning, menu), logical, authoritative (jargon, references, precedent, personal experience), accurate (truthful, specific – 99.44%)
      • Steps: establishing similarity rules, constructing arguments, learning jargon, conducting research, getting credentials, appearing and sounding credible

       

    5. Emotional Behavior Modification

       

      • Most important and always applicable; note terms: image, intuition, gut reaction, vibes
      • Appeals to SM, so uses repetition and association to bypass CM; form over content
      • Source liked: similar (appearance, ethnicity, geography, gender, profession), good-natured, humble, humorous)
      • Content should appeal to audience’s desires or concerns/fears or use repetition (advertising)
      • Techniques: learning to be liked, using language, humor (holds up mirror to human failings without offending, defuses tension, makes likable)
      • Damage control (when all else fails)

       

    6. Key Considerations

       

      • Audience assessment: knowledge, demographics, desires, concerns/fears, physical condition
      • Definition of setting: one on one, small group, lecture, rally, debate, negotiation
      • Definition of objectives: essential, desirable, giveaways

       

    7. Public Speaking

      (Ten Effective Ways to Screw Up a Good Presentation Without Really Trying)

       

      • Don’t bother researching you audience since your presentation has universal appeal
      • If you don’t have time to write out your presentation, just organize it on your way over
      • Arrive at the last minute to impress your audience and miss the "feel" of the place
      • Leave your introduction to the creativity of your host
      • Leave the A/V system to the A/V technician, but test it after you’ve been introduced
      • Begin your presentation by apologizing for all the things that may go wrong, including A/V
      • Be sure to read your presentation, so your audience won’t miss a single precious word
      • Leave drama and humor to actors and stand-up comics
      • Entertain your audience by shifting your weight back and forth and jingling coins
      • Challenge your audience by leaving out a conclusion and a recommendation

       

    8. Effective Negotiating

       

      • Process of achieving specific improvements through judicious application of power
      • Everything we want is controlled by others; negotiate all the time
      • Everything negotiable because evolved through negotiation; both sides want something
      • Negotiators don’t want the same thing – important to determine difference, so win-win
      • Power: needs/constraints (time), reward/punishment, scarcity, walkaway, precedent, principle, authority/changeability, expertise, underdog, setting
      • Gambits: trial balloon, good/bad cop, withdrawn offer, red herring, fait accompli, funny money, prompt counters, write agreement

     

    Web Questions - Email our Webmaster