One of the messages our culture delivers is “not enough.” Not clever enough. Not busy enough. Not successful enough. It’s a cultural mantra that beats just below the surface of many conversations, especially the ones we have with ourselves.

That’s what’s so refreshing about Vanessa Bohns’ book, You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate our Power of Persuasion and Why It Matters. Vanessa’s message, when it comes to influence and persuasion, is that we’re more than enough. That’s why it’s so important we understand how they work because, like our favorite superheroes, we can use these powers for good or for evil.

Vanessa is a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Harvard Business Review, among other publications.   

Episode Links

Erica Boothby and The Invisibility Cloak Illusion

Thomas Gilovich and The Spotlight Effect 

Shared Experiences are Amplified

Audience-tuning Effects on Memory

Saying is Believing Effect

Social Media and the Invisible Audience

The Benefits of Asking for Help

Frank Flynn

A Face-to-Face Request is 34 Times More Successful Than An Email

Marianne LaFrance

Mary Carskadon and Brown University Sleep Lab

Prison Book Program

Adam Galinsky and Power Perspectives Not Taken

The Burden of Power: Construing Power as Responsibility

Chatter by Ethan K...