1. How To Get People
To Do Stuff
Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.
@thebrainlady
susan@theteamw.com

2. How To Get People To
Do Stuff
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Power of Stories
Tricks of the Mind
Instincts
Carrots and Sticks
The Need to Belong
Habits
The Desire for Mastery

3. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
QUIZ
True or False?
The best way to get long-term behavior change is to get people to
change their own “self-stories”.
If you want people to think about a question logically use a hard to read
font.
People can remember 7 + or – 2 (i.e., 5-9) things.
If you want people to take an action use a verb instead of a noun.
On average it takes 63 days to create a new habit.
When you want to establish a new behavior you need to reward it every
time.
If you want to stimulate the desire for mastery then give people control
over what they do and how they do it.

4. 1. The Power of Stories

13. 2. Tricks of the Mind

17. Most mental
processing is
unconscious

18. In
a
lake
there
is
a
patch
of
lily
pads.
Every
day
the
patch
doubles
in
size.
If
it
takes
48
days
for
the
patch
to
cover
the
entire
lake,
how
long
would
it
take
for
the
patch
to
cover
half
of
the
lake?
24
days
or
47
days?

19. In a lake there is a patch of lily pads. Every
day the patch doubles in size. If it takes 48
days for the patch to cover the entire lake,
how long would it take for the patch to
cover half of the lake?!
24 days or 47 days?!

20. Sale
on
Soup
Limit
of
10
cans
per
person

21. Sale
on
Soup
No
limit
per
person

22. Sale
on
Soup
Limit
of
10
cans
per
person

23. Sale
on
Soup
No
limit
per
person

24. Platinum: £55.95
Gold:
£35.95
Silver: £15.95
Silver:
£15.95
Gold:
£35.95
Platinum: £55.95

26. 3. Instincts

32. 60% stopped to taste
3% of them purchased
100 people = 2 sales
40% stopped to taste
30% of them purchased
100 people = 12 sales
Iyengar, Sheena S. and Mark R. Lepper. 2000. When choice is demotivating: Can one desire
too much of a good thing?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 79: 995-1006.

37. 4. Carrots and Sticks

38. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Behavior
Reinforcement
“A” on report card
Push button
Report on time
$5
More “A’s”
Win money
Praise
More behavior
Push button
More reports on time

39. 5. The Need To Belong

41. 6. Habits

42. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Stimulus
Meat
Meat + Bell
Bell
Response
Salivate
Salivate
Salivate

43. Habits
Stimulus
Cue
Wake up
Response
Response
Brush teeth

44. To Create a NEW Habit
Existing Response becomes the new cue:
Cue
Wake up
Brush teeth
Response
Brush teeth
Take vitamins
B.J. Fogg: tinyhabits.com

45. 7. The Desire for Mastery

46. How To Get People To
Do Stuff
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The Power of Stories
Tricks of the Mind
Instincts
Carrots and Sticks
The Need to Belong
Habits
The Desire for Mastery

47. “Motivation is the art of
getting people to do what
you want them to do
because they want to do it.”
...Dwight D. Eisenhower
34th President of the US
(1953 until 1961)

50. THANK YOU!
Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D.
@thebrainlady
susan@theteamw.com
www.theteamw.com