The document discusses various psychological principles influencing motivation and behavior, including the power of stories, unconscious mental processes, and the impact of choice on motivation. It covers concepts such as operant conditioning, classical conditioning, the need to belong, and the desire for mastery, detailing how these factors can be leveraged to encourage people to take action. The author, Dr. Susan Weinschenk, emphasizes that motivation involves getting people to willingly engage in tasks.

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

2. 1. The Power of
Stories

11. 2. Tricks of the Mind

12. 17 x 24 = ?

15. Most mental
processing is
unconscious

16. 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?

17. 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?

18. Sale on Soup
Limit of 10 cans per person

19. Sale on Soup
No limit per person

20. Sale on Soup
Limit of 10 cans per person

21. Sale on Soup
No limit per person

22. Platinum: $55.95
Gold: $35.95
Silver: $15.95
Silver: $15.95
Gold: $35.95
Platinum: $55.95

24. 3. Instincts

30. 60% stopped
to taste
40% stopped
to taste

31. 40% stopped to taste
30% of them purchased
100 people = 12 sales
60% stopped to taste
3% of them purchased
100 people = 2 sales

32. 40% stopped to taste
30% of them purchased
100 people = 12 sales
60% stopped to taste
3% of them purchased
100 people = 2 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.

34. 7 + or - 2

35. 7 + or - 2
is a
MYTH

36. Baddeley, A. D. (1994). The magical number seven: Still
magic after all these years? Psychological
Review, 101, 353-356.
Broadbent, D. (1975). The magic number seven after
fifteen years. In: Studies in long-term memory, ed. A.
Kennedy & A. Wilkes. Wiley.
Cowan, N. (2001). The magical number 4 in short-term
memory: A reconsideration of mental storage
capacity. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 24, 87-185.
People Can Remember/Deal with
3-4 Things at a Time

37. Choice = Control =
Survival

38. We are more motivated by fear
of loss than by anticipation of
gain

39. 4. Carrots and Sticks

41. Behavior Reinforcement More
behavior
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

42. “A” on report card $5 More “A’s”
Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
Behavior Reinforcement More
behavior

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

44. 5. The Need to
Belong

46. 6. Habits

47. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Respons
e

48. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Respons
eMeat Salivate

49. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Respons
e
Meat +
Bell
Salivate
Meat Salivate

50. Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Stimulus Respons
e
Meat +
Bell
Salivate
Bell Salivate
Meat Salivate

51. Habits
Stimulus Respons
eCue Respons
e

52. Habits
Stimulus Respons
eCue Respons
eWake up Brush
teeth

53. To Create a NEW Habit
Cue Respons
eWake up Brush
teeth
Existing response becomes the new
cue:
Brush
teeth
Take vitamins
B.J. Fogg: tinyhabits.com

54. 7. The Desire for
Mastery

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

56. “Motivation is the art of
getting people to do
what you want them to
do because they want
to do it.”
...Dwight D.
Eisenhower

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