Join Matt Abrahams, a lecturer of Strategic Communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business, as he sits down with experts in the field to discuss real-world challenges. How do I send my message clearly when put on the spot? How do I write emails to get my point across? How can I easily convey complex information? How do I manage my reputation? Whether you’re giving a toast or presenting in a meeting, communication is critical to success in business and in life.Think Fast, Talk Smart provides the tools, techniques, and best practices to help you communicate more effectively.
190. Motivation Matters: How to Leverage What People Already Want
How to turn latent motivation into fuel for change.
If you want to be a changemaker, you’ll have to convince others to join your cause. But according to Dan Heath, persuading your audience isn’t about creating new motivation — it’s about leveraging the motivation that’s already there.
“The most important fuel for any change effort is motivation,” says Heath, the number-one New York Times bestselling author of Reset: How to Change What's Not Working. Instead of struggling to persuade people to want what you want, Heath suggests finding where your goals overlap with the things they already desire. "Before you even get to persuasion, if you can just tap and unleash the energy that's already there, you've already catapulted yourself toward success,” he says.
In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Heath and host Matt Abrahams explore how to create more compelling communication using “leverage points,” or as Heath says, “where a little bit of effort yields a disproportionate return.” Whether getting buy-in from one teammate or achieving change across an entire organization, Heath shares practical tips for turning latent motivation into an engine for change.
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Episode Reference Links:
- Dan Heath
- Dan’s Book: Reset: How to Change What's Not Working
- Ep.164 Rethinks: Using "Pre-suasion" to Influence Others
- Ep.49 Make Numbers Count: How to Communicate Data Effectively
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- Matt Abrahams >>> LinkedIn
Chapters:
- (00:00) - Introduction
- (02:08) - The Power of Storytelling
- (05:18) - Leverage Points for Change
- (08:41) - Wasted Resources & Motivation
- (11:54) - Latent Desire in Systems
- (14:02) - Communicating Progress
- (17:39) - The Final Three Questions
- (24:22) - Conclusion
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