044: Steve Martin on influence, persuasion and delivering the right message

Steve Martin is a behaviorial science practitioner and a leading member of Dr Robert Cialdini's consultancy Influence at Work, where he heads up the UK practice. 

Steve is a Royal Society nominated author and a co-author with Bob Cialdini on a number of books, including their most recent tome, alongside Dr Noah Goldstein, Messengers, Who We Listen to, Who We Don’t and Why. This is a timely exploration of why some people in society are listened to and why others are ignored regardless of the truth or wisdom of their message; a subject we address today. In all, Steve's books have sold in excess of 1.5 million copies.

Show notes

• The work and influence of Bob Cialdini over nearly 50 years
• What leads us to say “Yes” to a request
• What came before Bob, codifying social psychology for everyone and making it accessible
• Immunisation of influence techniques
• How a waiter/waitress can increase their tips through reciprocity
• Small Bigs: creating big impacts with small changes
• What makes some people better communicators than others?
• Why are self-confident ignoramuses so often believed and why are thoughtful experts ignored?
• In an increasingly information overloaded world, the messenger has become the message
• Hard (perceived status and dominance) and soft (making connection with others) messengers
• How truth and trust work together. How can you trust someone who lies to you?
• How do we use influence techniques for good in a world of disinformation?
• Influence and sports management: history is important, but recency keeps the score
• What Steve has learnt from co-authorship

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Podcast music: Tamsin Waley-Cohen's Mendelssohn's violin concerto