Telly Award Winner
Viewing Persuasion in Everyday Life
is like holding a mirror up to your
mind. Use it to explore five often
hidden forces that shape beliefs
and judgments.
1. Frames
From a guy on a Harley to a shopper
buying hamburger, how we frame
events influences our judgment and
beliefs. We lack awareness of our
own frames so find it puzzling when
others see the same thing and
interpret it differently. The ability to
shape perceptual frames is the
power to persuade.
• Learn what fashion has in
common with magic.
• See how changing “garbage” into
“waste” can change policies.
2. Setting
• Learn why “taking it out of
context” is an act of persuasion.
• Explore how the act of comparing
things (say in a taste test)
influences our judgment about
what is being tested.
3. Filters
• Learn that we
construct mental
filters through
which we view and
explain the world.
One common filter
(the confirmation
bias) blocks out
ideas that conflict
with our beliefs.
• Explore the “above
average” filter that
leads to distorted
self-perception.
• Why do we say “I
don’t buy that!” to express
disbelief? Do we
own beliefs?
4. Social Influence
See how the actions of others
influence us from tip jars at the
coffee shop to canned laughter
and shop-at-home television
networks. Learn how we follow
the leader, all the while affirming
we are independent from
“monkey-see-monkey-do.”
5. Belief
Learn about the placebo (and
lesser known nocebo) and
discover how belief can have
a stronger influence than the
thing itself. See how our
expectations can create a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
Runtime: 22 minutes
Copyright 2007 Learning Seed
