Influence

About Influence

If you’ve ever felt ineffective, invisible, or inarticulate, chances are you weren’t actually any of those things. We have a lot of misperceptions about influence - about how much influence we have, and the most effective ways to wield our influence.

Experimental social psychologist, Vanessa Bohns has spent 15 years asking people to systematically test out their assumptions about how influence works in order to see how these assumptions compare to reality. It turns out that in many situations we tend to underestimate the influence we have, which can be both empowering and sobering.

Vanessa will offer science-based strategies for observing the effect we have on others. You will learn that people see us, listen to us, and agree to do things for us much more than we realize - for better, and worse.

About Vanessa Bohns

Vanessa Bohns is a social psychologist and professor of organizational behaviour at Cornell University. She holds a PhD in psychology from Columbia University and an AB in psychology from Brown University. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and other outlets, and her research has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, and NPR's Hidden Brain.