The Power of Focus

Words that Change the World

One difference between gods and men is that a god’s words directly change the world, whereas the words of men depend on action of others to cause the change.  A god might say “let there be light”, and the sun appears.  A man might say “can you turn on the light?” and another person hears, understands and reaches his hand out to the switch.

However, we do have occasions and rituals in which a man’s words do cause a change in the world.  These occasions the speech is called “performative”.

How to do things with Words, Speech Act Theory

There are 4 types of audience: friendly, apathetic, hostile and uninformed.  How to handle the hostile audience...

Communicating with a Hostile Audience

Imagine you are one of the world’s greatest violin players, and you decide to conduct an experiment: play inside a subway station and see if anyone stops to appreciate when you are stripped of a concert hall and name recognition. Joshua Bell did this, and Conor Neill channels Aristotle to understand why the context mattered.

This audio is a practical addition to the content in the original video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2dEuMFR8kw

What Could Joshua Bell Do?

Hi, I’m Conor Neill, an entrepreneur and teacher at IESE Business School.  I speak and write about Persuasion, the art of Moving People to Action. I have founded 6 companies and have the privilege of being father to a great little daughter.  I live in Barcelona, Spain.

Moving People to Action

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