Use Schema Learning to Be More Persuasive
The gist: To spread an important message, use “schema learning” to connect your idea to other ideas people already understand and accept so they’ll accept yours, too.
“When I go to a baseball game, I can eat six, maybe seven hot dogs. I love hot dogs more than anything on Earth.”
This is the opening line from Mr. Hourigan, my high school Economics teacher. We’re learning the law of diminishing returns.
He goes on to explain how, though his love for brats runs deeper than human understanding, he starts to get tired of them after a while. Sure, each of those first three dogs make him happier and happier. Eventually, though, the next one isn’t quite as tasty as the last. After about six hot dogs, Mr. Hourigan hardly cares about hot dogs at all.
Admittedly, a strange comparison. Also an effective way to share a complex idea with a bunch of apathetic high schoolers.
The law of diminishing returns, put simply, describes how you can’t achieve endless efficiency in any system. More workers on a construction project won’t always make it finish faster. Speeding up an assembly line won’t guarantee you more widgets in an hour.
As a 17-year-old student, I didn’t care about construction projects or assembly lines. I didn’t care about hot dogs either, but I was intimately familiar with them. I knew if I ate too many, I wouldn’t like them as much. And Mr. Hourigan knew that’s all I needed to understand to get the lesson.
He compared something I already understood to something I didn’t and, suddenly, I understood it, too. It’s called schema learning, and it’s a well-documented educational tool.
You’re (probably) not an economics teacher. What you are, though, is someone with important ideas that need to be communicated effectively. You want to educate people, and you want to lead them to make smart decisions.
So, it’s critical you understand how to communicate your ideas using schema learning because there is no better tool to not only educate someone quickly but also persuade them to make smart decisions and accept good advice.
Decision Automation: 5 Things I Do to Increase Willpower and Make Smart Choices
When you automate decisions that don’t matter, your willpower increases and you get incredibly good at making decisions that make a difference.
Superhero Leadership: 3 Lessons From Marvel Comics’ Unlikely Success
If you want to become successful, there are three important leadership lessons from Marvel’s story that will help you become a superhero leader.
How To Give Good Advice That People Follow
Quickly learn how to implement these 4 key principles to giving good advice that people will actually follow.
The Craigslist Method: 4 Strategies to Start a Business In Your Spare Time
Many great businesses started as small, part time projects. Here’s how to start yours when you don’t have any time or experience.