Course

Psych Talk

Psych Talk

What everyone still doesn’t know about how people think, feel, and act

Based on the book Psych Talk written by Lim How

Why do so many smart and talented people often seem to fail at what they do, while so many less smart and less talented people succeed? Why are some salespeople and companies so good at appealing to consumers but not others? 

The answer to these questions may not be what you expect. In fact, the answer may be where you least expect. In short, it has to do with what Lim How calls “psych sense,” which refers to one’s ability to see or sense the psychological forces and factors that influence people’s mindset, attitude, and behavior. In this sense, successful people and companies succeed because of “psych smartness” — i.e., the ability to achieve success by understanding how psychological factors influence people. This course tells us how. 

Based on the book Psych Talk, this course will make you think twice about what makes humans tick — what makes them think, feel, and respond or react the way they do. 

Course overview

Why is it so hard to understand what our customers want, how our colleagues will react, why people respond in a certain way, or which brand will succeed or fail? 

In short, why do people’s behaviors often seem so incomprehensible or make no sense? For instance, people sometimes choose an inferior product over a more superior one, and perceive the same thing differently at different times. Given a $10,000 designer bag. Shoppers who are told the bag is now going at a $2,000 discount are much more likely to find the discount more attractive than those told it is now selling at a 20% discount, even though both figures are rationally identical.

What is true of human behavior is also true of outcomes. Teams with incompetent members sometimes outperform those with more competent members, inexperienced political candidates get elected instead of other more experienced ones, and second-rate business solutions work better than first-rate solutions. 

The answer to these questions and more, according to Lim How, is not that people are irrational or insane. Rather, it is because people are largely not rational but psychological beings who respond less to the rules of logic than the whisperings of psychological forces. An event is not just an event and a rose is not just a rose — many factors can affect how the event is experienced and how the rose is perceived. Thus, in order to better understand, predict, and influence people, one must learn to analyze and predict behavior not from a rational standpoint but from a psychological viewpoint.

We must learn, in order words, to psych talk or do a psych talk! This course explains why and how.

Learning Outcome

  • Know why it's important to understand people not from a rational viewpoint but from a psychological standpoint.

  • Understand the basic psychological factors that underlie most human behavior.

  • Be more effective in your ability to appeal to people and deal with them.

  • Be more effective as an “influencer” and leader at work and beyond.

  • Learn to look at people, teams, and companies from a totally different perspective.

Course Outline

  • Introduction: What is Psych Talk?

  • Overview: What studies in psychology and the behavioral sciences tell us?

  • What does it mean to say that human beings are primarily psychological beings?

  • Which has more influence on behavior: rational vs. nonrational factors?

  • What makes certain presidential candidates win (vs. lose) elections?

  • Why is branding (of people, companies, or countries) so important?

  • Why makes some teams (such as basketball and orchestras) so efficient?

  • What would people do when morality clashes with rationality?

  • Weird phenomena: How (un)certainty influence us.

  • Simple words can heal or kill, attract or repel

  • How to make people like you more?

  • Do these things and the world will like you more!

Who Should Attend

  • Anyone who is keen to understand the underlying psychological factors that influence people’s behavior.

  • Any executive who is keen to learn how to better at influencing and managing people (from a psychological perspective).

  • Organizations who want to train their people and teams to be more psych smart.

  • Organizations who want to cultivate a more psych smart corporate culture.

Course Details

Mode of training : Online