One New Person

Today’s guest is Zoe Chance.Zoe is one of the world’s foremost researchers and speakers on ethical influence and persuasion. She’s a beloved Yale professor who teaches the most popular course at the School of Management: Mastering Influence and Persuasion.Her new book, Influence Is Your Superpower: The Science of Winning Hearts, Sparking Change, and Making Good Things Happen, is based on that course.Zoe is also a dear friend and collaborator who helped me craft my now famous TEDx talk back in 2015. She is the first ever repeat guest on this podcast, having joined me way back in Season 1 when this show was called One New Person.Interestingly, that interview came at a time when Zoe was at the very crossroads that eventually led to this book. And that’s where this conversation picks up.We spoke about doing what you love, how to write an academic book that feels conversational and friendly, and why the book had to change completely in response to COVID. Diving into the book itself we focused largely on the power