What If I Told You...? Event Psychology Podcast

"Last chance to register!"

How often have you seen a call like this asking you to register for an event? Dozens and dozens.

This is one of the most common marketing techniques based on scarcity - a psychological phenomenon that impacts our decisions a lot.

Yet - here's the twist - because it's so popular, many marketers think they know everything about it. Scarcity is powerful, but like so many things in science, you've got to get the details right to leverage its full potential.

If you're curious about scarcity, you're in luck, because on this episode I'm talking with Mindy Weinstein, PhD, Founder of the marketing firm Market MindShift and author of "The Power of Scarcity: Leveraging Urgency and Demand to Influence Customer Decisions" book.

We discuss what scarcity really is; four types of scarcity (and which one is the best for event marketing); how the effectiveness of your scarcity-based messaging depends on knowing your audience well, and Mindy shares some great examples from her experience at events as well as ideas to boost your scarcity game.

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Is it possible to be highly productive in the long term without burning out? Sounds like a dream, but my guest Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist and founder of Ness Labs, says that taking care of your mental health can actually make you more productive.

In this episode, we talked about the concept of mindful productivity and strategies to be more productive without being constantly busy. We also touched upon the roots of the illusion of productivity, meaningful and truly restorative breaks, the myth of the 10,000-hour rule, and so much more!

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In this episode, I dive into the world of senses and talk with Ari Peralta, a Sensory Design and Neuroscientist and Director at Arigami, Award-winning research consultancy at the forefront of neuroscience, sensory design and wellbeing. Ari is one of the world’s leading voices in neuroscience and the senses. The “40 under 40” Harvard alumnus makes a positive impact through interdisciplinary projects that focus on using the senses and technology to support people’s mental health.

We explored some fascinating topics, such as the multisensory approach to event design and sensory wellness. Tune in to learn about the human brain being not only multisensory but also cross-sensory (and how leveraging cross-sensory connections can elevate the event experience); how biophilic design is not only about what you see; how sensory design can promote well-being and cognitive function in attendees, and many more golden nuggets!

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Can we measure emotions? There are fierce debates on this question, with many different approaches taken by researchers and practitioners. Emotions are complex and difficult to analyze using traditional methods, yet they hold immense power in governing our decisions and shaping our experiences.

In this interview, I explore the world of emotional analytics of text data. My guest is Dan Alferov, the Director of Empathy Analytics at Heartbeat AI, and we touch upon many things - from the role of emotions and empathy in business to the challenges that come with measuring emotions through text, to the ways eventprofs can use emotional analytics.

Connect with Dan:

Every event planner is thinking about sustainability these days. But how do you balance sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and attendee satisfaction? How do you ensure sustainable behavior change at events? What can destinations and events do to promote more sustainable travel and event practices? How can event and tourism industry benefit from behavioral science knowledge?

I talk about it with Milena Nikolova, Chief Behaviour Officer and Co-founder at BehaviorSMART and a leading expert in human behaviour and travel & leisure. Milena uses knowledge about how people think, decide and act to power improvements in market success and sustainability performance in the travel and events sector. She and her team at BehaviorSMART support enterprises and destination authorities in achieving goals by understanding and applying smart behaviour changes.  

This is a must-listen episode for any event planner or destination management professional looking for smart, truly efficient ways to improve sustainability.

Connect with Milena:

Is your event experience high-friction or low friction?

This is the key topic of my conversation with Roger Dooley, an author and international keynote speaker.

Roger's books include Friction: The Untapped Force That Can Be Your Most Powerful Advantage (named a Top 3 Management Book by strategy+business) and Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing. He writes the popular blog Neuromarketing as well as a column at Forbes.com. He co-founded and later sold College Confidential, the leading college-bound website. He’s been a serial entrepreneur since he left a senior strategy position at a Fortune 1000 company to enter the then-nascent home computer market.

We talk about Amazon's one click ordering patent, event registration forms and surveys, attendees' and sponsors' decision-making, Neuromarketing 2.0, and how tech like smart wearables and AI can help us better evaluate event design. Connect with Roger:

"More = better" is a common, almost automatic mode we get into when looking to change things. More features for the platform, more projects to engage, more attendees to get. It's just the way we are, human nature. But more is not necessarily the best answer for innovation or positive change. The truth is, we can usually improve more if we get rid of something.

In this episode, I talk with Leidy Klotz who studies the science of design, which, he reminds us, is something we all do every day. His research has appeared in both Nature and Science and his debut popular science book, Subtract, is among the most influential published in 2021 and is already on all-time reading lists for both design and behavioral science. A professor at the University of Virginia, Leidy is a frequent guest on interview programs including Hidden Brain, Freakonomics, NPR, and for The Atlantic. His writing has appeared in outlets such as The Washington Post, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and Scientific American. He is a sought-after speaker, having given more than 100 invited talks at leading universities, think-tanks, and companies.

We discuss the concept of subtraction and how it applies to events, and Leidy gives a lot of examples from his experience as a speaker, attendee, and organizer. We also talk about Leidy's upcoming book about our relationship with the physical space and how environment shapes our behavior and thinking. Take a listen and be sure to follow Leidy to keep up with all the exciting research findings he shares. 

Connect with Leidy:

Everybody wants to have influence, in business or in life. Too often we think it's the big bosses who everybody listens to in meetings, or the influencers who get hundreds of likes on LinkedIn are the ones who have it. Turns out, science has a message for us all: your influence is greater than you imagine. And when we apply these findings to the context of events, it opens up some serious possibilities.

In this episode I chat with Dr. Vanessa Bohns, a social psychologist and professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University.  We talk about how to tap into your own personal influence, experiments on shared experiences, what it means for event networking, and burnout. Connect with Vanessa:

This is a magical episode, quite literally! I talk with Jeanette Andrews, one of the most innovative illusionists in the world who focuses on the development of interactive magic and sensory illusions via performance, sculpture, installation and audio. Her research-based process centers around phenomenological philosophy, contemporary cognitive science and physics. We discussed creating robust experiences, role of senses and sensory illusions, and psychology of surprise. And on top of all that, you’re in for a treat because Jeanette shows some magic, too - just for the event psychology podcast crowd.  It was a real treat and totally fitting for the holiday season. Connect with Jeanette:

Instagram:  @JeanetteAndrewsMagic

Website: JeanetteAndrews.com

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My second interview with Dr. Hayley Lewis, an award-winning psychologist with over 20 years of experience in organizational and business psychology. This time we talk about mental health, burnout and its root causes; what can boost a person's confidence and well-being, especially for women. We also cover high performing teams and how psychological safety and trust are key to any organization's success. Connect with Hayley:

In conversation with Dr Lorraine D’Arcy, a Sustainability Action Research and Innovation Lead with Technological University Dublin and a conference Lead for Walk21 Ireland 2022 – the International Conference on Walking and Liveable Communities hosted by TU Dublin in September 2022. We discuss how space impacts people's behavior and well-being, the importance of quality virtual space, accessibility, and takeaways from Walk21 Ireland conference. Tune in and challenge your thinking with other perspectives! Connect with Lorraine:

This episode features Sam Tatam, Global Principal and Head of Behavioural Science at Ogilvy Consulting, author of 'Evolutionary Ideas'. A must-listen! We talk about the science of experiences, innovation as an evolutionary phenomenon, the role of tech, emotional metrics, clock time vs brain time, memory, and of course Nudgestock. Connect with Sam:

I'm talking with Louise Ward, Head of Community at 42Courses and co-host of Behavioral Science club. It was a cordial, deep, and uplifting conversation about the past, present, and future of events, networking, community building, and of course behavioral science books.

Connect with Louise:

In conversation with Timothy Caballero,  Business Manager for IFCA International who actively uses choice architecture in his work and writes about behavioral design in his spare time. In this episode we cover A LOT: from choice architecture in events to gamification to designing with intention and emotions in mind.

As someone who has created events himself, Timothy provides a lot of practical examples and thought-provoking ideas that every event professional should check out.

Connect with Timothy:

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Vanessa Moss, a radio astronomer based at CSIRO, working at the boundaries between astronomy, telescope operations and data science.  Vanessa is a strong advocate of a digital-first approach and for the process of optimising all interactions by maximising accessibility, inclusivity and sustainability. She is a co-deputy chair of the EMCR Forum under the Australian Academy of Science, which represents and supports early career researchers across Australia. Also, she is one of the organisers of The Future of Meetings (TFOM) Symposium as well as TFOM legacy project. We talk about a thorny path of online events, status quo, hybrid event design, and applying scientific thinking to event planning.

Connect with Vanessa:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-a-moss/ 

Tune in to my conversation with Louisa Dunbar, an expert in Neuro Web Design and SEO and owner of OrangeGrove, a consumer neuroscience UX research and consultancy lab. We discuss a fascinating topic: web design and SEO backed by science and psychology. Or, as Louisa put it so eloquently, brainy websites! About Louisa:

Louisa started off her working life as a standard web designer around 20 years ago. Over that time she has embraced the world of UX (user experience) and been immersed in anything and everything that can improve the success of a website. Behavioural science and applied psychology along with neuromarketing, piqued her interest a few years ago, due to the insights it can reveal, and she has since made that a focus in her agency for bringing about digital transformation within web and marketing teams.

Connect with Louisa:

In this episode, I talk to Diana Lucaci, the co-founder of True Impact, which offers concept testing and conversion rate optimization to brands and agencies. We discuss neuromarketing, how neuroscience research findings can be used by anyone designing events, what key elements of trust are, and how science-based solutions is what you need to 'Be seen. Be relevant. Be contacted'.

Connect with Diana:

In conversation with Dr Hayley Lewis, business psychologist and Founder and director at Halo Psychology. We discuss why businesses need psychology, how to present complex information in a compelling way, creating an inclusive team environment, remote work, and psychological frameworks that can help leaders and employees improve their performance and wellbeing.

Dr Hayley Lewis is an award-winning psychologist with more than 20 years’ experience in the field of organisational and business psychology. Her specific area of expertise is leadership and management behaviour and how this can affect culture and performance and she spends most of her time supporting organisations of all sizes on these issues. Hayley’s academic research is in entrepreneurship and the psychology of success for women in business, and she helps women wanting to make the move from corporate employee to self-employed business owner.  Hayley regularly shares practical evidence-based tools and tips via social media and in 2021, Hayley was identified as one of the most influential thinkers in HR, by HR Magazine. Connect with Hayley:

In this episode, I'm talking with Jeff Campbell, CEO/Founder of Incentli. Jeff spent 18 years as a high school physics teacher which got him interested in e-learning engagement tools and strategies.  His work has since branched out to the event space, where he uses gamification and motivational design strategies to help event stakeholders get more value from their experiences. We discussed a lo of interesting topics: engagement, content consumption, motivational design, gamification, stakeholders ROI, and even reward fatigue! 

Connect with Jeff:

My conversation with Gonzalo Lopez, a Senior Consultant at BVA Nudge Consulting UK and organiser of The Association for Business Psychology Annual Conference. We discuss how Gonzalo and his team used behavior-based methods when planning the online conference back in 2020 to solve such challenges as driving attendance, pricing, online fatigue, timing, and others. We also talk about an experimental approach to event design and some key principles to follow in influence people’s behaviors.

A native of Chile, Gonzalo's background is in Psychology. He started his career as a Business Psychologist in the Chilean Banking industry, specialising in several senior talent management programs, including Mentoring, Talent Review boards, succession plans, etc. He also led company-wide processes such as Performance Management, Organisational Climate surveys redesigns, and HR software development. In 2017 he completed an MSc on I/O psychology at UCL, specialising in deliberate and indirect self-persuasion techniques. This topic led him to work with Richard Chataway on Communication Science Group as a behavioural consultant and join The Association for Business Psychology as a volunteer member in charge of its Annual Conference. Currently, he works as a Senior Consultant at BVA Nudge Consulting UK, delivering applied behavioural science on multiple industries, including financial institutions and customer service. His main interests reside in applying evidence-based behavioural science solutions. 

Connect with Gonzalo:

In conversation with Daria Tikhonova, Human Experience (HX) researcher,  Founder and Principal Consultant at Deep Thoughts, a Flinders academic in humanities and social sciences with a PhD in Tourism, and a manager of a Flinders University project, funded by the Department of Innovation and Skills, that aims to elevate the role of creative arts in care settings. Daria's other research interests include transformative experiences,  risk perceptions, cultural tourism, tourist behaviours, and cultural diversity. 

We talk about human experience research, how to understand what your audience really wants, the best ways to collect feedback, and the concept of social listening in the events context.

Connect with Daria:

In this episode I'm talking with Bri Williams, one of Australia's leading authorities on behavioural influence.

A CPA with a degree in Applied Psychology, Bri founded People Patterns in 2011, a specialist consultancy that helps businesses get staff, customers and stakeholders to take action. Prior to this she worked in finance, HR and product management for some of Australia's leading brands. A regular contributor to Smartcompany and MarketingMag, Bri has written five books including "Behavioural Economics for Business" and "The How of Habits" and appears regularly as a presenter, panellist and media commentator.

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In this episode I'm talking with Michelle Murphy Niedziela (PhD), a behavioral neuroscience expert in neuropsychology, psychology and consumer science. Experienced from academia (Monell Chemical Senses Center) and industry (Johnson & Johnson, Mars Chocolate) in R&D of innovation technologies and methodologies for consumer research. As VP of Research and Innovation at HCD Research, Michelle focuses on integrating applied consumer neuroscience tools with traditional methods used to measure consumer response.

Connect with Michelle:

My conversation with Eric Antonisse, the founder and CEO of Micemedia, a consultancy firm that works with International Associations and Corporates, to provide A-Z management of their events. We talk about emotions, senses, Neuroshaping model, and how simple tools can make a big difference.

With over 3 decades in the MICE industry in which Eric contributed and managed large-scale congresses of up to 32.000 delegates, he built expert knowledge in production, audio, video, IT & multimedia services as well as large scale event management. Eric founded Micemedia in 2013, a consulting company based on a disrupting business model that ensures the best and uncompromised service to its clients and their attendees. With teams based in the Netherlands and France, Micemedia works worldwide providing Technical Production, Sponsor & Exhibition Management and Program Management for large scale congresses being either online and on-site or both.

Connect with Eric:

My conversation with Kamila Zahradnickova, a behavioural designer, focuses on event branding, enhancing learning experiences, and using audio and video materials to make your events more memorable.

Kamila Zahradnickova applies behaviour science to marketing and business. She solves customer-related questions by leveraging research on perception, motivation, and decision making. Favourite tools? Gamification, nudge, and identity framework. Kamila thrives in a fast-paced environment and is fond of social impact projects. These days, she mainly builds communication strategies and conducts user research for startups.

Connect with Kamila: