Why Don't They Get On Board?

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BOOST 1 — Phronesis

What quality of experience matters most?

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Before we reveal it — what do you think Phronesis means? Write your best guess:

Phronesis — Practical Wisdom & Experience

Phronesis means showing your audience that you have real experience in the area you're discussing. Have you lived through it? Studied it deeply? Done the work? When you share relevant credentials, lived experience, or demonstrated knowledge, your audience has reason to trust your judgment — not just your intentions.

Example: A doctor speaking about addiction recovery who has also personally counseled hundreds of patients carries phronesis. A recent graduate speaking on the same topic without any experience must work much harder to establish this.

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BOOST 2 — Arete

Character and moral virtue

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What do you think Arete has to do with whether people trust you?

Arete — Virtue & Moral Character

Arete means demonstrating that you are an ethical person who consistently tries to do what is right — even when it's costly or uncomfortable. Your audience watches your track record: Are you honest? Have you stood up for what's right before? Do you treat people fairly? Credibility requires not just expertise, but moral trustworthiness.

Example: A politician arguing for campaign finance reform carries more arete if they have previously rejected donations that would compromise them. A speaker with a known history of dishonesty, even if they have expertise, struggles to establish arete.

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BOOST 3 — Eunoia

Goodwill toward your audience

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What might Eunoia mean — and why would audiences care about it when deciding to trust someone?

Eunoia — Goodwill & Care for the Audience

Eunoia is the quality of genuinely caring about your audience and wanting to help them or their communities — not just yourself. Audiences ask, "Is this person really on my side, or are they using me?" If they sense you care about their wellbeing, they are far more likely to trust your intentions and take your message seriously.

Example: A community organizer who has shown up consistently for a neighborhood — attending meetings, listening to concerns, celebrating community wins — carries eunoia before they even speak. A newcomer asking for votes without that groundwork must work to demonstrate genuine concern for constituents.

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FORCE 1 — Mood

Timing and emotional climate

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What role do you think Mood plays in whether an audience accepts your message?

Mood — Reading and Setting the Emotional Climate

People's receptivity to persuasion depends heavily on their current emotional state. You must set the right mood for the conversation — and critically, avoid approaching people when the mood is wrong. A person in grief, anger, or distraction cannot fully receive your message.

Example: Trying to persuade someone about a policy change the day after they received devastating personal news is poor timing. Skilled communicators read the room, sometimes waiting for a better moment — or actively working to create a calm, open emotional environment before making their case.

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FORCE 2 — Sentiments

Shared feelings about related topics

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What do you think it means to tap into your audience's Sentiments?

Sentiments — Connecting Through Shared Feelings

Sentiments are the existing emotional attachments and feelings your audience already has — about their community, their identity, what they care about. Effective communicators find shared emotional ground. You show that you feel what they feel about related topics, demonstrating you are genuinely part of their world.

Example: Speaking to UNLV students about campus investment? Tapping into shared excitement about the Rebels' rising football program signals you're genuinely invested in the community — not an outsider parachuting in. Shared sentiments build a bridge your argument can walk across.

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FORCE 3 — Passion

Communicating genuine care and urgency

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Why might showing Passion be essential for persuasion?

Passion — Showing You Genuinely Care

Passion signals to audiences that this matters. If you seem indifferent or merely academic about your topic, your audience will mirror that indifference. When you communicate genuine enthusiasm, urgency, and care, you invite them to feel the importance of the issue themselves. Emotion is contagious.

Example: A speaker who speaks flatly about climate change — even with compelling data — may lose audiences who sense no urgency. The same facts delivered with evident personal conviction and emotional investment engage the audience's own feelings about the future. Passion is not performance; to be truly effective, it must feel real and usually needs to be real to work.

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LAYER 1 — Emotional Commitments

Psychological bonds and group attachments

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What do you think Emotional Commitments means with respect to being a barrier to persuasion?

Emotional Commitments — The Pull of Psychological Bonds

People feel unified with others through deep psychological attachments — to family, group identity, political tribe, religion, or community. These commitments can be healthy (loyalty, love) or unhealthy (tribalism, cult attachment). When your message asks someone to act in a way that threatens or contradicts their group identity, they face an emotional conflict far deeper than logic.

Example: Asking someone to change their voting behavior may require them to break ranks with family members they love and respect. The emotional cost of that severance — even briefly — can overwhelm the intellectual appeal of your argument. The attachment is a real force, not stubbornness.

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LAYER 2 — Habits

Routines woven into daily life

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How do you think Habits create resistance to change — beyond just "people are lazy"?

Habits — The Architecture of Daily Life

Habits are deeply wired behavioral patterns that serve important psychological functions: comfort, predictability, identity, sensory pleasure. Asking someone to break a habit doesn't just change a behavior — it disrupts a whole ecosystem of experience. The behavior is embedded in context, ritual, and sensation.

Example: Persuading someone to quit coffee isn't just about caffeine. They may be deeply attached to the warmth of the mug, the ritual of the morning routine, the social break with colleagues, the sense of productivity the habit signals. Even if they agree coffee is unhealthy, abandoning the habit means abandoning all that. Effective persuaders help people mourn the habit and find replacements for what it actually provides.

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LAYER 3 — Biological Dispositions

The body's own resistance

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What might Biological Dispositions mean as a barrier?

Biological Dispositions — When the Body Resists

Sometimes resistance to change isn't psychological at all — it's biological. For example, addiction creates neurochemical dependencies that override rational decision-making. Genetic predispositions may affect risk tolerance and impulse control. Chronic stress, sleep deprivation, and trauma can alter the brain's capacity to change behavior. These are real physical forces, not moral failures.

Example: Someone who wants to quit drinking may genuinely agree with every argument you make — and still struggle because their brain's reward circuitry has been physically altered. Effective persuasion in these cases often means connecting people to support systems, medical help, and gradual change strategies that account for the biology, not just the reasoning.