Jonah Berger: Invisible Influence and Winning at SXSW Interactive

Written by Emma Stephens

Bright and early on day one of SXSW Interactive 2016, Jonah Berger provided the inside scoop on how to best own this year’s SXSW and promote ourselves while meeting new people and learning new things. SXSW Interactive can change your life, but what is the best way to get the most out of an opportunity like this one?

According to Berger, Marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, we need to manage impressions and be aware of background psychology. Based in part on his new book Invisible Influence, he showed how to navigate the madness and make the next five days and nights a time to remember. Some of the biggest takeaways of this session in Berger’s words: "We’re often subtly influenced by things in our environment, but they’re invisible." and "First impressions matter a lot, but the background of those impressions, what else is going on, colors how people see us." Another suggestion was to appreciate what other people are excited about, but occasionally choose something that is out of our comfort zone or separate from our interests so that we can expand our creativity. Watch the session in full above, or on our YouTube Channel here.

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Photo by Jason Bollenbacher/Getty Images for SXSW