🍏 Elizabeth Holmes’s psychological weapon

Hello! Adam Thornhill here. ‘The Podcast Guy’ saving you 10 hours a week.

Enjoy the 80th Podup with the best bits from Nudge Podcast.

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You can learn a lot from bad actors. Despite being convicted of fraud, Elizabeth Holmes shows us the power of the halo effect. I’m not condoning her destructive behavior, but it’s helpful to study how she became a master manipulator and how we can responsibly adopt this strategy.

The halo effect

Elizabeth Holmes worked tirelessly to build her own metaphoric halo. She did this by emulating Apple founder, Steve Jobs. She mirrored his iconic black turtleneck, hired his former employees, and even used the infamous Apple ad agency, Chiat/Day, to create Theranos’s ads. This blatant replication paid off. Holmes was repeatedly associated with Jobs in the media, with 100s of articles linking the two.

But Holmes didn’t just stop at Jobs. She named the Theranos blood testing device ‘Edison’ after the renowned inventor Thomas Edison. This persistent association with influential figures made Holmes incredibly persuasive.

Phill Agnew

Handwriting matters

In a remarkable study, two identical exam scripts were rewritten - one in good handwriting, the other in bad. Despite being told to ignore the handwriting, examiners on average gave higher marks to scripts with good handwriting. This is the halo effect in action. The positive perception of good handwriting boosted the perception of other traits, in this case the exam script content.

Phill Agnew

Why it matters

When used ethically, the halo effect can be a useful tool to:

• Boost your credibility. By associating yourself with successful individuals or brands, their perceived greatness can rub off on you.

• Foster trust. The halo effect can help cultivate a sense of trust among your audience or customers.

• Stimulate action. With increased trust and positive perception, you may find it easier to influence decisions.

Next steps

Here’s how you can harness the halo effect:

• Highlight your strengths. Enhance the perception of your overall qualities by celebrating your strengths, similar to the handwriting example.

• Be authentic. Align yourself with successful figures or brands, but maintain your unique identity. It shows when you try too hard.

• Leverage controversy. A hint of controversy can fuel interest. Just ensure it doesn’t harm your reputation among those you care about.

Your thoughts?

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Quotes were pulled at different points of the episode. Sentences were left out to make the narrative more concise. Podup is not associated or affiliated with any podcast.