According to 

Robert Cialdini readings from "Influence" the psychology principle of commitment and

consistency is a powerful “weapon of persuasion”.  One of the most powerful elements of this principle getting
people to commit to something very small, which often leads to much larger commitments in the future.  Can
you provide an example of how this principle could be leveraged to help persuade people as it relates to a
public policy issue?   Also, how could it be used to help persuade people as it relates to securing an internship
or a job?

A powerful weapon of social influence is consistency. We have a nearly obsessive desire to be

consistent with our past behavior. Once we have made a decision or taken a stand, we will ignore
evidence to the contrary and change our behavior as necessary in the expectation that the
outcome we will achieve will be consistent to our expectations. Consistency is a powerful
motivator because it is culturally valued. Consistency is associated with strength of character: a
person who is consistent is intelligent (they make good choices), honest (their words express
their true thoughts), and reliable (their deeds match their words).

This principle can be leveraged to help persuade people as it relates to the public policy issue of
cutting fossil fuels. A tactic often used in politics is petitioning, as a person can easily be
convinced to sign their name on a petition in favor of cutting their personal use of fossil fuels,
but the point of the petition is not to present a list of signatures to an elected official. This is not
effective as a tactic; instead, the petition creates a sense of commitment that can influence the
way that people alter a vote on a referendum. Getting a person to make a small commitment
causes them to change what they believe in a subtle way, and the change is then supported by
future actions that are consistent to the past.

Additionally, this principle could be used to help persuade people as it relates to securing an
internship or job. One way this tactic can be used in a student’s favor is to ask a professional to
handwrite them a favorable letter of recommendation, full of good things about the student and
their accomplishments to get them to feel more committed to them. The students can then use
this act later to inquire about a potential internship or job later, as the professional will be made
to feel that they are working to keep their own word. The professionals are hooking into taking
an action to be consistent with their beliefs, knowing that the students are well accomplished.

Using the Sticky Ideas framework from the Chip and Dan Heath reading, "Teaching that Sticks", please
identify, define, and provide an example of each of the six principles that can be used in a variety of
combinations to communicate effectively with any given audience. 
A sticky idea is one that is remembered, and one that changes one’s behavior or opinion. There
are six traits that make ideas “stickier”: simple, unexpected, concrete, credible, emotional, and
story. Each trait will be followed with an example to teach students about the Arctic. This is how
one can make their teaching “stick”:
 Simple: Choose the core concepts that need to be understood and communicate these.
Anchor these core concepts to what students already know. Keep them clean and focused.
o Anchor the students’ knowledge of cold weather, such as how cold it is in
Virginia versus Florida, and then how it’s even colder in the Arctic.
 Unexpected: Generate curiosity by highlighting and opening up gaps in their knowledge.
Use mysteries and build up anticipation.
o Show them a mysterious video about all the unknown wonders in the Arctic to
generate curiosity in their minds.
 Concrete: Provide the opportunities for students to do something that makes the concept
real and meaningful. Make abstract concepts concrete by avoiding abstraction and
conceptual language, and ground the idea in sensory reality.
o Do an activity with them where they are all animals, and their homes are their
chairs. Some are polar bears on glaciers in the Arctic, and the others are other
animals in other terrains. They all stand on their chairs, but they live all around
the globe. As the years go on, some of them who live in the Arctic start to lose
their home because the glaciers are melting, and they are “out” of the game, while
others are still standing on their chairs because they still have their homes. The
sensory nature of the activity will make the ideas more concrete.
 Credible: Provide the opportunities for students to see or experience something that will
make them believe the concept.
o Provide them with a characteristic about the melting glaciers, but make sure to
compare it to another place with rising temperatures and focus on the relationship
to make it stick.
 Emotional: Make the students feel something as a result of your teaching, such as
empathy, sympathy, or aspiration. Make them care about the concept.
o Show them a video of polar bears losing their homes with the rising temperatures
and melting glaciers in the Arctic to make them sad.
 Story: Tell a narrative around the concept, especially if it has a human or personal
element to it.
o Tell them a story about polar bears that live in the Arctic and characterize them to
make it personal.