“What Motivates People”

The chapter suggested a lot of ways to motivate people, the very first way is to bring the goal closer for them. The book mentioned that if there are two types of coffee shop cards, card A: one has to collect ten stamps to get a free coffee. Card B: one has to collect 12 stamps to get a free coffee, however 2 stamps were already stamped when he or she get the card. Card B actually works better in this case. People are more likely to be motivated when the goal appears to be closer. Besides, behavior is more likely to be influence by providing reinforcements. 

Dopamine plays an essential role to our "curiosity". It is created in various parts of the brain and is critical to all sorts of brain functions, including thinking, moving, sleeping, mood, attention, motivation, seeking, and reward. In terms of making presentation, the presenter must try to grab the audiences' attention in the very beginning of the presentation  such as giving a short preview or summary to make them curious about the content. 

Besides, the dopamine system is very sensitive to hints about getting rewarded. In the book, they call it a Pavlovian response. Like one experiment done by B.F. Skinner, the rat was simulated by the reinforcement, which in result, the rat was trained to react a certain way when the reinforcement was presented. In terms of presentation, the book suggested the presenter gives some kind of reward for the "good" audiences, such as leaving candies on the tables during the break, and the ones that are late would not receive the best candies. The book suggested that unexpected extrinsic rewards are the most motivating. 

If the presenter wants the audience to adapt a new behavior or change a habit, make sure the task is small and easy to do. Otherwise, it would be extremely difficult for one to achieve, plus if the task is easy to achieve, it is more likely that one is motivated when succeed.