Enchantment Book Summary - Enchantment Book explained in key points

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Enchantment summary

Name: Enchantment
Rating: 4.3 (20 reviews)
Author: Guy Kawasaki

Guy Kawasaki

The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions

4.3 (20 ratings)

25 mins

Table of Contents

Enchantment
summarized in 10 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 10

What’s in it for me? Learn how to enchant others with your passion.

In his tenth book, Enchantment, Guy Kawasaki looks into the question of how you can win people over to your cause, entice them to buy your product and truly love your brand.

Although modern technology and international connectivity have made it easier than ever before to reach out to millions of people across the globe, it remains difficult – and is in fact even harder today – to convince them to try something new.

The market has grown, but so has the competition. And consumers aren’t affected by advertising the same way they once were.

In order to reach consumers, we need to quit thinking about how to just get them to buy now. We need to figure out how to enchant them: to get them enthralled with our cause, and turn them into arbiters for our mission, free-roaming salespeople who are true to our cause.

These blinks will teach you all about the art of enchantment, and how you can use it in order to create a fanatic fanbase who just can’t wait for your next product or service. It will also provide you with some tips for how to avoid becoming enchanted yourself by those who just want to make a quick buck.

In addition, these blinks will show you:

how inviting Filipino militants inside for coffee totally changed one woman’s life,
why one company has so much faith that their customers won’t try to rip them off, and
why it’s better to not just enchant your customers, but anyone and everyone.

Enchantment is more than manipulation: it’s about triggering actions through emotions.

Have you ever been in a situation where someone was just so nice or captivating that you really just wanted to help them? Likely, you felt enchanted by this person. The greater your goals and the fewer resources are available to you, the more useful enchantment will be in winning people’s hearts and minds and motivating their actions. But what is it exactly?

Enchantment is the ability to change the nature of relationships, and therefore influence other people’s actions. Consider, for example, the story of Karin Muller, a filmmaker and author who worked in the Peace Corps, building wells and schools in a Filipino village during the late 1980s.

One day, seventeen members of the New People’s Army (NPA), an armed wing of the Philippines’ Communist Party, came to interrogate her. When she saw them, she exclaimed: “Thank God you’re here. I’ve been waiting all day. Please have some coffee. Leave your guns at the door.”

Muller was able to totally transform the dynamic of her situation, turning it from an obvious show of force to “conversation and delight,” by appealing to the leader’s emotions.

But enchantment isn’t just useful for getting out of a pickle. In fact, it can happen anywhere, anytime. And it’s not just about making money, or even personal gain. It’s about filling others with the same delight and passion you experience about something.

For example, when Steve Jobs was developing his iPhone, he wasn’t contemplating the best strategy to get consumers to put money in his personal bank account, or entice them to sign on to a two-year contract with AT&T. He, like all enchanters, was selling his dream for a better future – one in which people can have cooler social interactions and use technology to improve their lives.

This means that, if you want to enchant people, you have to have a dream that you’re striving to achieve. But, there is more to the equation.

Likeability and trustworthiness are the foundations of enchantment.

Have you ever felt enchanted by someone you didn’t like or couldn’t trust? Probably not. If you want to be able to enchant people, then you first have to get them to like and trust you. But how?

The fundamental key to enchantment is accepting and liking people as they are. Arrogance and self-centered behavior, therefore, are your greatest obstacles.

In order to enchant people, your product or service must itself be enchanting.

Do you often buy things just because you like and trust the salesperson? That may be true sometimes, but even the best salesperson will fail to enchant their clients with a mediocre product, service or idea that doesn’t deliver.

If you want your product or service to be enchanting, then it must have these five qualities – it must be DICEE :

Launching a product is all about two things: story and testing.

Having a high-quality, enchanting product is crucial to your success. But your product won’t sell itself. You first have to present it to the public, and do it right.

Unfortunately, most launches simply convey vague information. But as Annette Simmons, author of Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, said: “People don’t want information. They are up to their eyeballs in information. They want faith – faith in you, your goals, your success, in the story you tell.”

People naturally don’t like change, so you’ll have to appeal to their psychology to win them over.

Enchantment always means changing someone’s beliefs and perspectives. But like every change, these don’t happen easily. You have to overcome certain obstacles, most of which are buried deep in audience members’ minds.

For starters, people usually resist change. They want to maintain the status quo and don’t like making decisions. This hesitancy is due in part to a strong fear of making mistakes, but also to a lack of risk-taking role models to follow. So how do we remove these obstructions in order to entice people to get behind our cause?

Entice your customers to internalize your brand by creating a space that fosters brand loyalty.

If you are selling a product or service, would you rather have people simply buy your products, or act as unpaid advocates for your cause? Obviously the latter, but how do you get people to internalize your cause and carry your banner for you?

First, you need to create the feeling that your customers belong to a group of people who share the same interest and identify with what you have to offer.

Use push technology to reach out and deliver short but valuable information.

Once you’ve created a product or service that encompasses your vision, you’re going to want customers, and that often means using push technology, technology where you reach out to the customer.

Unfortunately, there is some major competition for your customers’ attention. In order to maximize effectiveness of this direct communication, keep these principles in mind:

Use pull technology to provide potential customers with essential information about your cause.

While push technology allows you to directly engage people and draw their attention, it can only transport a limited amount of information. This is where pull technologies, like websites, blogs and Facebook, come into play.

In order to maximize the enchanting power of your pull technologies, be sure to follow these simple guidelines:

Money is important, but if you want to enchant your employees, you’ll need intrinsic motivation and celebrations.

What is more likely to motivate you to work hard: a project that pays well but is ultimately useless, or a project that pays less but is deeply rewarding and intrinsically valuable? If you aren’t hard pressed for cash, you’d probably be more interested in a personally rewarding experience, and you wouldn’t be alone. If you want to motivate and enchant your employees, you need to provide MAP: mastery, autonomy and purpose.

Mastery: If have to do something for eight hours every single day, then you’ll want to be good at it, otherwise your work day will be miserable. Providing employees with new skills not only increases productivity but also helps them to take an interest and pride in their work.

Defend yourself against dubious enchanters by taking time to ask the right questions.

Have you ever felt totally enchanted by someone, just to have them dupe you and take advantage? Unfortunately, not every enchanter has good intentions and genuine interests. So how can you defend yourself against the enchanting persuasion of others?

The most immediate way is to be aware of and avoid situations where you can be easily tempted. For example, the low prices of an outlet mall or the high-pressure of an auction can lead you to make regrettable decisions.

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What is Enchantment about?

Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment teaches you how to change the hearts, minds and actions of the people around you, turning them into spirited advocates of your cause. It also provides key steps on the path to building a lasting fascination with your product and company, as well as useful advice on how to resist the enchantment of others.

Best quote from Enchantment

The first follower is what transforms the lone nut into a leader.

—Guy Kawasaki

Who should read Enchantment?

People who want to motivate others to join in their life’s mission
Anybody who manages or works with others
Anyone who wants to regain control of their purchasing habits

About the Author

Guy Kawasaki is the bestselling author of numerous books, including The Art of the Start and The Macintosh Way. In addition, he was chief-evangelist for Apple as well as an advisor to the Motorola business unit of Google, and today works as chief-evangelist for Canva, a graphics-design online service.

Categories with Enchantment

Marketing & Sales Motivation & Inspiration Career & Success

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