Jonah Berger

By describing ourselves as identities rather than actions, it makes it seem more like a fixed thing.

I think YouTube's done a great job of calling their audience rather than saying, oh, these are people that create content.

They're creators.

Well, creator, it seems like a full-time job.

If I want to show people I'm creative, don't just say I am creative.

I am a creator.

And so we can even use this on resumes and other places to shape how we're perceived.

So we did a study a few years ago where we looked at the language of customer service and customer services.

You got it.

You got a tough job, right?

You got people calling all the time.

They're often unhappy and you've got to figure out how to make them happy in a short period of time.

And it's challenging to do in part because you only have so much control over your situation.

And so what you'd really like to do is show people that you listened and that you care, but how can you do that?

And notice that's a problem that doesn't just happen with customer service folks, right?

If I'm a leader, I want to show my team that I listen and I care.

If I'm a spouse,

I want to show my partner that I listened and I care.

And so how can we show listening, right?

We often think about listening as something that we do.