The conversation is rarely about his actual techniques, but his popularization of that particular approach to communication with the public. So really over-sim

The conversation is rarely about his actual techniques, but his popularization of that particular approach to communication with the public. So really over-simplify: "If you want people to do X, don't just tell them to do X or order them or try to convince them, use psychology to understand which Y's and Z's you can tell them about that will statistically lead many people to do X". He was just the guy who said "Hey, this emerging scientific field can be really useful in manipulating people even though it is early days!"