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The Final Four: Linguistic Pitfalls Part Two

It seems a few of you are paying attention. That thrills me. In part one of this article I talked about the eight pitfalls we have in language though I only cited four of them--but, if, try, might. The comments at the end of my blog entry on the above topic proves that open loops work.

The open loop, whether intentional or not, seemed to have worked as my assistant was e-mailed and even received one phone call wanting to know the other four.

Well. . . if you've been awaiting in eager anticipation part two, thanks.

The first three of the final four: would have, could have, should have (woulda, coulda, shoulda).

The problem with these phrases is that they're all in past tense. While this doesn't seem on the surface to be problematic, they can have a seriously negative impact on your persuasion message.

Generally, you want to be leading people into the present time so they can and will act right now. We don't want their heads in the past, we want them with us. To borrow a phrase from Ram Dass, we need them to "be here now." The present is where we're selling, the present is where they're buying.

A lot of time this sort of nostalgic allows people to spin off into regret and whining, 'I should have done this. I could have had this. I would have been so much better off. . . '

Last but not least. . .

Can't. I can't. Can't is a negation and negations have the potential to pose a serious threat to your persuasive abilities in essence canceling out all that you have worked to achieve. When I was in high school there was one teacher who forbid us from using the word 'can't'. He wasn't having it.

If you were to say, "You can't use negations", this forces your mind to first picture using negations then in some way negating that picture.

When you say, 'I can't sleep', what happens? Well, first off, you definitely can't sleep.

Negations force the mind to think of the one thing you don't want to think about. The most important element to persuasion is to get your prospect imagining themselves, creating a mental image, of them doing what you want them to do.

Words like "can't" create the very image you don't want the person to make.

There are some very powerful and creative ways to use negation -- just be careful that you use it properly or not at all until you're comfortable with it.

So now that you've gotten part two, are you happy?

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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