Linguistical Pitfalls Part Two
Kenrick Cleveland
Seems like some of my readers are paying attention and that's awesome. I wrote part one of this article a while back. It talks about eight common and avoidable pitfalls we have in language. In the article I wrote about 'but', 'if', 'try', and 'might' and how these words dilute the power of our language and dull our ability to persuade. Well, a few of my more observant readers noticed that if there are eight pitfalls and I only cited four, there must be four more traps out there with the potential to hurt us. Some readers went so far as to suggest I did this to demonstrate another persuasive technique--open loops.
Whether it was intentional or not, it seems to have worked with several folks enough for them to call up my assistant and e-mail me asking for the other four.
So if you've been glued to your computer waiting for part two, I appreciate your anticipation.
Would have, could have, should have or, if you prefer, woulda, coulda, shoulda.
These three phrases are all past tense which in and of itself isn't a problem, but for persuasion purposes, they have a negative impact on our message.
Keeping our prospects and clients present with us is a huge part of persuasion. We don't want to push them into their heads, into the past, with what could, would or should have been. We want them to "be here now", with us selling to them now, and them buying now.
When we allow our prospects to drift off into nostalgic, there's also the potential to create a whiny atmosphere which has the air of regret. 'I should have taken advantage of that situation. If only I had known. . .'
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.
What happens when you say to yourself, "I just can't sleep." Well. . .it turns out, you can't sleep.
Any negation forces the mind to think about the very thing that you don't want the person you're persuading to do. As you know, one of the most important elements to any persuasion is to get the person who you are persuading to make a mental image of 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.
Now you can sleep well at night having received part two of linguistical pitfalls.
Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of wealthy prospects using http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in http://www.maxpersuasion.com/ persuasion techniques.
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