A Lesson In Gaslighting
There’s a psychological technique called gaslighting which is incredibly potent especially in persuasive situations.
A few nights ago I was watching TV, just flipping around aimlessly, and came upon an old episode of M*A*S*H. In this episode, BJ is bored and to entertain himself he cooks up a plan for amusement at Winchester’s expense.
BJ takes a pair of Winchester’s pants and in their place replaces them with a pair two sizes too large. When Winchester eventually puts …
Becoming Magnetic
A woman I know, an extremely spiritual person, recently shared with me the following: ‘I used to have unfortunate beliefs about myself and I received back from external influences unfortunate results. When I decided to take control and raise my resonance, to be the change I wanted to become, to allow abundance and love come flow through me, absolutely everything fell into place. I am now living a life of leisure with a beautiful husband and I can draw what I want into my univ…
Being Open To Our Prospect’s Energy With The Golden Orb
On occasion, I like to bring up ideas, exercises and concepts that some would consider to be a little woo woo, esoteric, or downright crazy. When I do this, I simply ask for your indulgence and suggest that even if something is unusual, it has potential to work wonders and give value.
First a couple of questions: when you are dealing with another person–a client, a prospect, a child, a spouse, a romantic interest–how receptive are you to their energy? And how willing are…
Beyond Boxes
If you’re in the world of sales, it is quite likely you have gone through traditional sales training and learned that there is ‘a way’ or maybe ‘one way’ to sell. Maybe it was the Carnegie method. Maybe you learned ‘features and benefits’. Maybe you learned some other easily definable, package-able way to sell to affluent clients or prospects which sort of hammers away at their defenses and attempts to corner them into buying your product or services. These techniques are res…
Framing The Big Picture
The most powerful concept in persuasion is framing. When we look at the overall, big picture we can see most everything we do and say as a frame. When I suggest examples based on religion and politics, I’m not (NOT!!) endorsing one side or another. I’m simply showing where our blind spots exist, where we have holes in our arguments. if you have a belief that you fervently or fanatically believe in, you might just be blind to the other side of the issue.
When we talk about …
Further Adventures In Framing
To further illustrate the persuasive power of framing, I’ve chosen a few pretty hot topics. I’m hoping to stir us all up a little.
Everybody knows about the world’s ‘oldest profession’ and whether you’re an opponent or proponent, it’s not going anywhere. Prostitution is illegal in most of the U.S. and unfortunately is connected to drugs and violence, disease and abuse. That’s one frame. We can all agree on that, can’t we? But how about a different frame? An acquaintance an…
How To Determine The Sum Of Your Values
“Our value is the sum of our values.” –Joe Batten
In order to make an advancement in your ability to persuade, I believe it’s necessary to advance yourself. Personal advancement. Personal understanding. Personal growth. These are all incredibly powerful ways to increase every aspect of your life–business, personal and public.
This article is about an amazing process that will help begin to accelerate your skills with my material. The goal is to rank our values. It’s f…
Layers Of Complexity In Life And Persuasion: I Am An Onion
I love a good metaphor. An especially powerful metaphor for me lately has been that of an onion. The Cleveland Method deals with a deep understanding of our core drives and unconscious motivations. When we focus inward, only then can we genuinely understand others.
In recent months I’ve noticed a tremendous amount of growth in many of my students who have been applying persuasion techniques not just to business and sales, but to every facet of their lives.
One of my stu…
Self Motivation With Your Other-Than-Conscious Mind
“It is as if evolution has built a safety device in our nervous system that allows us to experience full happiness only when we are living at 100% – when we are fully using the physical and mental equipment we have been given.” ~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, persuasively. . . are you functioning at 100% of your capacity? We’re born to learn, thrive, live and search for happiness, meaning and fulfillment, and yet many find these thi…
Sprouting Paper Seeds: Manifesting What You Want
I lived on my grandpa’s farm as a kid and he taught me some very important life lessons including the Biblical verse: As you sow, so shall you reap.
There is a magic to growing things from seeds which we’ve planted. When we tend to sprouting seeds, when we give them fertile soil and water, when we nurture and care for them, these seeds grow into a bounty of life. This can be taken both literally and figuratively. There is a caution when we start growing something to tug at…