How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded: Get What You Want-Every Time!

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+ W ILEY

JO H N W ILEY & SO N S,IN C .

M ore Praise forH ow to PersuadePeople W ht?D on't IAWJZ'to Be P ersuaded 'JoelBauerand M ark Lev. srdraw back the curtain and 1etyou see,hear,touch, andtfscthe mostm ysteriousmechanism sofsuccess- -i r-fïtfewccfpg. lècrsuasion.lf i you' rethinkinglightweightcunning orheavyw eightsociologs forgetit.W e' re talking aboutan ancientcraftourancestorsknew thatourgeneration forgot. Thisbook willteachyouhow tow ieldyourbestideasto influenceotherswith them ysticaldexterits acavemanwho strikesaflintytfstso- andcreatesfire.' .rof .- hl ick Corcodilos,founderoftheN orth Bridge G roup,Inc. and authorofzlsk tlleH eadllunter

'JJ/tpttlPtrsuat k Pcc')!cTbtlDon' tWkg. tttll?cPtrsuatlc? isa gem .ltsconceptsare clear/itsexam plesarepowerful/and thewriting initprovidesreadersw ith the energ. srinherentinagreatpitch.lfyou wanttoelevateyourideasand getthem received asiftheyw erem annafrom heaven/you mustread thisbook.'' l-eslieYerkes,presidentofCatalystConsulting G roup,Inc.and author of301 W flpsto HaveFun atW tvkfFun W tvksfand Beans

'JoelBauerandM arkLe' orteach you how to getinto themind ofthedecision m akerandconvert'no'into' yes.''' -

leffreyGitomer,authorofTlw SalesBibleand

TllePattersonPrinciplesofSelling 'l' ve watched JoelBauerwork with audiencesfor 12 yearsand now lunderstand w hy he' sbeen theundisputed leader in persuasion.ButHow ttlPcrsuat k

Pcc')!cW' -l,t lDc' g.ïWff wtttll?cPcrsuatk? isn'tjustastonraboutJoel.lt' san unselfish recipeforpersonalandprofessionaldevelopm ent.Thisbook isagift.' .- M a ttHill,president,TheH illGroup

'JoelBauerandM arkLev. srelevatetheartofsalesmanshipto alevelothersonly dream aboutand revealpersuasion strategiesfew professionalswould bewillingtoshare.Tl-uly/thisisabook on how tobeasuccess.' l-arry Becker,form ercreative partnerofBecker-KanterAdvertising '&1r. Bauer possesses amazing insight/and offers inspi red revelations into hum anbehavior.Thisbook isdangerous.' W illiam Bakoyni,presidentand CEO ,Video Technologies 'N 0 hocus-pocushere.Thisbook willawaken the negotiatorwithin and enableyou tobe more persuasivethatyoueverthoughtpossible.'' .- M a x Cohen,cofounderand CEO ,CashAdvance.com 'BauerandLev.srdon'tjustprovethepowerofpersuasion intheirnew book/they show youhow to becomeanexpertatthiskeylifeski ll- quicklyandeasily' ' -

peterEconomy,coauthorofM anagingforDummies

'NvhilereadingJoelBauer' sbook you'llgetan urgetorush outand testwhat you' velearned.W henyouseeyourfi rst' victimk eyeslightupJyou'llrealizehis persuasiontechniquesreally work.From thatmomentonJyou' rehooked.'' scottGoodm an,CEO ,Sam sonTechnologies

'How tt lPcrsuatkPcc')!cTbtlDon' tWkg. ttt ll?cPtrsuatlctliscandid/insightful,educational/and fun.Read itand putsom emagicintoyourbusinesslife.'

leffreyJ.Fox,authorofHow toM akeBigAz ftlse. yin YtlvrOwn Small

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Businessand H ow to Becom eCEO

'DonaldTrump' sairlojt/ Dcfp!andJoelBauer' sHowttlPtrsuat kPcc')!cTbtlDc' g. ï Wffwtttll?cPtrsuatlc?aretwo essentialsforthoselooking to succeed inbusiness.' .- l lob Bedbury,directorofBttsinessD evelopment,G um asAdvertising

'M asterJoeland M ark' sinfluencestrategiesand you canbecomethebusiness w orld' snextpied pipen' ' -

stewartLevine,authorofTlleBook tl /zlgrccvscvzf' and Getting to Resolution

'lfound influenceprincipleslcould imm ediately apply to my businesson a1m ostevenrpage.' .-

D avid G oldsmith,founder,M etaM atrix Consulting,Inc.

'JoelBauer issuch a rock star.He hasshownup with hisown brand ofreal m agicand itw illrockyourworld.Readevenrw ord andread itagain.' -

AngelicaJ.Holiday,' TV producer,entedainment/advertising/marketing & brand consultant

'A m ustread and a funread forbusinesspeople atany level.Thebook grabs youthemomentyou pick itupand isfu11ofundergroundpractices/whichw ill haveyou persuading li keaprofessionalpitchm an.'' -

-l-homasJ.W aletzki,president,EizoNanaoTechnologies

' H ow ttlPcrsuatkPcc')!cT btlDc' g. ïWff w tttll?cPcrsuat k?w illshakeyou outofyour comfortzone and/in the process,draw othersto your ideas.A wonderfully unorthodox look athow to influenceand getattention.' .-

lohn Izzo authorofSecondInnocence:RediscoveringIoy & W tlsflc'randAwakening tlle CorporateSoul

l10A102E28gàpE IIEIIIII.EAI10l)0J'IAàJI 10SE2E28gàpEp

l1()A102E28t)l)E IIEIII'LEAI1()COJ'IA/JI 10SE2E28tAl)El) G ET W HAT You W ANT- EVERY T IME!

p* .!1 JoelBauer &

M ark Levy

+ W ILEY

JO H N W ILEY & SO N S,IN C .

Thisbookisprinted on acid.freepaper.@

Copyright@ 2004byJoelBauerandlvlarkLe' o,.A11rightsresenred. PublishedbyJohnW ileyscSons/lnc./Hoboken/Newlersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

ThankstoAigfcmagazinepublisherStanAllenandeditor.in.chiefJohnlvloehringfor permission to use interview materialthatwaspublished in itsApril2003issue. No partofthispublication maybereproduced/stored inaretrievalsystem /ortransmitted in any form orby any means/electronic/mechanical/photocopying/recording/scanning/ orotherwise/exceptaspermittedunderSection 1O7and 108ofthe 1976Uni ted States CopyrightAct/withouteitherthepriorwritten permission ofthePublisher/orauthoriza. tionthrough paymentoftheappropriatepencopy feetotheCopyrightClearance Cen.

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addressedtothePermissionsDepartment/lohnW ileyscSons/lnc./111lkiverStreet/ Hoboken/NJ07030/(201)748.6011Jfax(201)748.6008. LimitofLiability/DisclaimerofW arranw:W hilethepublisherand authorhaveused theirbesteffortsin preparingthisbook/they make no representationsorwarranties with respectto theaccuracy orcompletenessofthecontentsofthisbookand specifi. cally disclaim any impliedwarrantiesofmerchantability orfitnessforaparticularpur. pose.Nowarranw may becreated orextended by salesrepresentativesorwritten sales materials.Theadviceand strategiescontained herein maynotbe sui tableforyoursit. uation.Thepublisherisnotengaged inrendering professionalsenrices/andyou should consultaprofessionalwhereappropriate.Neitherthepublishernorthe author shallbe liableforany lossofprofitorany othercommercialdamages/including but notlimited to special/incidental/consequential/orotherdamages. Forgeneralinformation on ourotherproductsand senricespleasecontactourCus.

tomerCareDepartmentwithintheUnitedStatesat(800)762.2974/outsidethe UnitedStatesat(317)572.3993orfax(317)572.4002. W iley also publishesitsbooksin avariety ofelectronicformats.Somecontentthat appearsin printmay notbeavailable in electronicbooks.Formoreinformation about W iley products/visi tourweb site atw' vwcv/r iley.com.

I.ibraryojcongressCataloging-in-publicationData: Bauer/Joel 1960How to persuadepeoplewho don' twantto bepersuaded :getwhatyouwant-

everytimeL/Joe1Bauer/lvlarkI -e' o,. p.cm .

lncludesbibliographicalreferencesand index.

ISBN 0-471-64797-7(hardcover) 1.Persuasion (Psycholomr)1.l-evy/lvlark/1962- ll.' Tltle. 81:637.1 74832 2004 153.8'52. --(1(222

8

2003027633

Form y m other,C arol,w ho neversaid,''ltcannotbe done/''and m y wife,Cherie,who said,''lsthat a11?'' -

J.B.

Formy mother,Rhoda,who read me T' ret gsgreJs/t ggk,and m y wife,Stella,who can persuade with the bestofthem .

pe .1 C O N T EN TS

ACKNOW LEDGMENTS

D luw Ix TI -IE LlsvfExEk CI -IANGE TI-IE M OM ENT THE TpakhlsyoltlvlzkTlox M ECI-IANISM THE BODY M ETAPI-IOR THE PAPER M ETAPI-IOR

THEQulcltPITCH OPENING THEQulcltPITCH BODY

11 12 13

16 17 18

THE SLOGAN PITCI -I C otkvlxcE w l7'l -ISAMPLES THE Pow Ek oy FItEE THE Pow Ek OF G IFTS SOLID Pkooy D YNAMIC C I -ARlTY BE D lsrlxc' r O vEkcol vlEREsls-r/txcE THE LOOK THE PLATFOR&1PITCH THE V ECHANISI VIEMERGENCY K IT

INDEX A BO UT THE AUTHO ZS

1 13 22 40 53 66 78 90 1O1 112 125 133 15O 159 176 186 197 213

p-..1 A C K N O W LE D G M E N T S

'd like to thank m y w ife,C herie,w ho knew lhad potential when it w as well hidden; m y am azing children, Chanelle, Briana,and Sterling,w ho every day teach m e w hatlife is really about;m y m other,C arolBauer,and m y father,Stephen Shoyer;m y adoring grandfathers,Albertand D uf-fy;and m y closestfriends,Bi11Bakoyni,Larry Becker,D avid Borys,G ary Lam ers,

Eric M aurin, Dale Penn,Jason Randal, David Stahl, and Jon Stetson.W ithouttheirongoing support,thejourney toward getting whatl've alw ays w anted w ould have been lonely.l'd like to

thank my life teachers,Jack Chanin,PaulDiamond,Joe DeLjon, G ary H unter,H idy O chiai,Ron Praver,Benny Ray,and G regg W ebb;the Kenin C oin & Stam p Shop M agic Departm entwhen l w aseleven;the staffofCarnivalC ruise L nesw hen lw asthirteen; and m y publicist,PhilLobel,who hasw orked brilliantly with the m edia to getthe w ord outaboutm e. l'd also like to thank my co-author,M ark Levy,who is a writing god.W orking w ith M ark is the only way my techniques and philosophy could have ever been transferred so expertly to the page.H e clim bed inside m y w orld,and becam e afriend aswell. L fe has dealt m e a greathand,and the cards w illrem ain in play untilm y lastbreath. -

J.B.

ACKNOW LEDGM ENTS

'd like to thank m y w ife,Stella,whose love and supporthas keptm e going;my m om ,Rhoda;my brother,Paul;m y sister,

Joyce;and,a11my otheramazing relatives,likeGi1,lrwin,and Joan.lthank my friendswhose wisdom helped Joeland me w rite this book: D ick ''The Guru' ' Axelrod, Renee Babiewich,

LarryBecker(forintroducingmetoJoel),Steve'There' sapeculiarity in my shoe''Cohen,PattiDanos,Kevin Daum (foratwohourconversation thatmade ita11clear),ChristopherDiltsand his hair, Jack Foster, Bob 'The H appy Skeptic' Friedhoffer, M ichael''Leonardo''G elb,N athan G old, D avid ''Ferris Buehler'' G oldsm ith,M ichelle H erm an, Paul H arris, Robert ''Short Sen-

tences''Jacobs,M ac '' Vegas,babyl''L ng,Paul Lemberg,Steve ''H ow did itw alk?'Sanderson,Rich Schefren,Adam Snukal,Ken

Swezey (who wasexcited by ourbook conceptbefore anyone else, and w hose enthusiasm gave the 'Pitchh/ lind' 'rocket a lift

into orbit),and KarlWeber.Also,thanksto ourliterary agent, M uriel Nellis, and her assistant,Jane Roberts,to everyone at W iley,with a big shout out to M att '' T he N urturer''H olt and Tam ara ''The Transylvanian''H um m el, and to Claire H uism ann

and thekillerstaffatlmpressionsBook and JournalServices.Also also,l'd like to thank m y pets.W hen you're w riting eleven hours a day w ith no hum ansin sight,a bark,a m eow ,ora tw eetcan be

awfully comforting.Blessyou Kuma,Jofu ('' Fuzio''),Xger,and Betsy.

Finally,lwould like to thank them an himself,JoelBauer.Joel is a m asterful businessperson,perform er,and friend.lfyou ever getthe chance to see him in action,take it! M

p-..1 1

D RAW IN T H E LIST EN ER

hatyou' re aboutto read is abitfrightening.Som etim es sem inar attendees w alk out on m e as lde-

liver this materialbecause the/re disturbed by what they hear.These are sm art people w alking out.ldon' tblam e them forleaving.Thisisthestuffofnightm ares. A syou continue reading,you're going to learn to persuade in a w ay you neverim agined possible.N otin a D ale C arnegie w ay. N otby sm iling and tossing in people' s first nam es as you speak w ith them .This is about getting people to do what you w ant.

Particularly strangers.(W hen a J//fre;treportersaw hundredsof strangersfollow m y com m andsin unison,he called the display ''a

featofmassobediencethatmustbeseentobebelieved.'') M y persuasion m odelisunusual,butdeadly effective.ldidn' t read aboutitin a m agazine ordevelop itwith ateam ofuniversity scholars.lnstead,itcom es from m y 37 years'experience in front of audiences and from m y study of those true m asters of influence,show folk;m ostly show folk in the ''dark arts.'' Yes, a11 l know about persuasion l' ve learned from carnies, fakirs,hypnotists,m agicians,m entalists,spiritualists,and,partic-

a

Dl t/ tw Ix TI -IE LlsfExElt

ularly,pitchm en.N aturally,l'm taking liberties here with w ho l callshow folk,butlet' s notsplithairs.T heirm ethods are the im portantthing,notthe taxonom y. T hese m entors ofm ine,w hom you'lllearn about throughout the book,share severaltraits:lfthey don' t persuade,they starve; theirstrategies m ay involve outrightdeception;and they use,for the m ostpart,entertainm entas a m eans of changing m inds.For w ant of a better term ,let' s call their w ays '' theatrical/''and m y

modelthe 'TheatricalPersuasion M odel.''(Thingsalwaysseem morerealwhenyounamethem;there' syourfirstlesson.) So ifyou're ready for an underground education in influence, read on.lfyou're anxious to learn what m agicians dub ''the real w ork/''this is the only place to find it.lt' s a11very doable, and you'llbe able to use the m odelno m atterw hatyour situationthatis,ifyou don' t1etyourfears getthe bestofyou.

Reader,ljusthityouwith an influence technique:the Fright C hallenge.L ken itto the carnivalbarker'sballyhoo used to snare people strolling the m idw ay:''Ladiesand gentlem en,can you bear it? Sho-cking!H orr-i-fy-ing!A living,breathing nightm are!The m ostintelligentam ong you willw antto keep w alkingl'The m ore the carny protests,the largerthe crowd grows. lf lw as successfulwith m y pitch,you didn'tnotice you w ere being influenced.O r,ifyou realized it,you w ere atleastintrigued enough to read thisfar.W hateveryour reaction,lnow have your attention,and lintend to keep it. You can rely upon the FrightChallenge w hateveryour audience' ssize and intellectualm akeup.Everyone- and lm ean everyone- respondsto thissim ple tactic. lused alengthy challenge to open thischapterbecauseyou can build slow ly on paper.Readers like to feelthe tim bre of a writer' s voice and see how he orshe goesaboutdeveloping an argum ent.ln person,though,it' sadifferentstory;ifyou taketoo long setting the challenge,you crossthe line from provocateurto m enace. W hen the people l' m trying to influence are standing before m e and w antto know how learn aliving,m y FrightChallengeisto

ovEltv lEw

the point:'' A re you sure you w antto know ? lt' sa little frightening. M ostpeople can' t handle it.''W hen they say yes,and they always do,lconspiratorially add:'' M ove in closer.ldon'tw anteveryone hearing this.'Suddenly,lhave their attention in aw ay thatm akes

them hungryformywords.The/remineforthemoment. Reading Jfoa?toPersgtgkePeoble J/// ?0D0g1 J/tggtto BePersgt gt le;t w illbe an experience foryou.M uch ofw hatyou' re aboutto learn is available now here else. Ladies and gentlem en,can you bearit? lt'soverview tim e!

O VERV IEW W ho Should Read This Book? lwrote itpredom inantly for businesspeople.M y techniquesw ill help executives,m anagers,entrepreneurs,salespeople,m arketers,

advertising staff, human resources personnel, presenters, job seekers,andjustaboutanybody looking foraway to makepeople receptive to suggestions.

O fcourse,you don' thave to be in businessto profitfrom this book.Anyone who wantsto influence othersto hisorherw ay of thinking w ill w ant to read it.That audience includes activists, counselors,negotiators,perform ers,physicians,politicians,pub1ic speakers,and teachers. A n audience thatdeserves specialm ention is singles.M y persuasion strategies are naturalsw hen itcom es to m eeting and im pressing people.lfyou're aC asanova-orvam p-in-training,youke com e to the rightplace.

W hatIs the Book'sH igh Concept? Before lanswer,1etm e explain w hata high conceptis.The principle iscriticalifyou w antto be a pow erfulpersuader.The term

bèbcogcel)tismostoften used in the TV and film industries,particularly during pitch m eetings, in w hich writers throw condensed ideas ata studio executive,hoping that the executive w ill buy one ofthem and turn itinto a seriesor a m ovie.

Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-

T hose condensed ideas are high concepts.They take a com plex plotand reduceitto itsm ostcom pelling point.The resulting sentence orphrase isw hatthe w riterfires atthe executive. W hat' s the m ostfam ous high conceptever pitched? According to ''Perfect Pitch/' a TV docum entary, it w as delivered by

Aaron Spelling to sellhis proposed series A lbtinyales.Spelling pitched the series as'' nursesin w ett-shirts.''The studio boughtit im m ediately.

So W hatIs ThisBook's High Concept?

Jtsllof z?syou/90f , 17tobersuai jeby gsf' l g t/ ?etecllgftyesojbrojessionalIlftcllmea. T hat concept m ay not be as sexy as Spellingk,but it' s accurate. T his book brings the secrets ofshow folk to the boardroom .lt teachesyou how to use entertainm entto influence. T hink these prem isessound odd? Then lsuggestyou switch on yourtelevision.lfthe successoftelevision has taughtus anything,it's this:People w illopen them selves up to a com m ercial m essage f ertain them.Take away theentertainment,and -fyou ent

the view ersurfsoffto anotherstation while the sponsor' sm essage goes unheard. Productsalesrise and fallbased upon the entertainm entvalue oftheirm essages.A m essage thatticklesthe public can be w orth billions.Attim es,an entertaining m essage m ay be the only thing separating one productfrom another.

Bottled waterisa good example.lt' s a $35 billion a yearindustry.That' s$35 billion foraproductnotsubstantially different from w hatyou can getoutofyourfaucet. O bviously,thepeople in thatindustry arebright.They notonly created a m arket,but they work hard atm aking each brand seem differentfrom its competitor.O ne w ater is from a stream .O ne is from the m ountains.O ne isfrom France.O ne has added vitam ins. O ne com esin asquirtbottleforpeopleon the go.The listgoeson. l would argue that very little separates one w ater from the other.lf you w ere to conduct a taste test am ong the top three brands,ldon'tthink you'd find an obviousw inner.

ovEltv lEw

T he thing thatreally separatesthese productsistheircom panies' positioning strategies and the entertainm ent principles each usesin its m arketing m essage.l' ve seen brands advertised by m odelsin flow ing robes,by glam orous m ovie stars,and by beautiful,sw eating athletes. M odels,m ovie stars,and athleteshave little to do w ith w ater. T hey have a1otto do w ith telling an attention-grabbing dram atic story,fast.ln otherw ords,they're there to entertain you.For no otherreason. Perhapsthe entertainm entcom ponentin bottled w aterissubtle.After a11,m ost com panies in the industry take a dignified approach to pitching theirproduct.lt' snotso with beer. T he beer industry is a11 about associating its product w ith good tim es and wild entertainm ent.To push theirproduct,brew ershave used aw ide variety ofentertaining m eans:Theyke flow n blim ps over sporting events; run contests with a billion-dollar prize;and aired com m ercialsfeaturing wom en wrestling in m ud,a dog with hum an girlfriends,frogs croaking a beer' s nam e,and a footballgam e played between rivalbottlesofbeer. W ith exaggerated vehicles like those,it' s easy to dism issthe brilliance ofthe beerindustry.Thatis,untilyou realize onething:

ln 2002,beersalestotaled $74.4 billion.Say whatyou like.Entertainm entsells.

W illM y Techniques Require You to Becom e an Entertainer? You w illnot have to sing,dance,act,recite,get up in front of crow ds,orw restle in m ud,unlessyou w antto.W hen ltalk about entertainm entasapersuader,lm ean thatyou w illuse com pelling, often whim sicalstrategies designed to put people in a receptive m ood forw hatyou have to offer. A nd keep in m ind, entertainm ent isn't necessarily lighthearted.A dram a is entertaining.So isa horror film .ln the w ork w e' llbe doing together,you'll be using the fullrange of hum an em otion to m ake yourpointforcefully.

DPAW IN TH E LISTENER

W hatAre Som e olthe Techniques? Youke already experienced at least two techniques.The Fright C hallenge w as one,and contained within itw as a second technique:st grlll/fgf ?.lfyou want to persuade people,you're going to have to figure out w ays ofletting them sam ple your suggestion, idea,service,or product.O therwise,they'lldoubtyou,and that doubtm ay keep them from acting on yourw ishes. lopened with the Fright Challenge because it' s an attentiongrabber(gg;titacted asasample ofwhatyou're going to learn.lf you thoughtthe challenge flim flam ,then you instantly knew this book isn' t for you.Conversely,if you thoughtthe challenge intriguing,then you're no doubteager to tear through the rest of this book and m ake itsstrategiesyourstrategies. Sam pling helps people draw conclusions quickly and honestly. lt' s an ethical w ay to win them over to your side.Later, you'lllearn the bestw ays to offer sam ples in situations professionaland personal. Besides the Fright Challenge and sam pling,you'll also learn how to persuade using dozensofothertactics.Am ong them :the -

Body Metaphor,the PaperM etaphor,the Quick Pitch,and the Platform Pitch.A11 are entertaining.A11 are effective.You and the people you're persuading w illhave fun while you getyourway. O fcourse,not every technique in this book functions solely to entertain.Your offerings should be flavored w ith entertainm entprinciples,not drowning in them .W hile you're learning to entertain,you'llalso be learning good,solid business and influence practices.

l don'tw ant to leave this introductory chapterw ithout putting the spotlight on an influence technique particularly dear to m e:the Transform ation M echanism .

W hatIs a Translorm ation M echanism ? lt is a dem onstration thatgains your audience' s attention,low ers their defenses,and serves as a m etaphor for your m essage.Jtk ( g

trfcêt/ gtgtrlt g/tes(gIlofgt.A majorpoint.O nethatmightspellthedif-

ovEltv lEw

7

ference between som eone'staking your suggestion or dism issing it.Letm e give you an exam ple ofa Transform ation M echanism l

used to make a$45,000 sale.ltinvolved arubberband. M y prospectw asthe head ofm arketing fora W estCoastsoft-

ware firm .Hercompany wasrentingm ajor1700th spaceatan upcom ing convention,and she had contacted m e as a possible hire

for the show.M y job? To act as the company' s pitchman and draw people to her1700th. Because itw asshe who had called the m eeting,lthoughtthe sale w ould beeasy.W asleverwrong.W hen lasked herabouther com pany' sgoalsforthe show,shew asvague.W hen lshow ed her client testim onials and photographs of m e drawing overflow crow ds atpreviousshow s,she glanced atthem asiflhad handed heryesterday' snew spaper. She thanked m e forcom ing and said she'd getback to m e.But lw asn'tleaving.The m eeting had costm e tim e and m oney,and herget-back-to-m e speech w asn' tgiving m e false hope.lflleft,l w ould neverhearfrom heragain. lrose from m y chair and pretended to pack up.As lshutm y laptop and repositioned im aginary item s in m y briefcase,lasked

herthesamequestionslhadjustasked her,only lsoftened them . Forinstance,ratherthan asking abouthercom pany' sgoalsforthe upcom ing show,lasked about her bestm om ents from previous show s,and how she planned on duplicating them .After a few

moments,lsmoked outherobjection to my services. H er com pany had alw ays relied on w inning over early adoptersw ho w ould getthe w ord outaboutthe new softw are to their fellow hard-core users.This strategy had served her firm w ell.lthad doubled in size overthe lastthree yearsby catering to early adopters. M y service didn'tfit thatearly-adopterm odelat all- atleast not in her m ind.W hat l'm a11about isdraw ing the largesttradeshow crowds possible, and that' s not w hat she thought she needed.'The m asses aren't going to buy our product/''she said, '' so lsee no reason to attract and entertain them .'She confessed

Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-

that the only reason lhad been called in w as because her firm ' s C EO had seen m e draw crowds for a rival, and he thought it m ightbe a good idea to hearw hatlhad to say. ''Letm e m ake sure lunderstand/''lsaid.''You believe thatlcan draw a m ob to your 1700th,butyou think that' s overkill.You believe thatthousandsofundifferentiated onlookersare aw asted expense, a distraction.They m ay even keep aw ay the folks you really want:theearly adopters.''She agreed,thatwasherdilem m a. lknew w hat lhad to do.lhad to transform the m om entfor her.lhad to take herfrom where she w as and m ove herto a different vantage point.W ords alone weren' t going to do it.Sbe

geer/e;tt/?eexberienceojseeiny/?ert lf/twlrltg( ggef z?. lnoticed a rubberband encircling herw ristand asked herto rem ove it.

''lm agine that your sm allrubber band isyour sm allgroup of early adopters/''l said.'T hose are the people you really w ant at the show.They spellthe difference between yourcom pany' ssuccess and failure.A greed?' gree .

''H old one end ofthatrubberband atyourleftfingertips,the otherend atyourrightfingertips,and pressthe band againstyour upper 1ip.''The w om an looked at m e asif lw ere fresh from the asylum . ''D on'tworlx 'lsaid ''you know lm ake m y living as a show m an.lw antto drive hom e a point,butlw antto do itin a special w ay.Please putthe band againstyour 1ip.''She com plied. ''D oes the band feelhotorcold?''lasked. O ltl.

''Good.N ow im agine thatbesides thatsm allband ofadopters, hundreds ofother people com e along and expand the crow d.To get a vivid im age of what l' m talking about, expand the band. Stretch itbetween yourfingersuntilitnearly snaps.''She did. '' Yourlarge rubberband now sym bolizesthe m ob surrounding your1700th iflw aspitching.Keep the band taut,and putitup to yourlips again.W hatdo you feel?''

OVERV IEW

9

''O h m y godl''she said ''that' srem arkable.The band ishot.' '' T hat' s right/''l said ''lt' s hot not because of m agic,butbecause ofphysics.W hen you stretched the rubber,you excited its electrons and heated up the band. '' T he sam e kind ofexcitem ent-and-heatreaction isw hathappenswhen you expand yourtrade-show audiences,too. '' W hen you have a big crowd,passersby realize som ething big is happening in the 1700th.The crow d' s size creates an expectation,an excitem ent,a heat.The people sauntering past stop and w onder,'W hat are a11 these people looking at? W hat do they

know thatldon't' ?'Then they run to join the crowd,making it bigger.

'' N ow,someofthese peoplerunning tojoin thecrowd willbe early adopters.Early adopters alw aysw antto be on the inside.lf they spot a crowd and they don't know w hat it' s about,they'll practically shove theirw ay to the front.l' ve seen thishappen over and overthrough the years. '' M y crowds willpullin m ore early adoptersthan youke ever had,precisely because my crowds are so big,so excited,so fullof energy.A crow d draws a largercrow dl'' She sat silently for a few seconds,playing with the rubber band.Then she asked m e questions:aboutmy fees,my m ethods, the logistics of m y perform ances.W hen l lefther office,itw as w ith a signed contract. Transform ation M echanism s help you m ake your point in a w ay m ore effective than straightforw ard logic.They work forthe

samereasonDet gt/ gojaSt g/esrltggforcesusto reexamineourvalues and Jtk( gJ/ogt lerfg/Li h letsusre-seeourplaceintheworld.Their -

lessonscometousin aTrojan horse.They appealto usbecauseof story,color,and entertainm ent.They touch usin aw ay thatbald inform ation m isses. M ore than one-third ofthisbook is devoted to the Transform ation M echanism .You can use these m echanism s in any situation you can im agine:to rouse a w orkforce,to close a sale,orto getchildren to clean theirroom .

DPAW IN TH E LISTENER

W ho Am Ito Teach You These M ethods?

lam JoelBauer,professionaltradeshow pitchm an.lpersuadefor a living.Fortune 5OO com panies hire m e to stand atop a 26-inchhigh riserin frontoftheirbooths and pitch theirproducts. W hat do these com panies have invested in a typicaltrade show ? Theyke spentup to ten m illion dollarson 1700th construction,five hundred thousand dollarsto rentfloor space,and hundreds of thousands m ore on union fees, drayage charges, personnel costs, and travel expenses.But those dollars are the leastoftheirconcerns. O ften,the future of their organizations rests upon how well they do at the show.lf they have a new product rollout,they w ant the press to see it,the TV cam eras to shoot it, and their prospects to buzz about it.A bad show m eans a bad product launch,and thatcan sink acom pany.W hen people hire m e,they have high expectations. W hatis the trade-show environm ent? W hen you' re atatrade show ,you're in an environm ent that can be im personal and at tim es brutal.The com petition surrounds you,and they w ant to seeyou failbadly.And the people you're trying to persuade- the show attendees- are rushing pastyou.They don' tcare w ho you are,how nice you are,how fearfulyou are,or how superior you think yourproductis. Persuading ata trade show is akin to persuading on the street or in the ancientbazaar.There are rules,but few ofthem are in yourfavor.lt' sm y responsibility to stop passersby,getthem to listen to a productpitch,and coax them into leaving theircontact inform ation. To be cost effective, lcan' t persuade people to stop one by one.lnstead,l m ust create crow ds.Large,scary crow ds.lm ust getso m any people to stop and w atch and listen and actthroughoutthe day thatm y client' slead-generation m achinesare flooded w ith prospects. H ow welldo ldo?The J' $Q//StreetJogrgt g/Onlinecallsme '' the chairm an ofthe board''ofcorporate trade show rainm aking.f' t gst

ovEltv lEw

)rw ritesthatl' m ''an expertatgetting the attention ofpeoCorllltgg' p1e w ith lotsofchoices aboutw here to spend theirtim e.'' Even my com petitors unintentionally com plim ent m e.They refer to m e as ''the train w reck ''m eaning thatwhen l' m pitching there are people laid out everyw here, filling the 1700th and spilling out into the aisles,m aking it im possible for anyone to m ove.lcreate such pandem onium ,they say,that hardly a show goes by from w hich lam notthreatened w ith expulsion by show .

m anagem ent.

G uilty ascharged. l've been pitching attrade showsfor24 yeals,and in thattim e l'd estim ate thattwenty m illion people have stopped to hearw hatl had to say,resulting in m ore than three m illion leadsform y clients.

W ho Is the Book's O therAuthor? lwroteJfoa?toPersgtgkePeobleJ/// ?0D0g1J//t ggttoBePersgtgtle;twith my colleague M ark Levy.M ark isan expertpitchm an and w riterwhose skillshave helped m ake hisclients m ore than abillion dollars. M ark has contributed m any ofhis own influence techniques and anecdotes to this book while working to bring my concepts to life. W hat'sM y Pitch to You? T his isn'tan ordinary book on persuasion.lt' snota tom e on how to control,m anipulate,orforce othersto subm itto yourw ill. Books that prom ise such adolescent fantasies don' t hold w ater.Theirw in/lose m ethodssoon turn into lose/lose.Theirphilosophy goes against the w ay m ostof us live,think,and act and doesn'ttake into accountw ho w e are and whatwe w antto offer the w orld. lam going to teach you how to persuade in aw ay that' sneithersinister,m anipulative,norzero-sum .lam going to show you how to becom e influential,charism atic,and m agnetic. You w illgetw hatyou w antby helping others getw hatthey w ant,and in the process,you willa11have a good tim e.

12

DlkAw IN TH E LISTENER

T hisisnotabook on how to w in ata single negotiation.This fs abook on how to w in atlife.ltteachesthatthe bestw ay to influence othersisto look and behave asifyou're aperson ofinfluence.Alw ays.A ta11tim es. ltteachesthatthe w ay to m ake m oney isto have fun.M y w ay

istheway ofthepitchman,theconjuror,theentertainer.Forthat, lm ake no apologies. lw illnotinflate ordim inish w hatlhave to teach.You w illget the unvarnished truth, because the unvarnished truth is w hat w orks. lt works w hether you' re trying to influence a child at hom e,the board ofdirectorsin a conference room ,orten m illion viewerssitting in theirliving room s,w atching you on television. A re you ready,then,to learn how a professional pitchm an persuades people who don' t w ant to be persuaded,and how you can do the sam e? lfso,step closer. ldon'tw anteveryone to hearthis.

C H A N G E T H E M O M EN T

hatyou do can have a rem arkable effecton people.D on't believe m e? Try this:Ask a friend to think aboutthe bestsum m erday she' sever experienced,then w atch her closely.You'llw itness a striking change in herphysiognomy and dem eanor. She m ay look about dream ily,as if she' s trying to orienther m entalim age in physical space.H er eyes m ay w iden w hile her

jaw slackens.She' llspeakslowly,and then,asshecatcheshold of a visceralm em ory,she' llram p up and tellyou about a childhood trip to a carnivalora long kisson a park bench. By the tim e she' s finished,she' ll be grinning and feeling as though she'sfound som ething she'd lost.She m ay even be teary eyed. And a11 you did w as ask a question. You changed her thoughts, her posture, and her outlook with a question. O ne question!That' spow er. You didn'tw restle herinto a happy state.You setthe proper conditions and 1et her m ind do the rest. You changed her m om ent.

CHANGE THE I VIOIVIENT

M ost people walk around in their problem s.They view life through theirperceived lim itations.They m easure today by w hat happened yesterday. W hen you change the m om ent,you shift people' s perspective,taking them from w here they are to where they' d like to be. From thatvantage point,people willbe m ore attentive and m ore receptive to yourpropositions.

You can change the m om entin a num berofw ays.ln the following three chapters,you' ll learn m ethods that require sim ple props.N ow,though,let' scontinue learning how to do itthrough language.

C H A N G E T H E M O M EN T W IT H W O RD S ln a corporate planning m eeting,lchange the m om entbyyettiny

Ileoll/etosee(g. l ïeneryeticy' gtgrein(gsplt gg. ' )rsenses( gsbossible.Before the planners start their work in earnest,lgo around the conference table and,one by one, ask the participants about their goals.l w ant to hear about the organization' s goals and their personal goals. T he firstperson to speak isusually guarded.H e talks in selfprotective, distancing language. ln language that can neither offend nor inspire.lt sounds som ething like this:'' T he organization' s goalis to assum e leadership ofthe industry by the fourth quarter ofnextyear.T he organization plans to do thisby im plem enting Six Sigm a throughout the com pany and by im proving custom erservice as a resultofbreaking down departm entalsilos. M y personalgoalisto do w hatever ittakesto supportthe leadership in m aking thishappen.' T hat answerwon' t do.lt' s m achine talk.H um ans don' tspeak like that.O r if they do,it's a corruption of w hat it' s like to be hum an. lchallenge him :''lheard whatyou said,and lstilldon' t understand yourcom pany' sbusiness.W hatdoesitdo?'' ''ltm anufacturesindustrial-strength piping/''he says.

CH ANGE TH E I VIOI VIENT W ITH W ORDS

'' W hy doesthe w orld need industrial-strength piping?'' '' W ithoutit,you couldn' t erect skyscrapers,run subm arines, have lasting sew ersystem s.'' ''So yourproducthelpsbuild cities?'' ''ltdoes'' ''Protects the nation' scoasts?'' leS.

'' W ashes aw ay w aste and safeguardspeople from disease?'' '' Yes you could look atitthatw ay.'' '' W hy doesyourcom pany w antto be the leaderin thisfield?'' '' W e deserve to be the leader.W e don' thide behind m arketing claim s,like som e ofourcom petitors.W e give the custom erw hat

the/repayingfor.Heavy-dutymaterialstrength.'' '' You talked about breaking down departm entalsilos.W hat did you m ean?'' '' A ttim es,peoplein differentdepartm entsdon' tcom m unicate w ell.They don' tshare inform ation.They don' thelp one another asm uch asthey could.' ''lf you got them sharing inform ation and acting as a team , w hatw ould happen?'' '' W e would m ake ourproductseven better,because there' d be a strongercross-fertilization ofideas.'

''lfthathappened,how would yourjob be different?' ''l'd probably have m ore responsibility.There'd be m ore em -

ployeesunderm e,and l'd beworking on biggerprojects.W hich isfine by m e.l'm m uch betterw hen the pressure' son.'' '' W hatelse?'' ''l'm in on the profit-sharing plan,so l'd stand to m ake agood dealm ore m oney.' '' W hatwould you do w ith thatm oney?'' ''H alfw ould go into my kids'college fund,and halfwould go tow ard a European vacation.' l turn to the next person at the table and listen to her responses.lfthey are crisp and authentic,lm ove on.lfnot,lquestion herfor aslong asittakes to getherto tellm e w hatshe truly

16

CI-IANGE TI-IE M OM EN T

hopes for herself and the organization.lw ant to hear realm otivations,in reallanguage. By the tim e everyone hasspoken,there' s an excitem entin the room .W hy? Because ofthe honesty.Co-w orkers are seeing cow orkers as they really are,m aybe for the firsttim e.They understand one another' sassum ptionsand aspirations. T he room also pulses because ofthe pelsonal,em otion-laden, w ord-pictureseach person is painting.The place isfilling with life. D ry conceptshave becom e vivid.D ead scenesnow dance and sing. lcoax lively w ords and im agery from people in orderto activate theirim aginations and hearts.lgetthem seeing in three dim ensions and speaking about their thoughts in w ays that shift perspective.lthen repeatback to them w hat l've heard,in their ow n language,and ladd som e language ofm y ow n to heighten the m om ent. lputeveryone into the future.lask them to see theirorganization tw o yearsfrom now.lt'sreached its goaland is the leader in its field.M ore piping is being shipped.C lients are building stronger,saferstructureswith it.Even themediaisimpressed.Tortggehasdone an articleon thecompany,ashasTorbes. Because ofthe profit-sharing program ,everyone' s salary has increased.Their m oney is going where they w ant itto go:into college funds,savingsplans,buying a new house,a new car,a trip to Europe. l ask the people to picture them selves at the corporate celebration.lt' s at a rock club.TheirCEO has rented outthe club for the night,and a band isplaying everyone' sfavorite songs.Spread out across tables are fun foods:steaks,burritos,tacos,pizza. l have m y clientssm ellthe cheese on the pizza,the cilantro sprinkled on the tacos.

The CEO standsand askseveryone to join him in atoast:'' To a11ofyou form aking thisorganization do so m uch,so fast.''They clink glasses,drink down the cham pagne,and head out to the dance floor.O nly then does the organization' s scheduled planning session begin.W hy?

FJAZJSAZD PLJSJIG SSJIVJSJVJF KN OW S EI VIOTION TRUIVIPS LOGIC

Because the participants are now in a different psychological place.T heirm om enthaschanged.W here they w ere closed,they are now open.W here they w ere hesitant,they are now giving. W here they were problem -focused,they are now goal-focused. -

r' / ?:?i jjerenceintllefrrlfgkstrtggs/t gtesfgto(g?i jjerenceo-ft/gtg/ft. ' )rintllefr!)/( g. l ï-

.

niny.ltis a spirited,productive session,one they willrem em ber. O ne whose m em ory w illguide them through the realwork that m ustbe done iftheirvision is to becom e areality.

THE J-JASJ/A#.D BLISINESS REW fV/ KNO W S EM O TIO N TRU M PS LO G IC lf using wordsto alter perspective seem s too m uch like hypnosis foryou,1etm e pointyou to the Septem ber-o ctober 2000 issue oftheJft grpt grkBusinessReview.ln an articleentitled ''GettingtheAt-

tention You Need/'authorsThom as Davenport and John Beck discuss astudy they conducted with 60 executives. T he authorsasked each executive to m ake note ofhisorher interest level concerning the m essages they received in a given w eek.Those m essagescould have com e to them through conversation,e-m ail,phone calls,or a variety ofother m edia.The result? D avenportand Beck w rote:

Overall,the factorsmosthighly associatedwith getting rtheexecutives'lattention,in rank order,were:the message was personalized.,itevoked an emotionalresponse,itcame from atrustworthy or respected sender,and.itwas concise.The messagesthat 170th evoked em otion and.were personalized were m ore than twice as likely tobe attended to asthe messageswithoutthose attributes.

1'11repeatthatlastsentence,w ith my added em phasis:'' T he m essagesthat170th evoke? twlotfo. l ïand werebersonalize? were more than tw ice aslikely to be attended to asthe m essageswithoutthose attributes.'' To getattention,to be rem em bered,to change the m om ent, you m ust m ake your m essages personal and evoke em otion in

CHANGE TH E M OM EN T

yourlistener.ltdoesn' tm atterifyourlistenerisan auto m echanic, or the executive of a conglom erate. You m ust alter things for them ,in them ,ifyou w antto succeed.

Y

Backroom 'Ilps to Change the M om ent

+ Stobt lof zqgll/t glrfgpyourfrlllorttggcetot/ ?efzqor/k.Supposeyou manufacture bricks.Yourproductcan be used to build an outhouse or a cathedral,so w hy assum e it'11be used in the form er and notthe later? ln general,people are m odestabouttheirabilitiesand the role thattheirproductsand servicescan play in society.W hy? .

Perhapsit' sbecause they're afraid to stand out.Or the/re scared thatifthey elevate theirsights,they'llbe disappointed. W hateverthe reason,being overly m odestdoesn'tserve them orthe world. l'm nottelling you to boastorm ake false claim s,butw hy w ouldn' tyou w antto think and actasifyou and yourproduct can serve ourcivilization'shighest ideals,if such elevation is possible? lfyou're a publisher,you don' tproduce m ere books, you give people the m eans to transcend their current station in life.You give them know ledge that they can translate into real-w orld achievem ents.You provide them with restand solace w hen daily life proves too m uch.You help readers focus on hum ankind' s higher ideals.These are wonderfuland genuine qualities.W hy notclaim them ? To change the m om entforothers,you m ustfirstdo itfor yourself.Give yourselfa w ider,deeperunderstanding ofhow you and your offerings benefit the world.Push yourself on this.Selecta clientbenefitthatyourw ork brings,and further ituntilyou geta clearpicture ofhow ithelpsthe w orld. lf you produce m icrochips for an autom obile m anufacturer,you protectthe lives of m illions of people w ho count on yourw ork to get them to and from their destinations in safety.

FJAZJSAZD PLJSJIG SSJIVJSJVJF KN OW S EI VIOTION TRUIVIPS LOGIC

lfyou m anufacture dressshoes,you help people feelbetterabouthow they look so thatthey can go through theirday w ith m ore confidence. lfyou organize office space,you help businesses function m ore sm oothly so their em ployees are less stressed and can spend m ore tim e m aking the com pany m oney.

Thisis notasnow job,snake oil,orself-deception.lt' sa fulllook atwhy you do whatyou do.

+ Use( gIlersogkjavore?imayery (gs( grletggsojc/gt ggt /fg. pt/ ?erlorleat-for t/ gtwl.People speak asthey think.Theirspoken language mirrors the w ay they process concepts in their head.So w hen you're speaking w ith som eone,pay attention to the types of m etaphors he uses,and to the specific language that excites her.lfyou can fram e yourconceptsin theirtypesofm etaphor or by using their language, you increase your chance of changing the m om ent for them and getting them to rem em berw hatyou say. For instance, som eone m ay use lots of sound-based m etaphors when talking:''lt' s asclear as a bell''''lhearw hat you're saying/'''T hat' sm usic to m y ears.''lfso,you' d position yourconceptin an auditory context:'' M aybe thiswillstrike a chord with you.''

O fcourse,ifyou don' t use this technique judiciously,it can be transparent.Pick your spots for it.W hen you do it properly,the listenersw illcarry your ideasw ith them a long tim e.

+ Asê( gquestion tllt gtsegksbeobleintotllefrp st,intotllefrj -f ïtfïre,orjlibs tllefrbetsbective.Although you can'tcontrolanother' sthoughts, you can influence people to think in new directions.O new ay to do thatis through the use ofquestions.Specifically,t/fïestfogstlltgtrtwlopetllt wljrorltllefrcf ïrreatsftfïtgtfog. -

-

O ne type of question l use focuses on the past.For instance:

CHANGE TH E I VIOI VIEN T

'' Te11m e abouta tim e you w ere lostin business.'' ''W hat' s the m ost significant business lesson youke learned in the pasttw o years?'' N otice that these questions are based upon em otionladen them es.The listeneris ''lost''and has learned a ''significant''workplace lesson.-r' / ?:rloreextranet/ ?esftfït gtfogyourt/f ïestfo. l ï (gkkresses,t/?erlorelikely you'llclltge l g et/ ?erlorleatjortllt gtlistener(ggt : t oben fï!lt/?ecogperstgtfo. l ïinfïgexllectet : tyetrltwlortgl'/eways. Llsing the sam e ideaofappealing to the extrem es,you can ask questionsthatalso putpeople into the future: .

-

''lf you reached your goal three m onths early,w hat w ould you do w ith thatextra tim e?'' ''W here w illyou be this tim e next year,ifyou continue to hold thatassum ption?'' A nd you can take people out of their currentreality by getting them to flip a perspective and create a new reality: ''W hatwould have to happen foryourm ostagonizing businessproblem to be solved today?'' ''lm agine you had to run your businessw ith halfyour staff. H ow w ould you m ake itwork?'

Become a question junkie.Collect interesting inquiries and try them outin casualconversation with business associates.See w here your questions take people.These questions show you how easy itisto change the m om entforothers. ln the end, influence isn' t so m uch a zero-sum gam e of m anipulation techniques,asitis aw ay oftransporting people to a differentplace.lfyouke chosen thatplace carefully,the people w illbe m ore receptive to yourideasand requests.

+ Dosometbiny 0gtojt/?egorpl.Changing themomentisa11about giving people the unexpected,w hetheritbe anew ideaorthe fram e around w hich you presentthatidea. ln the next chapter, you'll learn about Transform ation M echanism s, which are distinctive m etaphors you perform

FJAZJSAZD PLJSJIG SSJIVJSJVJF KN OW S EI VIOTION TRUIVIPS LOGIC

that enable you to com m unicate your ideas in m om entchanging w ays.They attractattention and com m unicate w ith substance.Butdon' tfeelyou have to puton aperform ance to do som ething outofthe norm . lf you're involved in a negotiation,you could overnight the otherparty aletterreiterating asingle pointyou m adethe day before;thatpointw illstand outm ore pow erfully than it did during yourconversation. lfyou have guests over fordinner,you could cook a dish w ith aspecialingredientand use thisingredient as am eansof

changing people' sfocus on whatthe/re eating.lknow a w om an w ho broughtback a spice from her trip to lndia and used itin a dish.Thisspice initiated night-long conversations

aboutlndia,theTajM ahal,world travel,foreign politics,and

U.S.history.Quiteamoment-changerforafew pennies. + Cbanyet/gerlorlt' :tJ/ect ggseffstberl //?ttbinytot 10.W hen lspotacranky child on a flight,lsitnext to him .Asa fatherofthree,lknow w hatit' slike forthe otherpassengels w hen a child isrestless. lreach into m y pocket,rem ove a square ofpaper,white on one side,black on the other,and lstartfolding.The child

watches.lturn to him and say:'l'm m aking ajack-in-the-box.

W hen l' m finished,Jack willbe wearing a tuxedo,a shirt,a tie,and gloves.W hen you liftthe 1id ofhisbox,he'llpop up. A 11from this one sheetofpapen'' T he child leans closer to w atch. l get him involved. l m ake folds and 1ethim pressdow n the creases.W hen l'm fin-

ished,lhave abox,which lopen,and outspringsJack.lthen hand the origam i sculpture to the child, as a gif-t. lt is a w him sy m ade especially for him . lcan' t know this for sure,but1' 11bethe'llrem em ber that m om ent.H e'11recallthe tim e the m an on the airplane folded

ajack-in-the-boxforhim. W hatdid ldo? Did lm ake a six-figure sale? N o.W hat l did w asgive a child a m om entoffascination.Som e entertainm ent.Som e happiness.

T H E T RA N SFO RM AT IO N M EC H A N ISM

y favorite w ay to change the m om ent is through a Transform ation M echanism . low e a 1ot to m echanism s.Theyke helped feed and clothe m y fam ily,as wellaspay formy hom e and cals.They're one ofthe m ostpowerfultoolsyou can use to pelsuade in businessand in life. W hatisaTransform ation M echanism ? lt' s atrick w ith a point. A m echanism putspeople in apleasure state,and that' sw here you w ant them .O ff business,on pleasure.lt sets a receptive atm osphere.W hen you use a m echanism ,people are m ore likely to lowertheirdefensesandgiveyourideasanhonesthearing.Amec/ ?(ggfsm fs( grlett gll/ gorrltgt lebbysical,( gg;tt/ ggsrltgt lerltwlortgl'/e( gg;tIlersgtgsfpe.

M ETAPH O RS A S A M EA N S O F M A K IN G SEN SE Everyone knowsthe pow erofm etaphors.They help usbetterunderstand one idea by relating itto another idea.H ere' s an exam ple.lf som eone told you that she had trouble sleeping because

I VIETAPH ORS AS A I VIEAN S OF I VIAKING SENSE

23

herm attressw as 'hard asa rock/''w ould you understand w hatshe m eant? O fcourse.You' d know thatshe couldn' tsleep becausethe m attress had no give to it.The m etaphorical phrase ''hard as a rock''helpsyou see and feelthe m attress' s stiffness.lfyouke ever slepton a hard m attress,you m ay even experience a back twinge

justreading the phrase.That' sthe powerofm etaphors. H ere is anotherexam ple.Am ong your incom ing e-m ailm es-

sagesyou see one with the subjectline '' U pgrading Your Com puter ls N ow As Easy As Tying Your Shoes.''W hat' s this m ean? A gain,ano-brainer.Som e com pany prom isesto m ake yourcom puter run better, and installing its product is sim ple. The m etaphorical phrase ''as easy as tying your shoes''conveys this thought.After all,w e a11learned to tie our shoes when we w ere fouryearsold,so whatcould be easier? M etaphorsare everywhere.lfyou took an hourto m onitora11 the m etaphorsyou read in booksand a11the m etaphoricalim ages

youseeontelevision,yourheadwouldswim (which,bytheway, isanothermetaphor). l look to my bookshelves,and on one shelfalone there are enough books with m etaphorical titles to keep m e busy for a month:Pgrll/eCow)Hell' sAgle/s?T'/ ?efxecgtfoger' sSony)T' / ?e' Ih?yerinl .

T' of zqg?kklfrt gdeivonyers)J//tg//tf' l g 0. l ïAllèators)and Steeriny t/?eCrt g/. M etaphorsone and a11:w aysofm aking you interested in one sub-

jectby cloaking itin thewordsand imageryofanother.Youdon' t actually walk on alligatorsin J//t g//tf' l g 0. l ïAllèators,and Steeriny t/ ?e

Crajtisabookaboutwriting. ln one T V com m ercial,a financialservices com pany isrepresented by a bull.ln another, a sports utility vehicle drives up a canyon w allatasupernaturalangle.These im agesdon' thave a di-

rect,one-to-one correspondencewith reality.The/re meantto convey an idea,a feeling.To create a feeling,com m ercials often go to extrem es.

H ere' s a soda com m ercial:A teenager is soaring through cloudson askateboard,and a flock ofgeese fliesby.The teenager w hips out a can and sprays soda into the m ouths of the thirsty

TI-IE Tp-/ttqsyol kl klATlox M ECI -IAN ISM

geese.The gratefulbirdsbreak theirtraditionalform ation and use theirbodies to form the soda com pany' s logo.Those im ages are m etaphorical.Teenagers and skateboards don't fly, and geese don' tform logos.You know that,lknow that,the soda com pany knows that. W hatthe com pany istrying to do ism ake usunderstand one

thing(thetasteofthesoda),by explaining itthrough theimage ofsomething else (the skateboarding teenagerand the geese). T he com pany w ants usto have certain thoughts when w e think ofitssoda.ltw ants us to think Youth,Freedom ,and D aring.lfit cam e out and said, '' O ur soda fs Youth,Freedom , and D aring/'' w e' d be skeptics.But if the com m ercialw orks and w e associate those qualitieswith that soda,itw orks because ofm etaphor.Entertaining m etaphor.

M A K IN G TH E SH IFT TO M EC H A N ISM S For m ost people, perform ing a Transform ation M echanism re-

quires anew way ofthinking.The/re notused to influencing othersthrough m etaphor,entertainm ent,hum or,orfun. To them ,influence seem sagrim gam e.They approach presen-

tations,negotiations,and meetingsasifthe/re marching into a firefight.They figure ifthey havetheirfactsstraightand theirlogic is sound,theiropinions should win out.And ifit looks as if they aren' tw inning, they m ightturn to intim idation to gettheirw ay. l'm not knocking seriousness,determ ination,facts,logic,or

even intimidation.Those things have theirplace.(l,forone, wouldn' twantmy lawyerwriting jokesinto a contractthatcalls

forairtightlegalreason.)W hatl'm sayingisthatabullrushtothe heartofthe m atterisn' talw ays the bestpersuasion tactic. W e aren'tm achines.W e don'tprocesslogic linearly aswellas som e m ight think.A criticalpointthat' s obvious to you m ay be invisible to m e. A Transform ation M echanism highlights your criticalpoint and presents it to the listener in a w ay im possible to m iss.The

THE M ECHAN ISI VIIN ACTION

m echanism is a learning lesson done up as an intriguing dem onstration.

T H E M EC H AN ISM IN A C T IO N ln Chapter 1,you read abouthow lused a rubberband to close a sale.The band w as a m echanism .lt helped influence my client w hen wordswere having little effect. M y clientbelieved thatthe trade show crow dslattractw ould hurtherbusiness.She reasoned thatw ith a m ob ather1700th,her targetm arketw ould stay clear.lknew differently.From adecade of experience,lknew that m y pitchesw ould attract convention attendeesofevery stripe- including the people from herm arket. N ot only would her m arket flock,but they'd be im pressed that hercom pany w as attracting such heavy traffic. T hat rubber band transform ed the m om ent forher.lt turned

hermind 180 degrees.lttook her objection and made itinto a reason for hiring m e.H ad lnotused the m etaphor ofthe rubber band,lwould neverhave persuaded herto sign m e on. Letm e show you anotherexam ple ofa m echanism l've used, so you can see the concept' s utility.Afterthat,1'11teach you how to constructRnd use yourow n m eclnanism s. W ith this m echanism ,lw asn't even in the sam e part ofthe country asthe person lw astrying to influence.The head ofsales at a m anufacturer phoned,asking m e to speak at her com pany' s annualtwo-day conference.She w anted m e to tella story,do a dem onstration,create excitem ent.Fine,lcould do that.The only problem ? She w anted ascript. '' You m ean an outline ofm y generalconcepts?''lasked. '' N o ''she said ''lneed a fullscript.lt' scom pany policy forany

speaker.W ewantto m akesureyourmessagesand oursjibe.'' ''ldon' tw ork from a script/'lsaid.'lhave specific ideaslwant to getacrossto the audience,and then lusew hateverm eansnecessary to getthose ideasacross.'' ''l'm sorry then.W e can'tdo business.''

TH E TRANSFORM ATION IVIECHAN ISI VI

T he next day she received an overnight delivery envelope from m e.ln it,w as a letterthatsaid the follow ing: 1'm sorry we haveyetto come to an agreem ent.lfyou don' tmind., though,1'd.likeyou to d.om ea favor.W illyou participatein a quick experiment?lfso,read on. Think ofa numberfrom one to ten. M ultiply yournumberby nine.

lfthe resulting numberistwo digitslong (e.g.J15)Jactd.those digitstogether(e.g.J1+5 =6). You now have anew numberin yourhead. .Subtractfive from it. Takethe resultrand.think ofthe letterofthealphabetthatcorrespond. swith it.SoJifyou're thinking ofthe numberonerthe corresponding letter would be A. lf you're thinking of tw or the corresponding letterwould be l).And.so forth. Think ofa country whose name startswith thatletter. Then take the second letterin thatcountry' snamerand.think of an anim alwhose name beginswith thatletter. Think ofthatanimal' scomm on color. Finished? Please phone me on my cellphone rightnow.1don't carewhattime ofthe day ornightitis.1willanswer.

W hen lansw ered hercall,she w as laughing.''Are you going to read m y m ind?''she asked. ''l believe so/' l said.'' Focus on the im ages dancing in your m ind.Keep focusing.M y brain is receiving a picture from your brain,but the picture doesn' t m ake sense.lt's ofsom ething that doesn'texist. '' A fter all,there are no gray elephantsin Denm arkl'' T he w om an gasped.Based on m y w ritten instructions,she had been thinking of gray elephants in D enm ark.Apparently,l had read herm ind. '' T hatisun-frigging-reall/''she said. lthen did som ething unusual.lexplained the stunt.

TI -IE M ECI -IAN ISM Ix Ac-rlox

W e read back overthe sheet,and ldiscussed each step:how any num berfrom 1 to 10 m ultiplied by 9 m usthave 9 asthe sum ofitsdigits;how the resulting calculation forcesthem to think of

the letter?;how mostpeoplewillthink ofDenmark (with the Dominican Republicadistantsecond);how thesecond letterin Denmark,which ise,willalmostalwayslead to e/ell/ gtggtandlrt gy. W hen we w ere finished,she could do the stuntasw ellas 1. '' N ow how do you feelaboutit?''lasked. '' N eat.Thanks forsharing it.'' ''Doyou seewhatjusthappened?' '' Your reaction w ent from 'un-frigging-reall'to 'neat.'W hy? Because now you know how it' s done. Know ing how certain things are done is a letdow n. '' M ore to the point:Know ing how certain things are done is unnecessary.

'' You w ant m e to open your conference w ith a bang,so that the 5OO people attending willbe excited aboutw hatthey're about to learn.You w antthem to see the possibility and pow erthatlies ahead forthem .You w antthem believing in them selves,and you w ant their m inds fully present at that conference,so they give you theirbesteffortand theirbestideas.Correct?'' o rrec .

''H ow lgetthose 500 people to experience powerand possibility,then,is a11 that m atters.H ow lget them to that state is unim portant. You're not paying m e for m y w ords and actions. You're paying m e because ofthe energy and focus lhelp othersto creaj re.JJ

She had to discuss the m atter with som e higher-ups,but in the end, l got the contract. The Transform ation M echanism helped m ake an abstractconceptvivid.ltsm essage- thatprocess is unim portant,aslong asthe resultis strong- hithom e for her. T he m echanism didn'tclose the dealon itsow n,butithelped m e readdressherconcernsin a new light.

TH E TRANSFORI V ATION IVIECHAN ISI VI

TA K IN G AN EN TERTA IN M EN T IN V EN T O RY l've called a m echanism a trick,but itcan also be other things:a puzzle,a riddle,a conundrum ,a piece oforigam i.Anything that entertains,is m em orable,flipsperspective,and givesclarity qualifies asa m echanism . To geta feelforhow to use m echanism s,take an inventory of w hatyou already know how to do.W hatskills and interests do you have thatm ay laterhelp you prove a point m etaphorically? W rite down your answers.

J//llt gtttgsêsi jo ' y. 0g i jokgrf' l g( gtvorlulay?Do you chairmeetings w ith scientists?Are you expertatreaching decision m akers? Can you draw a m ean Venn diagram ? C an you w rite e-m ailthatalw aysgetansw ered? D o you keep a flaw less daily organizer? J//llt gtareyourbobbies? Do you collect twentieth-century LI.S. stam ps? Build colonial ships in bottles? Read hard-boiled thrillers? Skidouble-black diam onds? H itin abatting cage? J//llt gtskillst 10you lltgpe?Can you bake a chocolate cake?Fish like a pro? Sketch a realistic still life? Build a sturdy bureau?Throw and catch a Frisbee like a grad student? J//llt gttrfcês(ggt : tbuzzlest 10youêgof z??Canyoujuggleknives?Find a selected card from a shuffled pack? Add row s ofthreedigitnum bersin yourhead? Startfire w ith sticks? D o the Sbgrb' )r' Jlmescrossword in 50 minutes? J//llt gtfst/ ?equirkiesttllf' l g youtzaof .p/ 90f, 1 7to?o?Can yourub abottle againsta w allso the bottle sticks? Create a lobsteroutof a sheet ofpaper? C allthe toss ofa coin seven tim es in a row ? Fix a six-cylinderengine w ith ahairpin? N am e each partofa m aple leaf? .

.

Ijyoutverein( gtt g/t' l ïtsllofz?,f . pllt gtf .pogz your( gctbe?W ould you do im personations? Recite a poem ? D rum on em pty paint cans? H ita bullk-eyew ith an arrow at20 paces? Be atthe base ofa hum an pyram id? L steverything thatcom esto m ind,m undane orextraordinary.

H OW DO YO U BUILD A I VIECHAN ISI VI?

29

H O W D O YO U BU ILD A M EC H A N ISM ? C reating yourow n m echanism iseasy,once you getthe hang of it.Let' s create one now .Think ofa currentpersuasion problem .lt can be im portant,but nothing too heavy.N othing that m akes you cringe.Pick a problem thatyou can play with,so you can get a feelforthistechnique.Yourproblem could be from the office or from yourpersonallife. O nce you have that problem ,extractthe high conceptfrom it.ln otherwords,cutaw ay a11the detailand think ofthe problem in one generalline.Forinstance:

''lwantto convince my bossto 1etm e handle aproject,but he' snotsure l'm ready.'' ''lw ant the m edia interested in m y firm ' s C D -RO M action gam e atthe rolloutparty.'' ''lw ant m y neighbor to help m e get outw ord that the local governm ent is changing the zoning in our area, and it could hurthom eow ners.'' ''lw antto convince m y daughterto be m ore responsible w ith herallow ance m oney.' G et it? T here' s detailenough that the situation is recognizable,butnotenough detailto tella com plete story.You w antthe headline.The thum bnailsketch. N ow take thatconceptand m atch itup to each taskyou do,talentyou have,and trick you know,and see ifone shedslighton the other.Suppose you have the problem ,'lw antto convince my boss

to 1etme handle a project,buthe' snotsure l'm ready.''Suppose, too,that your inventory list contains the entry,'C an throw and catch aFrisbee like a grad student.''H ow m ightthose two relate? Let' ssee.Yourbossdoesn'tthink you have enough experience

and expertise to make theprojectwork.And whileyou may be a w orld-classFrisbee playernow,there w as atim ew hen you had no idea how to throw one. W hen you w ere nine years old,you'd w atch the teenagels throw Frisbeeson the beach.You asked ifyou could try.O ne ofthe

TI-IE Tp-/ttqsyol kl klATlox M ECI -IAN ISM

teenagerstossed youtheFrisbee and ithityou in theface.You tried to throw itstraight,butyou m usthave held ittoo long,and itwent w ide rightby 10 yards.W ith the teenagels'guidance,though,you im proved quickly.A shorttim e afterthat,you were great.

You believe the Frisbee experience and your currentproject situation have a direct parallel.At this point your boss m ay be

right:You mightnothandle the projectexpertly.Butyou're not going to getbetterby hanging back.You need to learn by doing. T hat' s how you becam e world class at throwing a Frisbee, and

that' show you'llgetgood on projects.Sure,the projectismore im portant and difficult than learning to throw a Frisbee,butthe w ay to excelatitisthe sam e.By doing. H ow could you use thisparallel? ln a num berofw ays: You could m eetw ith the boss,take out a Frisbee,spin it on your finger,ask him if he' s ever played before,tellhim

yourstory,and relate itto the projectsituation.ln that scenario,the Frisbee initially acts asan attention-grabber, and then you use itto m ake a m etaphoricalpoint. O r,you could discussthe problem first and bring the Frisbee out ofyour briefcase later,as a m eans of intensifying his intereston the pointyou're aboutto m ake. O r,you and a co-w orker could play Frisbee on the law n in front ofyour office building,and w hen your boss com es out,you m ake sure he seesyou doing tricks.O utthere,or laterin hisoffice,you pointoutthe parallels.

Noticethatin each case,thephysicalobject- acolorfulFrisbee- serves as a way to transform the moment.You're notjust telling a story aboutlearning to throw a Frisbee,you're bringing yourbossback to thatpointin tim e w hen you were a novice,and then you' re dem onstrating yourskillnow .You're giving him avisceralexperience. A m echanism w orks best when it' s tangible.W hen there' sa dem onstration.W hen the person you're trying to persuade gets

H OW DO YO U BUILD A I VIECHAN ISI VI?

involved in the situation m entally,em otionally,and physically. T he reasons? Situations like thatare unusualduring the course ofa norm al day.Butwhen you puta person into a safe,intriguing,entertainm ent-based,out-of-the-ordinary situation,she can'tuse her standard defenses to shield herself from you. She can't go to her defaultthinking strategies as am eansofm entally dism issing your argum ent.She has to react differently,because the externalstim u1iare different.She' sm ore open to w hatyou have to say because youke forced herinto being open. Tw o m ore quick exam plesofusing w hatyou already know as a m echanism :

J'ogr!)r0J?/tpl:''lwantmy neighborto help me get outword about how the localgovernm ent is changing the zoning in our area,and how itcould hurthom eowners.''

A liney' rorlyour fgpeatory:''lcollect twentieth-century U.S. sjram ps.JJ

rlec/ gt ggfsrl: You meet with your neighbor and pull a T heodore Roosevelt stam p from your w allet. You talk aboutyourhobby and the stam p' svalue.You also draw a parallelbetw een Rooseveltand yourproblem :'' Today,w e know Teddy w as a greatpresident,an inspiring historical figure.Butback when hewasin office,people didn'tjust roll over for him and do w hat he said.H e fought som e pow erful enem ies.ln particular,he busted up illegal big business- the trusts.N ow,l'm notcom paring our zoning problem w ith trusts,butdam n it,Teddy didn't1et people have theirway justbecause they had money.W rong was w rong.As far as l'm concerned,that' s the kind of battle w e' re in nom ''The stam p acts as a m echanism and givesa historicalbackdrop to yourargum ent. J'ogrIlrolp/erl:''lwant the media interested in my firm' s CD RO M action gam e atthe rolloutparty.''

TI-IE Tp-/ttqsyol kl klATlox M ECI -IAN ISM

A /fgefrorlyourfgpeatory:''lcan juggleknives.'' A rlec/gt ggfsrl:Attherolloutparty,startjuggling knivesasan attention getter.Tellthe attending m edia thatwhile knives m ay be dangerous,you can juggle som ething far more deadly.Put down the knives and juggle copies ofyour C D -RO M action gam e. Tell the people, ''Actually,the dangerhere isnotin juggling these games.lt' sin playing them .'D isplay the gam eson a screen,and show how your com pany has created a C D -RO M with m ore blood and gutsthan any gam e ever m ade.Your productisgiving its target m arket exactly w hat it w ants.The knives graphically seta contextforscreening the gam e. -

W H AT IF YO U D O N 'T H AV E A SK ILL O R D O N 'T K N O W O F A PU ZZLE YO U CA N U SE? Fearnotifyouhaveno skillorpuzzleto use:Jfoa?toPersgt gkePeoble J/// ?0Dog' tJ//t ggttoBePersgtgt le;tto therescue!lconsiderthe Transform ation M echanism to be such a powerfulpersuader that l've loaded thisbook w ith 20 ofm y favorites.There isno guessw ork here.lhave used each and can attestto its power.You have only to learn and practice them . ln fact,it' sa good idea to try these m echanism sbefore you really need them .Thatw ay you get com fortable attracting attention and being bold.Try them atlunches and inform alm eetings, and as icebreakers with seatm ates aboard planes.The idea is to have fun and to keep youreyes open fortim esw hen you can use them as m etaphorical persuaders in key situations. lf you get good at perform ing them now,they will pay dividends for you w hen you need them m ost. ln the restofthis book,linclude a m echanism at the end of each chapter,in the hope thatiflspoon them outin sm alldoses,

w HAT IF YOLlD ON'T HAVE A SKILL?

you'lltry each m echanism then and there.Atthe book' s conclusion,lofferyou an additionalfourm echanism sto draw upon. lalso describe each m echanism aspart ofan im aginary situation in w hich you are the m ain character.Presented that w ay, these situations w illgive you additional ideas about how to use these m echanism sin yourown life.

Y

Backroom 'llps IorPerlorm ing Translorm ation

M echanism s + lfyou w antpractice drawing connections betw een unrelated ideasand objects- askillthat'sattheheartofcreating potent m echanism s- here' s a gam e to play. Slip offone ofyourshoes and study it.H ow is thatshoe like

yourthorniestbusinessproblem?(lfyou'rehavingtrouble finding a parallel,break your shoe down into its com ponents. H ow does the stitching relate to your problem ? T he laces? The heel? Sounds crazy,lknow,but itcondi-

tionsyouto thinkflexibly.) Look at the ground you' re standing on. H ow is it like your life? L sten to the soundsaround you and pick one.H ow isitlike a businessgoal? Take an item from yourw allet.H ow isitlike the sunrise? Exam ine yourcom puter'skeyboard.H ow isitlike tom orrow ? W hen youke answered these questions, m ake up your

own.Duringyourdrivehome,forinstance,picktwoitems(a green light and a hydrant, a crossw alk and a billboard, a

rearview mirrorandasongontheradio)andaskyourselfhow they are related.

TH E TRANSFORI VIATION IVIECHAN ISI VI

A Transformation M echanism :The M agazine Test The stene You/re the directorofa marketing firm,seated in firstclasson a crosscountry flight.Nextto yousitsa prosperous-looking woman,cl early anexecutivefype,thumbing through a magazine.Youexchange wel coming nods. A few minutesinto the trip,youstrike up a conversation about the destination,theweather,herprofession.She givesbrief,politeanswersaboutherdatabasecompany and asksaboutyourIi velihood. Yousmile,Iean in,and whisper:zzDo youreall y wantto know? It'sa Iittle frightening.Some people can'thandle it.' Yourodd answermomentarily startlesher.She'sused to having herquestionsanswered withoutpreambl e orartifice.Yetshe is intrigued.Because youdon'tappeardangerous- seated infirstclass, elegantl y dressed- she decidesto go along and pressesyou formore information.

''Icreatefeelingsona grandscale''yousay.zMaiorcorporations,IikeAppleand Dell,hire meto create a specifictype offeeling in theirclients.' She wonders how youdo that. zzLetme give youa demonstration.' Asyouconspicuously turnaway,youaskthe womanto pickup hermagazine.zzFage through it,''yousay,zflood yourmind with information.Thatmagazine hasfwo hundred orso pages,with hundredsofpicturesand thousandsofwords.Keep flipping backand forth.LetaIIthatinformationwhip around inside yourhead. zzNow geta random numberin mind ...and turnto thatpage. Scanthe page,notice the words,Iotsofwords,go to the top Iine. Look atthe Iongestword on thatIine.Imagine itpul sing.See itflashing.See thatword flashing asifit'sona website screen.M akethat word bright.Turn up the contrast.Brighter.Brighter.Brighterstill.Shut the magazinel'

(continoed)

W HAT IF YOU D ON'T HAVE A SKILL?

(Continoed) Turningback,youreachintoyouriacketpocket,extracta businesscard,scribble something acrossitsbackand hand itface down to thewoman.''W hatword are you thinking of?''you ask. She says,''EyegI asses.' Youtellherto turnoverthe card.There,to herastonishment,i s yourdrawing ofa pairofeyegl asses. ''W ould you Iiketo know how Idid thatk'' She wouldl ''Ithoughtso,''you say,''and thatfeeling you/reexperiencing rightnow is,in a sense,whatIdo fora Iiving.Ihead a marketing

company,and,asIsaid,maiorcorporationshireustofashioncampaignsthatcreate certain feelings in theirclients.In thiscase,Iwas trying to make you feelwonder,and ...'By the time the flight Iands,you're practicall y oI d friends,and you have an appointmentto meetwith herand hercompany'sprincipal sto see how you might bestrepresentherfirm .

Behlnd the Stene Invented inthe earl y 1960sby preacherDavid Hoy,thiseasy-to-do mechanism canconvince people thatyou have psychicabil ities.Here youwilluse itasa piece ofwhimsicalstagecraftthatb0th attractsattenti onand enabl esyouto presentyouroffering in itsmetaphoricalwake. To perform the mechanism,clandestinely obtain fwo piecesofinformation:a page numberfrom the middle ofa magazine,and the Iongestword onthe top Iine ofthatpage. Thatinformationwoul d have beensimpl e to acquireinthe airpl ane scenario.Forinstance,youcoul d have spotted a pageand aword whenyouwere firstseated,asyoucasuall y glanced overatthewoman. Or,youcoul d have noted whatshewasreading,pull ed a duplicate from the in-fli ghtmagazine rack,turned to anappropriate pageand word,and slid the publicationbackin place.W hat everyourmodus operandi,youhavetheinformation in mind,and no one isthewiser.

(continoed)

TH E TRANSFORI VIATION IVIECHAN ISI VI

(Continoed) Atyourseat,youtoo are thumbing throughyourow n magazine, whichisdifferentfrom theexecutive's.Atsome point,you strike up a conversation and startyourpitch.W henyou getto the demonstration part,turn away and talkabouthermagazine asa glutofwordsand images,while she flips pages.Now forthe profoundly sneaky part. You're aboutto do whatmagicianscalla ''force' ';thatis,you're going to coax herto open to yourmemori zed page and guide herto Yourmemorized word.Here'show. Tellherthatyou'd Iike herto zgeta random numberin mind.''As yousay that,turn backto herand hold yourmagazineso thatits backcoverfacesher. W ithyourIefthand holding the magazine'sIowerIeftspine,use yourrightforefingerto slowl y riffle the upperrightcornerofthe mag-

azine'spages(Figure3.1).Askthewomantocall'stop.' W henshe does,hold yourforefingeratthe spotcalled for,and open the magazine so thatitsfrontand back coversface her.Your spectatorseesonly covers,no pages. Look atthe page,ca//ootyoormemori zed page rlumber,close the magazine,and drop itinto yourI ap.She now has''a random numberin mind/ /- the numberyouwanted herto pickaIIalong. Turn away again,and ask herto turn to the page numbersheseIected.Then ask herto Iookatthe top Iine,pickoutthe Iongestword, and close hermagazine. The restisacting and presentation.

Backroom 'Ilps Ior the M agazine Test + Ihave performed this mechanism before trade-show crowdsand forindividual s in intimate settings,and itneverfailsto wow.Isay thisbecause Isuspectthatsome readersmay believe ittoo bold to fool.Those readerswould bewrong.

(continoed)

W HAT IF YO t1DO N'T HAVE A SKILL?

E

;

'>


Figure 5.: Turn card and cuttw ice more.

Figure5.5 Twistbottom Ieft third ofcard.

(Continved) Gripthe Ieftmostpclrtofthe cclrd clncllw istittowcl rd you

180 degrees(Fi gure5.5). Themiddlepi eceofthecclrdIxlpserectlqswe sclw inFi gure 5.1),clndyou/re done. A lwcscqrd imm ssi bleobiectisdonethesqmewqy onlyyou stcl rtwi th lwo cclrdsnestledtogether. To perform thismechqnism clscl escril x clin ''The Scene/':

First,consl ructcln imm ssibl eobi ectoutoflwo unIined index cclrdsthcltyou/ ve nested together seconclcop lwo businesscclrdsfrom eclch m rsonyou/llE)e per. suclding clnclplcl ce eclch pclirbclckto bclckso the printing fclcesout

onecl chside.Cutclnclfoldeclchpclirintoclnimm ssibleobiect. sticktheblclnk.fcl ceclobiectclndthebusiness-cclrdobi ectsinm ur briefcqse clnclm u/re set

(continved)

HO W TO CREATE YO UR OW N PAPER I VIETAPH OR

(Continoed)

Backroom 'llps Iorthe Impossible O bject + Inthe mathematicsfield,the impossibleobiectisknown asa hypercard. + W hy use fwo cards nestled togetherinstead ofone? Two cards

makestheobiectsturdierand hardertofigureout.The peopleexamining itthink thatsomehow the second card contributes to the

obiect'simpossibilify. + Ifyou don'twantto use people's businesscards,considerother possibilities,including bookmarks,postcards,orindex cardswith a handwritten message. + W hen I'm caughtw ithoutscissors,Itearthe cardswith my hands;

that' stheinferiormethod,though.Thereason:Thekindsofiagged tearyourhands make gi ve viewers telltale evidence ofhow the

obiectwasconstructed.

TH E Q U ICK PIT C H O PEN IN G

ew things are m ore im portantthan knowing how to pitch w hat you do for a living.lfyou can create intrigue w hen

someone asks about your job, you m ight find a lifechanging business opportunity dum ped rightin yourlap. Som e people callw hat l'm about to teach you an ''elevator speech.''Form e,thatterm 'stoo passive.An elevatorshuttlespeop1e w ho stand w ith theirheadsdow n,staring attheirshoes,and a speech makespeopledrowsy.The term elevatorslleec/gand a11itim pliesaren' tform e and shouldn' tbe foryou. W hen som eone asksyou w hatyou do foraliving,you w antto shake them .You wantto change theirm om ent.You wantthem rem em bering you and your answera long tim e.Let' s callthistech-

niqueaQuickPitch.YoucanuseyourQuickPitchinseveralways: + D eliveritw hen som eone asksw hatyou do for aliving. + M ake itthe key pointofa talk.

THE QUICK PITCH OPENING

# Leave itasan answering-m achine m essage. # Presentitasyourow n outgoing m essage. # U se akey conceptfrom itas aslogan on yourbusinesscard or w ebsite.

Thosearejustsomeofitsuses.

l'd likeyou to puttogetheraprototype Quick Pitch so you get practice writing and delivering it.Your first efforts probably w on' t be good.That' s okay.H ow can you possibly get better if you don' tstartfrom w here you are?

First,1et me give you examplesofhow lopen my Quick Pitches.Then 1'11 deconstruct them and show you how to use them astem plates. Let' s assum e l' m at a party or a conference, and som eone has asked m e that m agic question,''W hat do you do for a living? .' 'l'd open m y response in one of two m utually exclusive w ays,depending on w ho asked and what l felt would intrigue thatperson. T he first opening is declarative:''l perform m iracles.N ot of

the religiouskind.Ofthe businesskind.M ajorcorporations,like IBM and lntel,hire m e to representthem attrade show s.lactasa hum an m agnet,draw ing thousands ofprospects to m e as ifthey w ere iron filings.'' T he declarative route tells the listener what l do.lt doesn' t ask it asserts. T he second route is question based:'H ave you ever seen a trade-show perform erso dynam ic and engaging thathundredsof show -goers surround him hourly to experience dem onstrations, w hich seem alm ost psychic in nature? A perform er,representing prestigious firm s like M itsubishi, who with a snap of his fingers com pels his audiences to leave their valuable contactinform ation at his booth? Youke never w itnessed such a perform er?Then youke neverseen m e.'' T he question-based route takes the sam e kind ofinform ation as the declarative route,and itbinds it into queries that putthe

THE QLIICK PITCH OPENING

listenerin an active role.Each opening,in itsow n w ay,is an advertisem entthatexplains ...

+ W herelwork(tradeshows). + Forwhom lwork(corporations). + The experienceofwhatit' slike to see mework (1do ''miracles''andgivedemonstrations''almostpsychicinnature''). + And thepayoffforthosewhohireme.(1attractprospectsas easily as a m agnet attracts iron filings,and l'com pel'show -

goerstoleavetheircontactinformation.)

T' llfgêojtbeseolleafe l gs(gszo-secogt : tcomf' l g( gttrt gctfogs.' Tbey'reperôt g/ collayestlltgtsllof . pIlertfgeatcre?its(ggt : texcitiny(gctfo. lïscenes.lfyou' re curiousto learn m ore aboutitssubject afterhearing one,the pitch succeeded.lfyou yaw ned,itfailed. N ow,such approaches m ay seem appropriate only for those in a flashy profession.Butunderstand that lcould justaseasily have announced myself in lackluster fashion, as a ''trade-show presenter''or, even worse, 'a freelancer w ho sells products and services atcorporate trade show sfor those com paniesw ho want theirofferingsputin a beneficiallight.'' W hatever your profession,you can com e across like a skyrocketor asputtering firecracker,depending on how you pitch it.

C O N ST RU CT YO U R O W N O PEN IN G To build your ow n entertaining, curiosity-heightening opening,w rite dow n answ ers to these focusing questions, the Persuasion N ine:

T' / ?0areyourclients?Getyourtypicaland atypicalclientsdown

on paper.Alsolistthem asindividuals(e.g.,Andy Grove),as corporate entities(e.g.,lntel),and aspartofthemarketto which theybelong(e.g.,chipmanufacturers).

CO NSTRU CT YOUR O W N OPEN ING

69

2. J'// ?y ijoyourc/fentsbire' )rog orIlgrcllt gseyourIlrokgct? Prospects .

.

usuallycallwhenthe/reinpain,soyourjob asaself-pitcher isto identify yourprospects'pain and use itas the m ain thrust of your cam paign.L st the benefits your service or product providesand the hurtsyou heal. 3. J//llt gtIlrocessesi jo.' y. 0gusetoyenerateresg/ts-foryourclients?A quick story: O ne hundred years ago, Schlitz becam e the bestselling beerin the Llnited Statesbecause itsbrew ery ran an ad cam paign detailing how it m ade the beer. The interesting thing?A11brew eriesm ade beerthe sam e w ay,only they never thoughtof sharing it with the public.W hen the Schlitz ads cam e out,the public assum ed thatthe processw asproprietary to Schlitz!Yourlesson:The ordinary can seem extraordinary, depending upon the context.Think of practices that seem com m onplace to you butthatm ay w ow yourlisteners.

4. Jfof . prlrp/ Jtyourc/fents'clientsbeajjecte? by yourjob?Yourstrong w ork has ram ificationsbeyond w hatclients even realize.L st the w ays in w hich your efforts benefityour clients'external (ggt : tinternalcustomers.Said differently,how do you make yourclientslook good in alltheirmeaningfulbusinessrelationships? 5. J/// ?0areyourcomlletftors,(ggt : t/ 90f, 1 7are.' y. 0gbetter?lfyou arenotsuperior to your com petitors in som e w ay,leave the business. Pitching,even w hen it' sentertaining,cannotsave m ediocrity. lfyou are better than m ostthough,get specific as to how .ls your quality distinct? Do you have a delivery or billing m ethod that m akes you stand outfrom the crowd? ls there history behind yourproductthatm akesitunique?N ow isnot the tim e form odesty.M ake sure though,thatyou have a ra-

tionale foreach point.(lfyourstaffis''the industry'smost knowledgeable/''explain whatl'd see to prove thatthey w ere

mostknowledgeable.) 6. H ave.' y' ogf . po. l ïany ( gf .ptgrks,beencftet : tint/ ?erlet lft g,oryarnere?Ilrt gfse-from (grecoynize?source?These citationsneedn'tcomefrom the bl' ew

THE QLIlcltPITCH OPENING

J'orê ' fv es or som e august body.lf the local rag says your restaurantserves'the bestM exican food on Route 519,''putit dow n.W hile lm ay notknow the rag orw here Route 519 is, that quote tells m e that there' s som ething specialaboutyour eatery.l'd w antto hearm ore. Jfoa?i jo.' )rogyuaranteeyourwork? Guarantees provide prospects w ith safety--safety thattakesthe fear outof agreeing to your proposition.lfyou have a guarantee,parade it.lfnot,consider creating one.Things to guarantee:your w ord,your process, your process' s result,the result the clientw illcreate by using your process, the client's unconditional satisfaction.D om ino' s Pizza builta billion-dollarfranchise on the strength ofa single guarantee:'' Fresh,hot pizza delivered to your door in thirty m inutesorit' sfree.'' J/// gtgtareyourJ/gsfgessgccessstoties?W hen askedwhatthey dofora living,most people answerw ith bald facts like ''l' m an H TM L program m en''Rarely doesthatkind ofapproach engage,because thelistenerdoesn' tknow thelifebehind thefacts.lfyou program in H TM L,explain how yourw ork halved the download tim e of a toy com pany' s hom e page and helped the com pany generate

an additional$900,000revenuethreemonthsafterlaunch.That' s thekind ofstory thatm akesprospectsshow theirface. Ct g. lïyou createrlettgllllororsimile( groggt : tyou,yourbusiness,oryour

brocess?Areyou 'theEinstein ofthe bond industr/'?Do you produce 'the Rolls Royce ofhandbags''? ls your m ovie script '' likekkl.y Dfggerf .pftllAni jrlon M ars'? ln thewordsofeducator

PeterElbow,''Everymetaphorrandsimilelisaforce-fit,amistake,a putting togetherofthingsthatdon'tnorm ally orliter-

ally belong together'(J/rftf' l gf .pftllPof z'errNew York:Oxford Llniversity Press,19981,79).Yetthesemistakescommunicate a feeling thatm ore studied language often failsto produce. O nce you gatherthe answ ersto the Persuasion N ine,use the declarative and the question-based structures asyour guides,and fashion the m oststirring answersinto sam ple openings.

co xs-rl tu c' r Youlto w x opEx lxci

J'of ïrobeninysmfïst(gkkressyourtaryetrlt gr/tet,( gstvell(gst/?ebene jittbey yetjrom t let g/f' l gf . pftllyou.Otbertll tg. l ïtllt gt,t log'tcogstrtgfgyoursel j.Letyour stronyest( ggsf . perskfctt gtef . pllt gtyofïsay,(ggt: t/90f, 1 7yousay ft.Forinstance: ''l'm a cyber-defender. l enable fam ilies, friends, and businesses to com m unicate on the lnternet in a w ay that m akes crim inal third parties incapable of overhearing

theirsensitiveinformation.''(Declarative,foran information security programmen) ''H ave you ever seen a photograph in a m useum ,or even in som eone' s w allet,that stopped you dead in your tracks and m ade you recall a tim e in your life you'd long since forgotten' .That' ? s what ldo.lcapture and recapture m om ents in tim e and allow people to return to em otional places they never thought they could again visit.''

(Question-based,foraphotographen) '' R etailershire m e to find them profits in unexpected places. A nd if lcan' tfind atleastfifty thousand dollarsin unreal-

ized profits,they arenotrequired to pay me.''(Declarative,forafinancialconsultant.) ''H ave you everthoughtaboutwhatwould happen if,forsom e reason,you couldn't support yourself? M y w ork assures that tllt gtcould never happen.And what ldo costs my

clientsnothing.''(Question-based,foraninsuranceagent.) W hile you're in this generative stage,have fun and experim entw ith w ays to configure your Persuasion N ine inform ation.

Perhapsstartone pitch with ametaphor(question #9),and anotherwith yourguarantee (question #7).Orstartone with a newspaperquotepraising yourwork (question #6),and another with abriefclientsuccessstory (question#8). Theopening ofaQuickPitch ismuch closerto artthanitis to form ula.You w ant your m aterial to lead you.W hat to lead

with isajudgmentcall.A creative act.You take what'sstrongest, m ostintriguing,m ostim pressive,and you lead w ith that.

THE QLIlcltPITCH OPENING

Keep putting togethercom binationsuntilyou find a few that excite you. Keep tweaking ideas and language until you hear yourselfsay,''Son ofagun,t/gtgtcapturesthe spiritofmy work.'' lfyou' re enthused by a phrase and show it,chances are your listenerwillbe enthused by it,too.

Y

Backroom 'llpsIorthe Quick Pitch Opening

+ W hen you talk aboutyourbusiness to colleagues and clients, w hatgets theirattention? lsthere a factthatraises eyebrow s? A condensable story that m oves them to the edge of their seats?lfso,you w antto fitthatinto youropening,ifata11pos-

sible.YourQuick Pitch openingshouldintriguepeople,grab them ;ifyou already have thatkind ofinform ation,use it. # lfyou're stuck,ask yourcolleaguesand clientsw hatthey find m ost grabbing about w hat you do.Take their answers and convertthem into openings.You m ightstum ble upon a gem . Forinstance: You're an attorney with a generalpractice.You're good,so there are a num berofdirectionsin w hich you could take your opening.O neclient,though,tellsyou the following anecdote. She' s hired you a dozen tim es, but the m ost dram atic thing you did w asto stop herfrom investing in abusinessthat you felt had a faulty revenue m odel. You ended up being right.A yearlaterthe businessw ent sour,and investing in it w ould have costhereverything.You never knew how im portantyouradvice had been. H ow m ight that be converted into an opening? H ow about:''lstop people from bankrupting them selves/''or''Businesspeople hire m e to protecteverything theyke worked for/'' or,''People hirem e to look overtheirshouldersand m ake sure

the/remakingtherightdecisions.'' N one ofthese isrightw ith acapitalR.They m ay be good

choiceswhenusedwiththerightcrowd.The/recertainlyintriguing.W hat'sm ore,you have a case study to back up your

CO NSTRU CT YOUR O W N OPEN ING

bravado.That' s critical.lf you' re going to m ake a startling claim ,you m ustbe able to substantiate it.

+ YoucouldmaketheargumentthatQuickPitch openingstake a side route before getting to the point.Butlwould argue that side routes give hue,color, and texture to life.Side routes m ake a story a story. Take Conef . pftllt/ ?eJ/fgk.Told straight-ahead,it is a tale abouta Southern wom an who losesherfortune because ofthe C ivil W ar and then has to rebuild her life.That description m ay work asa high concept,butit' strite on m ostotherlevels. ltcertainly doesn' tinspire. W here' s the pageantry? W here' s the blood,the bone,the life? ltis the side stories- about Scarlett O 'H ara' s lovers,her shattered self-respect,her resolve- that m ake the story the w orld' sm ostw idely read,afterthe Bible.

W hen you delivertheopening ofaQuick Pitch,youke captured yourlistenerw ith intrigue and story. A tfirst,the approach m ay feelodd to you.Butthe princi-

p1ebehind theQuickPitchopeningisthesameprinciplebehind m ostbooksyouke read and m ostplays and film syouke seen.ltw orks.You're showing you have guts enough to use w hatw orks,even when it' snotwhat' sdone conventionally.

A Transformation M echanism:Fredicting Fingers The stene Ata conference,you run into a group ofcolleagues,mostofwhom youhaven'tseeninyears.Oneasksifyou/re stillasgood atplaying the marketasyouwere yearsago. zzBetterl'you say.'W hatIdo i s researcha company untilIknow every singl e thing aboutit.Igetto know itso wellthatthe entire company isanopen book to me.Iknow every move they/re going to

(continoed)

THE QUICK PITCH OPENING

(Continoed) make beforethey make it.Letme show youwhatI'm talking about. Instead ofcompanies,though,1/11demonstrate itwith you people. zzEven though Ihaven'tseen mostofyouforyears,Istillunderstand you wellenough to know exactl y how you/llthinkand act.1/11 prove that. zzW ho wantsto participate?Jack.Elizabeth.Good. zzl'm going to turn my back.W hen Ido,IwantJack and Elizabeth to eachhold up any numberoffingersthey wantonone hand. O ne fingerto five. zzThen,Al ex,Iwantyouto calloutthetotal.Based uponwhatI know aboutJackand Elizabethand numbersand behavior,1/11tell youhow many fingerseach ofthem isholding up.' Youshield youreyesand turnaway.A few seconds I ater,Al ex caII sout'Five ' Youthinkfora moment,and thentellyourcolleaguesthatJackis holding up three fingers,and Elizabethfwo fingers.You are right. zzLet' s make thisharder.Justincase youthink I'm in cahootswith anyone,IwantJackand Elizabeth backto back.Idon'twantto see them,and Idon'twantthem seeing each other.Let'scontinue.' Againyouturnaway,and again Alex yellsouta total.Even underthesestringentconditions,youcorrectly guessthe numberof fingerson each person'shand. Aftera few repetitions,youaskthree more peopleto comeforward: fwo to hol d up theirhandsand one to calloutthetotal.Yetevenwith these new people,youguessthe numberscorrectlyagainand again. Awed by yourdemonstration,everyonewantsto know ifyou have any stocktips.You say:zzDon'tbe deceived by whatyou/ve seen.Ifmy stock tipsare betterthan anyone else/s,it'sbecause Ireall y do researcha company Iike mad before putting money on it. Guessing numbershasIittle to do with it.'' Youask ifanyone woul d Iike to go forIunch.In part,because of

yourintriguing mechanism,almosteveryoneioinsyou.

(continoed)

CO NSTRU CT YOUR O W N OPEN ING

(Continoed) Behlnd the Stene

A confederate (orfwolisused,and thatpersontipsoffthenumbers to you using a simple,ingeniouscode.Here'show to do it: Find a colleague to actasyoursecretassistant.Tellheraboutthe Mechanism,and teach herthiscoding sequence. Forthe firstround,sheshould hold up t w o fingersand ment all y note thenumberoffingerstheotherperson isholding up. Each timeafterthat,sheshoul d hold up the numberoffingersthe otherperson previousl y held up,plusone. So,ifthe otherperson holdsup three fingers,on the nextround

yourconfederateholdsupfour(theoriginalthree,plusanadditional one).W hatiftheotherpersonholdsupfi vefingers?Yourconfederate signalsyou by holding up one. Here'swhatitIooksIike in action: Youask some people to step forward.Elizabeth,yoursecretassistant,isone ofthem. Youturnawayand Iisten forthe total.W hateverthe sum,youknow Elizabeth isholding up fwo fingers,soyousubtractfwo from the total. Say youhear''seven.''Subtractfwo from seven,and telleveryone that''Eli zabethisholding up fwo fingers,andJackisholding upfive.' O nthe nextround,you hear'three.''W ell,you and Elizabeth know Jack hel d up five fingersinthefirstround,so Elizabeth isgoing

to hold uponefingerthisround.Youriob,then,istosubtractone from thetotal.So whenyou hear''three,'you say,''Elizabeth isholding up one finger,andJackisholding up - 0...You're correct.

Y

Backroom 'IlpsIorPredicting Fingers

+ How do you switch aIIthe players involved and stillperform the mechanism?You have a second confederate.W henyougetrid of yourfirststooge,you bring inyoursecond one to replace her.

(continoed)

THE QUICK PITCH OPENING

(Continoed) Is thatcheating? Ifyou think so,you/re Iiving by rules that aren'twritten anywhere.W here does itsay thatyou can onl y have one accomplice,nottwo? Forthatmatter,where doesitsay youhave to stop atfwo accomplices? In the 1930s,a mind readernamed Annemann said he'd fill an auditorium withaccomplices,i fitmeantthathe coul d astound the one person in the room who wasn'tinon the trick.Annemann didn'tfeelbound by imaginal 'y rules. He also did a card trick thatmi ghtinterestyou:A spectator would pick a card and putitin his orherpocket.Laterthatday, whenthe procedureandthecard wereforgotten,Annemannwould take the spectatorto a restaurant.W hen they were seated attheir table,Annemannwould askthespectatorto Iookup.There,pasted to the ceiling,wasa duplicatecard totheone the spectatorhad. How did itwork? Beforeyou guess,Ietme make itclearthat Annemann neverIeftthe spectator'ssightorhad contactwith the restaurantonce the card waspicked. The method? Annemann had a differentcard pasted on the ceiling ineach of52 restaurants.W hen he saw which card had been selected,he took the spectatorto the eatery with the corresponding card on itsceiling. Now,Annemann's method wasn'tslick.Itdidn'tinvol ve ele. gantsystems oryears ofsl eight-of-hand practice.Butwas iteffecti ve? Think about it. 8utyourselfin the spectator's place, and

imagine whatyour reaction would be.If i t's Iess than iawdropping,you/re notbeing honestwithyourself. + W henyou/retrying to influencesomeone,ponderthesequestions: W hatam Itl -ying to accomplish? W hatdoesthe otherpersonwant?

(continoed)

CO NSTRU CT YOUR O W N OPEN ING

(Continoed) How can Igive the otherperson whathe orshe wants,while IgetwhatIwant? W hatconditionsare stopping me from making thishappen? Are theseconditionsvalid? How would Inormally go aboutgetting whatIwantinthis situation?

How else can Igo aboutgetting whatIwant? Now,whatam Igoing to do to make thishappen?

TH E Q U ICK PITC H BO DY

he Quick Pitch Opening iseffortand art.You must com b through your responsibilities,prom ises,and accom plishm entsand condense them in aw ay thathooks people.N otan easy thing to do.

The Quick Pitch Body,though,isdifferent.lt' snothard to develop.ln fact,l've already w ritten itoutforyou.The body beginsw ith a lone sentence,which you use afteryour opening. T his sentence,l' ve been told,hasbeen used by salespeople at som e of the w orld' s largest corporations.lt'11help you establish rapportw ith the person to w hom you're pitching,and itw illhelp you to personalize w hatyou're going to say,so itinterests them . Before lgive you the sentence,1etm e seta scene: You're at a business m ixer and are w aiting in line for a cocktail.The w om an in front of you turns around,sm iles,and asks w hatyou do fora living. You say,''Sm allbusinesses hire m e to m ake sure they get a11 the m oney ow ed them .'' She says,'Soundsinteresting.H ow do you do that?'

W HAT THE BODY SENTENCE DO ESF( 3l k YO U

That' s when you deliver the Quick Pitch Body sentence: ''J'// ?y t log' tyoutellrltr(gôc'fïtf .plltgtyout : t(?,(ggt : ttlltz 1411tellyofï/90f, 1 7f .plltgtJ jo( gllll/ft stoyou.'' Tattoo thatsentence on yourm ind.lt' sgold. .

i

W H AT TH E BO D Y SEN TEN C E D O ES FO R YO U W hen you deliver the Body Sentence,you get the other person talking.This hasseveraladvantages: + You create a relationship w ith her,predicated on give-andtake. + You hear abouthersituation. + You learn aboutthe partsofhersituation thatinterestherm ost. + You understand w here her ''problem ''and your ''solution''coincide. T hink aboutit.M om ents ago you w ere strangers.N ow,w hile you m ay notbe bosom buddies,you're atleastacquaintances.You have inform ation abouteach other,and you have points thatyou can discuss. To be sure that l've m ade thisclear,1et m e give you a couple

moreexamplesoftheQuickPitch Body sentencein action. Firstexam ple:You're a stockbroker.You m eet a m an and exchange pleasantries.H e asks,'' W hatdo you do for aliving?' You say:''lndividualinvestorshire m e to m ake them m oney in a w ay faster and saferthan they could do by them selves.'' H e says,'' Really!H ow do you do that?'' You say,''ltdependsupon the particularinvestor.Tellm e a bit about yourself,and 1'11tellyou about the kinds ofstrategies m y firm would recom m end foryou.'' Second exam ple:You' re a web designer.You m eet a wom an w ho asks ''W hatdo you do?'' You say,''H ave you ever been surfing the lnternet and com e across a site thatstopped you dead in your tracks? A site w hose

THE QLIlcltPITCH BODY

graphics and 'look'm ade you pause and sm ile,because they so perfectly spoke to you on a business and aesthetic level?'' ''lhavel'' '' W e11,lm ake thatkind ofsite happen.'' '' R eally!H ow do you do that?'' ''So lcan explain it in the m ost interesting w ay,w hy not tell m e a little aboutwhatyou do,and 1'11tellyou how m y work relates to yoursituation.''

C O N V ERSAT IO N AL K EYS O fcourse,even after youke delivered a com pelling opening and asked your question,people m ay notbe as forthcom ing w ith inform ation asyou'd like.That' sw hen you m ustdraw outinform ation.H ow do you do that? Listen r/eell/lr.Thatmeans focusing on the other person with yourears,eyes,and m ind. O n the trade-show floor,lsee daily exam ples of shallow listening.An attendee w alksinto a 1700th,the com pany representative greets him ,reads his nam e tag, sees he' s not from a big organization,and losesinterest.Therepresentative m ay sm ile politely, but she starts peering past the attendee at the passing crow d,hoping to spotsom eone m ore im portant.N aturally,that isnotthe w ay to listen. J/// ?C' . :yousttgrt(gcogperstgtfog,( gssgrletllt gtyou llt gpesometbiny toyive t/ ?eotllerbetson (ggt : ttllt gtberson ll tgssometbiny toyiveyou.Perhaps the transaction won' t involve m oney.ltm ay involve exchanging insights,stories,orhigh spirits;those arevaluable transactions,too. W hile you' re listening,it' s im portantthat the speaker understand how m uch you value w hat he or she has to say. W hen speakers understand that, they'll talk to you w ith m uch m ore depth and goodwill. O ne w ay lconvey m y interest is by looking people in the eyes as they speak.llearned how effective thisw asw hen lstudied stage hypnosis.

CONVERSATIO NAL KEYS

ln order to hypnotize, a hypnotist m ust m ake certain the

subjectistotally present- in the here and now.To do that,the hypnotistwilloften ask the subjectto gaze into hiseyes.This is not done for som e kind of pow er trip.lt' s done so that she w on'tbe distracted by the surroundings.O nly then can she fall into a trance.

Som etim es,a hypnotistw illcheat.Ratherthan staring into a

subject' seyes,he'llstare atthebridgeofhernose.The rationale? T he hypnotist can hold his gaze longer and m ore intently that w ay.Try it as an experim ent,butrealize thatthatlevelofintensity is usually unnecessary. You're not trying to coax people

under,orturn them into zombies.You'rejustshowing them that theirideas,their opinions,their being,m atter to you.For those purposes,plain o1d eye-to-eye contactisfine. Listenactively.Anotherway to show you're listening intently is through the empathy technique known as (gctfpelisteniny.This m ethod w as popularized by psychotherapist C arlRogers.To listen actively,you periodically repeatback whatyou're hearing in yourown w ords. Forexam ple,the person you're talking to says:''l'm the head w om en' sfashion buyerfora departm entstore.loversee a team of eight,and we m ake seasonalpurchases from the big m anufacturers.M ostly,we buy clothes with a streetlook.You know w hat l m ean? Low -cutskirts.Belly shirts.Lotsofblack.Thatm ay sound kind of glam orous,but it' s a heavily num bers-driven business.l look at m y spreadsheetsfar m ore than llook at the clothing or the m anufacturers'catalogues.After all,we're expected to have a high 'turn'rate on ourclothes,otherwisew e're in trouble and the store' sin trouble.' ln response,you say:'' You're the boss,butthere' scertain lim its on your freedom .Youke got to be good at whatyou do,because the num bersdon' t1ie.'

Yourwords show the otherperson thatyou' re. lï0tjgstbeariny tllefrf .porks,you'reIlrocessf' l g tllerl,t00.You'rethinking aboutthem and

the/rehavingan effect.

TI-IE QulcitPITCI-IBODY

Rebbraseyour(gestfogs.During the conversation,you m ay ask the other person a question she doesn' t understand. She m ight look at you quizzically,or give you an answ er that show s she didn' t get whatyou were driving at.She m ight also answ er in a w ay that confuses you.lf any of these things happen,take the sam e question and com e atitfrom a differentangle.Som e ofthe bestw aysofdoing thatare: X eyour question to herpastexperience:''You say one ofyour clientswasFedEx.W hatkindsofprojectsdid you do forthem?'' lntroduce a hypotheticalelem entinto the question:''lflw ere the head ofan IT departm ent,how m ightluse your service?' Sim plify the audience with your question:''So,iflhad to explain to my five-year-old w hatyou do,whatw ould ltellhim ?''

T IM E TO M O V E lfyou'reup foran assignm ent,reader,m ay lsuggestone?Takeyour

Quick Rtch Opening and the Quick Pitch Body sentence,and practice 170th on two strangersa day,every day forthe nextw eek. Forget about persuading them . Forget about picking up clients for your service or m aking lasting relationships. lf that happens,good.Butthat' s notthe purpose ofthisassignm ent. T his assignm entispurely forguts.lw antyou to practice putting yourselfoutthere in aw ay that' s unnaturalforyou.N o m atter whatyou do for a living,the skillyou're learning w hen you pitch to strangersw illserve you wellthe rest ofyourdays.You w illlearn so m uch from this.ltis an easy-to-m anage step on the w ay to m aking you unstoppable.

G U T TRAIN IN G Pitching to strangers as a m eans of m astering techniques and nerves cam e outofm y own career.From the tim e lw as 13 untill

was 19,lhad a safejob as am agician aboard cruise ships.After awhile,though,lgottired ofthe regim ented shipboard routine.l

G uT TRAIN ING

83

decided to be a m agician on land.T he trouble? lknew no one. N o agents.N o producers.N o m eeting planners.ln essence,lhad to restartm y Careerfrom scratch. l applied a technique l had read about in a thin, m im eographed bookletcalledJtT' tgêes(lgts,Dtgrlrlft/,by PaulDiam ond.ln it, D iam ond explains his m ethod of cold calling for m agicians. Basically,thisisw hathe says: + W alk into a hotelora trade show. + C heck outitseventscalendarin the lobby to see w hatspecial events are going on.

+ Find a hospitality room or cocktailparty thatseem s prom ising,and w alk into itasthough you belong. + D o 10 m inutesofm agic for asm allgroup ofguests. + A fteryou perform ,ask one ofthe group m em bersto pointout the host. + A pproach the host.Tellhim youke been perform ing for his

guests,andthe/reenjoyingwhatyou'redoing.Lethim know that ifhe paysyour fee,you w illstay on to entertain forthe restofthe party. U sing the above approach,w as leverasked to leave?Yes,but lgot asked to stay far m ore often than lw as asked to leave.The ratio w asprobably 20 :1. By showing initiative,not only did lgetw hat lw anted,but the host and the partygoers got what they w anted, too:a fun evening.A n evening they would rem em berand talk about. l still use a variation of this business-generating technique today.W hen l'm not booked, l find out where there' s a trade show and lfly there.O nce l' m in the convention center,llook for w eaknessin the room . N ow,thatdoesn' tm ean llook forw eak com panies.W hatldo look foris an exceptionalcom pany that' sfailing atthe show. lw alk up to the person in charge and say,''lm ightbe the m ost im portant person you' ll m eet today, because l can solve your

THE QLIICK PITCH BODY

problem ,and you' re problem looks pretty big.''l'm well dressed and articulate,so he listens. l say,'' N o one's here.lt' s tw o hours into the show and you havethisbig empty 1700th and itlooksterrible.No oneisshopping it.You have ten m illion dollars in roboticsand productshere,but no one w antsto see them . ''l can guarantee that you'll have a hundred and fifty prospects lined up in front ofyour lead-generation m achine in tw elve m inutes.lwilldo itfor free.lfit works,you're going to have a bigger problem .You' re going to have trouble gathering a11 the leads. You're going to run out of printer ribbon, transcription tape,and m anpowen'' D oesthis approach alw aysw ork? lm ake itw ork.Com panies do,in fact,turn m e dow n.Som etim es,lhaveto do two to fourcold callsata given show .Butita1w aysdoesw ork eventually. T he point l'm trying to underline here is that to becom e a better persuader,you're going to have to do things outside your com fortzone. D oing things outside your com fortzone doesn'tm ean you m ust becom e a different person. lt doesn't m ean you' re a phony.lt certainly doesn'tm ean you have to com prom ise your ethics. lt m eans you shouldn't 1et your self-concept stop you. lf you think you're too shy,ortoo nervous,ortoo dignified to do w hat l' m asking you to do,you're letting your fears interfere

with whatcould be am ore liberated,enjoyable,persuasive life foryou. You don'thave to w aituntilyou have courage orskillenough to try.You're ready rightnow .

T O D AY . . . St rike up aconversation w ith a strangerin a theater,asuperm arket,wherever.

85

Then,hitherwith yourQuick Pitch opening.W hen she says,''How do you do that?''follow up with the Quick Pitch Body sentence. W hen she answ ers,listen closely.Look herin the eye.Process w hatshe' ssaying,and repeatitback to herin yourow n wordsto show you're thoughtfully weighing her ideas.Let the conversation flow from there. lfyou w antto turn the conversation into apersuasion conversation,you'llhave am ple tim e.O nce she startstalking,a few differentscenarioswillpresentthem selves: + You'lldiscovershe' s a prospect. + You'lldiscovershe' s nota prospect. + You'll discover that w hile she' s not a prospect, she know s som eone w ho is. A 11these scenarios have a potentially good outcom e:lfshe' sa prospect,you have achance to pitch and persuade her.lfshe' snot

aprospect,youhave achanceto enjoy afriendly conversation.lf she' s not a prospect but know s som eone w ho is, you have a chance to getan introduction to thatprospect.

Y

Backroom 'llp Iorthe Quick Pitch Body

+ W anta sim ple w ay to intensify people' s attention during the

Quick Pitch? Use the pitchman' sbestfriend:aprop.Say you m anufacture pharm aceuticals.W hen you're asked what you do for a living,reach into your pocket and pullout a lone pill. W ithout a word, display the pill on your open palm for a few seconds. Don't rush. Play up the m ystery. T hen pointto the pilland say:''That' sw hatldo fora living. M y com pany lengthens lives.W e eradicate problem s.lfyou have a fastheartbeat,w e slow it dow n.lfyou' re depressed, w e rem ove the depression.''Believe m e,you w illbe listened to and rem em bered.

THE QUICK PITCH BODY

A Transformation M echanism: Breaking a Fencilw ith a DollarBill The Stene Forthree days,youand yourmanagementteam havebeenhave been hol ed up in a hotel,working feverishlyona productroll-outstrategy. Youcongratulate everyoneon doing good work.Thestrategy youaIIdeveloped isa powerfulone.And itneedsto be.The comPany'sfuture dependson it.

Strategizing isiustonestep inthe roll -out,youtellthem.Now comesthe crucialworkofactually getting the productto market. Therecan be no margin forerror.Things mustwork. Younoticethatone ofyouremployeeshasa pencilbehind her ear.You ask herto step forward. Youask anotheremployee to Iend youa crisp doll arbill. Youcontinue talking aboutthe new product,itsroll outstrategy, and the need forthecompany to focus.Asyouspeak,youfold the billI engthwise,creasing itwith yourthumbnailoverand overagain. Yourspeech isreaching a crescendo.Yourmanagersare Ieaning forward,hanging on yourwords. Youask thewoman to plantherfeetand to hold the pencilfirml y, onehand nearthe eraser,the othernearthe point.Youtellhernotto move,whateveryoudo. Youhol d up the billforaIIto see,and yousay:''Focusisa powerfultool.Focusiswhatgetsthingsdone.Ifwe can focusstrongly enough on the resultwe want,and backthatfocusup withaction, who knowswhatwe canaccomplish.'' AsyoudeliveryourIastwords,yousuddenl y karate chopthe pencil'scenterwiththe folded bill.To everyone'sastonishment,the pencilsnapscleanly intwo.Faperhasbrokenwood. ''That'sthe poweroffocus,''you say.zzAnd that'sthe Ievelof

focuswemustkeepto getthisproiectsuccessfull ytomarket.'' (continoed)

87

(Continoed) DaysIater,back atheadquarters,aIIthe managersare clearand passionate asthey speakwith theirteamsaboutthe forthcoming roll out.zFocus,'they say,zziseverything.Ifwe keep oureyesonthis

proiect,there'sno tellinghow big itcouldgo.' Behlnd the Stene The karate chop did indeed breakthe pencil.Butitwasn'tthe dollar billthatdid the damage.Itwasyourindex finger,whichyousecretly extended asyou broughtthe billdown. To perform Breaking a Fencilwith a DollarBiII,borrow a billand fold itIengthwise.Thisfolding isforshow.You/re bringing asmuch attention aspossibleto the bill,so no one suspectsthe realsecret. Crease the billseveraltimesasyou talk.Hold itup to the Iight, as ifyouwere examining a razor'sedge. Now grip the billso yourthumb ison one sideand yourcurled index fingerison the other. Bring the billup behind yourear,so youcancomedownwith force.Now springlAsyourhand descends,stickoutyourindex fin-

ger(Figure7.1). Yourfingerand thebillwillcontactthe penciland breakit.(Don't worry,the pencilwillbreak;notyourfingerl) O nceyou hearthe snap and yourfingerhascl eared the pencil, curlyourindex fingerbackintoyourfistand take yourbow.

Y

Backroom 'llps IorBreaking a Pencilwith a DollarBill

+ Thereare three alternate handlingsforthismechanism: Youcan perform itwithoutfolding the bill.Creasing it Iengthwise,though,addsa touch ofrealism because youseem to be reinforcing the billto make itsturdier.

(continoed)

THE QLIICK PITCH BODY

-;kk êb .

Figure Z.1 Secretly extend yourforefinger.

(Continved) Ifyoufold the billyou ccln insertyourfingerinto the fold clsyoubri ng m urhclncldown.Thisisprobqbly un. necessqry,buti fyou/re surrounded by yourcrowd you mi ghttry it. 3. You needn'tsti ckoutyourfingercltclll Insteqd you ccln breclkthe m ncilwi th the frontofyourfist. * Actnclturcllclsyoucreclse the billclnclexclm ine i ls shqrpness.The billisordinclry clnclnoone knowswhcl tyou/re plclnning ondoi ng so there's no reqson to overdo it In mqgi c there's clsqyi ng ''Don'trun ifyou/re notE)eing chcl sed.''It's(Jccd qdvice. * You m cl y E)e wondering how prclcticcllitisto sti ckoutyourfinger cl nclpulli tbclck in the course ofclsingle kqrqte chop.It'ssurpris. inglyeclsy clncldecepti ve. The key i sto sti ckycvrfi ngerotxœ ce yourhclnd hclsstclrted ils descent.Ifm u sti ckycvrfingerouteqrlier the method i sobvi ous.

(cont inved)

89

(Continoed) + O nce you've broken the pencil,should you worry aboutbeing caughtcurling yourfingerback in?Absolutely not.The snapping ofthe pencilisso shocking thatyouraudience willfocus 100 percentoftheirattentionon the penciland onthe reaction ofthe person holding it.You have aIIday to curlyourfinger. + Can performing this mechanism hurt? Obviousl y,ifyou have a medicalcondition- like arthritis,osteoporosis,ora previousl y bro. ken finger- you'llwantto skip thismechanism .Butifyou do the chop fast,Iike you're bringing downa rolled up newspaperonto a fly,you'llbarely feelyourfingercontacting thewood.

T H E SLO G A N PIT C H

tthe trade show,passersby w on'tstop forlinear,logical productpitches.You can say it' ssad.You can say itsignifies society' s downfall.You can say w hat you w ant. Butit' s afactoflife. People don'tw antyou to takethem through each logicalstep.

The/reimpatient.Theywanttheconclusion- andthatconclusion had better m ake instantsense.Youke got to give them the bottom line fastand entertainingly. W hatl' ve found to be true on the trade-show floorisalso true

in most ofsociety.lfyou wantto sellprojects to the movies, you'd better know how to speak in high concepts.lfyou w antto

beonTM you' d betterknow how to speakin sound bites.lfyou w ant to be a m edia pundit,you'd better know how to speak in headlines.lfyou w ant to be a politician,you' d betterknow how to speak in slogans. W hy doesour society dem and brevity? M y guess:lt' s due to the am ountofinform ation atourdisposaland the w ay thatinform ation getsdelivered to us.

TI-IE sl -ocm x PITCI-I 91

H ow m uch inform ation is available to us? Youke no doubt heard the stat thatw e attend to m ore inform ation in a day than G eorge W ashington attended to in ayear.W hetherthatcom parison is precise or not, it m akes a point. lf w e m ust process a m ound ofinform ation,we can'tstudy itatlength. H ow do w e getthatinform ation? Through sourcesthatcater to ourshrinking attention span,like TV news and e-m ail.E-m ail, in fact,is aperfectexam ple ofhow quickly you now have to think and react.lgethundreds ofm essages a day,and m y answ ers are usually com posed oftruncated phrases and com puter-generated signature files.l'm notlazy.l'm doing my bestw ith w hatl' ve got. W e wantourinform ation fast,entertaining,and predigested so w e can m ake sense ofit.You can fight this new w ay ofbeing,or you can use itto your advantage asyou work to influence people. lurge you to do as ldo:W hen planning persuasion m essages, ?istillyour cogcelltsfgto ctgtc/ ?.y sloyans,( gg;tuset/ gosesloyans rellet gter//.')r f zqft/ gfg your messtgles. lf you do- and your slogans make good sense- yourideaswilllodge in the persuadee' s m ind. W hen l pitch, l have phrases l use over and over, because theyke proved theirm ettle.O ne ofthose phrases:'W e ow n the factories.''lsay: ''Ladies and gentlem en,you m ight w onder how we can sell our C D burners so cheaply,and stillhave the highest quality in the industry.lt' seasy:W e ow n the factories!That' sright,we have factoriesin St.Louis,in H ouston,in Seattle. ''O ur com petitors farm out their m anufacturing.W hen they need m ore burners,they have to waitin line.You heard m e.They have to putin a request to their outsourcers,and then they w ait untilthose people have an open tim e slot.M eanwhile,my com petitor loses orders,so when they finally get a new shipm ent,

they havetojackup theprices. '' W e don't have those concerns.You know w hy? Because w e ow n the factories!Everything is underourcontrol....'' Believe m e,by the tim e l'm through pitching,that slogan is ringing in people' s ears.Som e attendees even repeat itto them -

TI-IE sl -ocia / tx PITCI-I

selvesasthey enterthe 1700th,alm ostasifthey were hum m ing a hitsong. To m ake a phrase stick,repetition is crucial, although you should never repeat for repetition' s sake alone. Alw ays have a point.

ln the example you justread,'' W eown the factories''wasthe pitch' s um brella thought.That is, a11 the inform ation l talked about referred,in som e w ay,to m y client' s ow ning the factories. Each paragraph presented new inform ation aboutthattopic.Repeating the phrase m ade sense. H ow m any slogansshould you have in a persuasion m essage? D epends how long the m essage is,whom you' re trying to convince, and what's important to them . For a form al, hour-long pitch,l've used asm any as a dozen slogans repeated throughout. W hen you're thinking about structuring your m essage,you can actually use your slogansas an outline.ldo thatw hen lgive inform altalks on trade-show presentations. M y slogans for the speech are: ''Put your people on a 17edestal,'''Eye levelis buy level,''''H e w ho is loudestw ins/''and ''G ifts and prizes secure attention.''Every tim e lgive that talk,l use differentexam ples and add fresh ideas.Butit' s alw ays structured on those four slogans.lrepeateach one,and by the tim e m y talk is over,everyone know sw hat it m eans and why it' s im portant.

A slogan is a concept thatyou w antstuck in your audience' s m ind.Therefore,you w ant to be choosy about the slogans you create and use.A slogan can be ... + A -fet gtgre:''Processesinformation in afraction ofthetime.''

+ A benejit:'' W henyouthinkofus,think'security.''' + A (gestfog:''How m any ofyouwantan extra$2,000 amonth?'' + A cballove:''lfyou're unsure,don' t even think about going ahead with this.'' + A strgctgre: 'W e design, deploy, develop, and m anage your w Orjd .N

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

93

ltcan be ...

+ Lxcitiny:''lfyou lovewhatyoukeseen,that' sonly five percent ofw hatitcan dol'' + llot gst g/:''You won' thave competition because you willhave -f annihilated them .''

+ Sel j-re hrential:''We're an American institution with internationalpenetration.''

+ T' oe l gge-fg-clleeê:''lhate to destroy thousandsofjobs,butwe're justthatgood.' + Insbiriny:'Onevision!O nesolutionl'' + Pt gfg-fg/:' 'You walk away,tomorrow willbe no differentfrom today.'' A notherw ay to add vivid slogans to your m essage is to put your key concepts into a m nem onic and teach people that m nem onic.

Say you run a landscaping firm ,and you're trying to win the lawn-care contract for a11 the tow n-owned properties. D uring your presentation to the tow n leaders,you refer to your process asthe '' ESP Process.''

O fcourse,thelettersfSP are intriguing becausethey conjure up thoughtsofextrasensory perception.You explain thatin your

model,though,' T isforexcavating,S isforseeding,and P isfor pruning.'You then talk about each step and how it would help beautify the tow n.

W hateveryourjob,try configuring the stepsin yourprocess so thatthey form am emorable word.ltjustrequiresim agination to m ake conceptsfit. Slogansare so pow erfulthatpeople have developed entire careers around them .Com edian Rodney D angerfield,for instance: H isslogan,orsignature line,is''ldon' tgetno respect.''ltsum sup hischaracter and driveshisroutines.Perhapsyou m ightcom e up w ith a slogan thatw orks so wellthatyou and yourbusinessbecom e associated w ith it.

TI-IE sl -ocia / tx PITCI-I

W hat' s good for D angerfield isalso good for C oke.The product' sslogan:'' T he RealThing.'W hatdoesthatline do forthe CocaCola Com pany? lt reinforces its im age as the creator of the soft drink,while pushing the m essage thatany othercom pany can produce only aweak copy.The com pany hasw orked hard through the yearsatrepeating thatslogan and pushing theconceptsitrepresents.

Before we leave the subjectofslogans,ldon'twantyou to thinkthatthey'rejustforlarge,publicpresentations.You can also use them in private situations,even one-on-one. lm agine thatyour four-year-old daughter,Am y,is having a birthday party and w antsherU ncle Tom to attend.Tom ,though, is 170th busy and lives 1OO m iles away. N evertheless, since it w ould m ean so m uch to yourdaughter,you w antto pitch him on the idea. You take a m om ent to plan your strategy.W hat m ight convince him to attend? H e loves Amy,buthe m ay notrealize how m uch he m eans to her.Tom is her favorite uncle.That,then,is yourslogan:'' You are Am y' sfavorite uncle.' W hen you getTom on the phone,you focusthe conversation on yourgoal- getting him to the party- and yourslogan- ''You are A my' s favorite uncle.'You open the callby asking him to attend,you talk abouthow m uch he m eansto your daughter,and throughout the call you bring up the w ords '' You are Am y' s favorite uncle.' W i11he com e to the party? W ho knows? Butby using the slogan youke ham m ered hom e yourm ain m essage.The decision is his.Youke done yourpart.

Y

Backroom 'llps Iorthe Slogan Pitch

+ H aving trouble know ing w hich persuasion pointsto m ake into slogans? Ask yourself,''W hatdo lw antpeople to rem em ber?'' Renderyouranswerin ashortphrase.That' syourslogan. A lso ask yourself,''W hatdo lwantthem to do?''Thatrequires anotherslogan.lfyou w antthem to voteyeson Proposition 29,yourslogan is'' V ote Yeson Proposition 29!''

TI-IE sl -ocm x PITCI-I 95

+ U se extrem e,distorted im agery to m ake sloganssticky.M em ory experts rely on such im agery so thatconcepts com e easily to m ind.Letm e give you an exam ple ofhow you' d m ake itwork. Say the localschoolneeds funds to rebuild its crum bling gym ,and youke been chosen to pitch the case to nearby businesses.O ne ofyourm ain presentation points:W hen the gym w as built,there were only 6OO children attending the school. N ow,since the com m unity has grown,the schoolhas 1,500 students,an increase of250 percent. H ow do you m ake that point w ith distorted im agery? M any w ays are possible.H ow about tying the 250 percent gain to anothergain everyone isfam iliarw ith- weightgain. lfyou w eighed 16O pounds and you increased yourm ass by 250 percent,you'd w eigh 4OO pounds.Yourdistorted im agery slogan:''Fitting a11those studentsinto the currentgym is like putting a four-hundred-pound m an in a hundred-andsixty-pound m an' spants.' O r,com pare the studentgrowth to som ething else everyone can identify w ith- departm entstore checkoutlines. Suppose itw asC hristm asw eek,and you had to w aiton a departm ent store line.You m ight expect a checkout line 15 people long.Butw hatifthatline were 250 percentgreater,a1m ost40 people long? Afterpainting thatpicture foryour audience,you m ight periodically recallthe distorted im age of '' w aiting yourturn atthe end ofa forty-person line.' H ow aboutheight? lfyou' re 6 feettalland youropponent is 250 percent taller than you,he' s 15 feet tall.Nlight you then com pare thatold,crow ded,crum bling gym to 'playing basketballagainstan opponentfifteen feetta11''? You get the idea.W hat you're doing is intensifying the

image in yourslogan,so ithitsyouraudiencelikeablackjack. + O therw aysto m ake a slogan m em orable:

Use( g Il/ grtgsef zq/goseIlt grtsarein barallelcogstrgctfog:'' Float like a butterfly,sting like abee.''

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

Civeyourbbrase( gg fgtergt g/r/gyple:''lfthe glove don'tfit,you m ustacquit.''

Tonn yourbbraseby strfglfgp toyetberr/gyplfgp corlllogepts:'Taste. N otw aist.' .

.

+ W hen you repeataslogan,m ake sure you're doing itin aw ay that' s appropriate to the situation.lfyou're speaking before a large audience,you can deliveryourslogansin a loud,thum ping w ay. lf you're speaking to sm all groups or one-on-one, you m ust fit your slogans in m ore naturally;otherwise,you com e acrossas an aggressive persuasion m achine. For instance,you don't w ant to say,''You are Am y' s favorite uncle'';''You are Am y's favorite uncle'';'You are Am y' s favorite uncle/'over and over again.lfyou do,you'llsound like you're fouryears old. lnstead, you want to elaborate on that sentence, and rephrase it:' T om ,ldon'tthink you realize this,butyou' re Am y' s favorite uncle.She told m e so.She loves spending time with you.ltwould m ean a1otto herifyou cam e to herbirthday party. lknow you' re acouple ofhouls'drive aw ay,butshe' s alittle girl, she only hasone favorite uncle,and itw ould m ean so m uch to herifshe could seeyou there when sheblowsouthercandles.''

A Transformation M echanism :M issing the O bvious The stene The worl d'sIargestperfume manufacturerhasasked youradvertising firm to meetwith itspeople to see ifthere'sa match.Yourexecutive board haschosenyouto representthe firm. Youwantto make sure yourpresentation isairtight,so youcall togetheryourfirm' screati ve and salesteams.zl'm going to do my pitch ''you say,''and ifyouthink ithasgaps,Ietme know.'

(continoed)

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

(Continoed) Youpitchyourheartoutand when you're through,youwaitexpectantly.A few peoplegiveyou constructi ve comments,butyou feel they're holding back. Ferhapsthey don'twantto sl am someonewho hasbeen handpicked by the executive board.You've prepared forthiseventualify

witha mechanism.YouhitakeyonyourI aptop,anda proiector throwsa slide onthe wall.Thatslide saysthe following: Thisisa mostunusualparagraph.How quickl y can you find outwhatisunusualaboutit? Ittrul y Iooksso ordinary, you'd think nothing waswrong with itand,infact,nothing is wrong with it.Itisunusual,though.W hy?Study it.Think aboutitand you may find out.Try to do itwithoutcoaching.

Ifyouworkatitfora bit,itwilldawnonyou.So iumpto itI Try yourskillatfiguring itout,ifyou can.Good Iuck- and don'tbl ow yourcoolI

Youpulla stopwatchfrom youriacketpocketandsay,zYouhave sixty secondsto sol ve the riddle ofthe paragraph.Go.' Aftera minute you askforanswers.Feopl e take guesses,but none hitsthe mark. Finall y,youtellthem :zThatparagraph is missing the mostcommon Ietterin the English Ianguage:E.Youcan I ookfarand wide for anotherparagraph Iike thisone and neverfind it.In a second,1/11tell youwhy Iasked you to studythatparagraph.Before Ido,here isone finalpuzzle.'' Youhitthe key and the slidechanges: MY FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OFYEARS O FSCIENTIFIC STUDY COM BINED W ITH THE EXFERIENCE OFYEARS.

(continoed)

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

(Continoed) zzNow you havefifteensecondsto discoverhow many F'sare in thissentence.Go.'' Afterfifteenseconds,you switch offthe slideand askforanswers.Mostpeople saw fourF's.A few,five.Youswitch the slide backonand say,zlthassix F's.Countthem yourself.''Evenwithyour prompting,many people misssome.You walk up to the screenand tap each Fwithyourfinger. zzFeople misssome F'sbecause ofthe Iine breaks.Butaneven

biggerreasonisbecausetheirmindsskipovertheword oqwhichappearsthree timesinthe sentence.Ofseemsinsignificant.Ithardl y

seemsto matter.Butwithoutoq thesentencewon'twork.Andwithout counting the F'sinthe three ofs,youransweriswrong. zzW hyam Itorturing you Iike this? Because my presentation is very importantto me and to ourcompany.Itmeansprestigeand dolIarsin ourpockets.Infact,the presentation isso important,thatI wantto do itagain foryou. zzIwantto do itagain,onl y thistime,Iwantyou Iooking atitwith new eyes.W ith yourE-and F-finding eyes. zzIwantyouto watchand Iisten to mewithaIIyourcoll ecti ve wisdom,and tellme how Ican improve it.Believe me,Idon'tIike to be criticized any more than any ofyou does.Butthispitch istoo importantto aIIofus.Ineed evel -yone'shelp.' Yourepeatyourpitch.Thistime,itsparksseriousand helpful comm ents.

Behlnd the Stene Itworksasdescribed in''The Scene.'

Backroom 'llps IorM issing the O bvious + Obviousl y,thismechanism isreal ly fwo mechanisms.I've routined them togetherforyou,butyou can use the ''E''paragraph and the ''F''sentence separatel y,depending uponyouraudienceand goal s.

(continoed)

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

99

(Continoed) + 80th partscome from Larry Becker,a famed professionalmentalist. + Considerprinting one orb0th ofthese mechanismson the back of your business card, so you can use it as a conversation starter.

Forexampl e,suppose I'm a marketing consultant,and I'm in a room with realtors.Ihand one mycard and say: ''You'IIwantto turn thatoverand have a Iook.You/llsee a sentence printed there.A solitary sentence. ''Now,there'ssomething profound aboutthatsentence,something you're going to wantto know about.Ithasa directbearing onyourbusinessand on the revenueyou deserve to make. ''W ould you Iike to know how thatsentence can help you make more money? W ould you Iike to know how thatsentence canhelp you move more homes,ata greaterprofit? ''Thinkofthatsentence asa diagnostic,asa test.Ina moment I am going to ask you to read it silentl y. You/ll have fifteen seconds. zzW hile you/re reading the sentence,Iwantyou to countthe numberoftimesin itthe IetterFappears. zzo nce Ihaveyouranswer,Iwilltellyou how itrelatesto you, yourbusiness,yourrevenues.Areyou ready?GoI zzstoplNo more counting.How many timesdid the Fappear? zzFivetimes?That'sexcell ent.M ostpeoplesay four.Butinfact, the correctanswerissix.Check itout. zzW hat's that? You say you woul d have found weren'tpressuring you?

''Ibelieve you.IfIhad I etyou go sl owly,you would have counted six.Buthere's the pointIwantyou to understand about thattest,and how itrel atesto yourbusiness. ''Fressure,speed,and distraction were partofthe test.They were conditionsIbuiltinto it.

(continoed)

TH E SLOGAN PITCH

(Continoed) ''Inthe same way,the marketplace hasconditions builtinto it. O ne ofthose conditionsisthe numberofrealfy servicesfighting to service yourprospect.There are realty firmsIining the streetsof every town and city,and dozensmore on the Internet,waiting to cutyou outwith I owercommissions.Butthat'swhere Ican be of help....'' # Anaside:Ifthe E-lessparagraph intrigued you,you mightwantto read Georges Ferec's novelwritten in French as la Disparition and translated into EnglishasA k' ofd.It'sa workofclose to three hundred pages,and nowhere in itdoesthe IetterE appear. W hatconstraintsdid an E-lessnovelputon Ferec?W ell,two. thirds ofaIIEnglish words contain atIeastone E,as do seveneighthsofaIIFrenchwords.Imagine thechoices he had to make. In fact,you mightdo more than imagine.Asan exercise,try writing an E-lesse-mailofatIeast75 words,and see how itreads. O r,ifyou/re even more adventurous,write yourown E-l ess

mechanism text,related to yourproduct,and proiectthaton a screenduring a productmeeting.

C O N V IN C E W IT H SA M PLES

he other night l stood in front of N ew York City' s M adam e Tussaud' s W ax M useum and w atched the powerofsam plesatw ork. T housandsofpeople rushed pastm ew ith a purposefullook in theireyes,seem ing hell-bent on their m issions:to m eetfriends, have dinner,see a show,hit a nightclub.lthoughtnothing could slow their pace.lw asw rong. Behind a velvetrope outside the m useum stood a w ax figure of Robin W illiam s.lt looked like the actor in every detail,even dow n to the fingernails. T he people passing by stopped and stared.They exam ined the figure and called out to friends so they,too,could study it. Behind the W illiam s likeness w as a gauntlet of lifelike w ax fig-

ures- samuelL.Jackson,W hoopiGoldberg,M ichaelJacksonushering viewersinto the m useum . T he people who stopped changed theirevening' splanson the spot.lheard one w om an say,''W e can see a m ovie anytim e,but

co xvlx cE W ITH SAM PLES

how often do we get to see this?''Another: 'The restaurant l w anted to go to is open late.Let' sgo into the m useum first,and then w e can eat.'' M adam e Tussaud' s w asn't the only exam ple of sam ples at w ork.lsauntered around Tlm esSquare,and alm ostevery business lsaw offered som e form ofsam ple: T he m usic superstore had its listening stations,which w ere crow ded w ith teenagerslistening to snippetsfrom the latestCD s. T he clothing store had its fitting room s,with lines ofpeople w aiting to try on the pantsand tops. T he gourm et shop proffered a thin slice of roast beef to shoppers. T he health club offered a deeply discounted three-m onth trial,asa prelim inary to buying itsyear-long m em bership. T he travelagency prom oted a dirt-cheap cruise as an entice-

mentto join itscruiseclub. T he caricaturist on the sidew alk dem onstrated his cartooning abilities by displaying exam ples of his w ork on an easel. T hese sam ples served two functions: T hey showed prospects thatthe business' s products do w hat

thebusinessclaimstheydo.(Thewaxfigureslookedreal;the musicwascatchy;theroastbeefwasjuicy.) T hey 1et prospects test the products to m ake sure that the

productsfitwhattheprospectwanted.(Prospect:'Thisroast beeftastesjuicy,butdo lreallywanttoeatmeattonight?') lf you w ant to persuade people who don't w ant to be persuaded,you m ust provide them with a sam ple of your offering. O therw ise,they'll hesitate.O nce they hesitate,you'll probably lose them .

coxvlxcE w l-fl-lSAM PLES

1o3

A 11 m y life l have given aw ay sam ples of m y work. M y prospects don'thave to w onderaboutw hatthey're getting.They see the process and resultin frontoftheireyes.That' s one ofthe m ain reasonsw hy m y closing ratio ishigh.ln fact,loften referto m yselfas 'The J-fgrltgg Puppy D og C lose.' T he Puppy D og C lose is a sales technique,and the idea behind itis this:lfyou' re selling a puppy,and the fam ily w ho w ants to buy the puppy hesitates,offer them the puppy free for aw eek. lfthey don' tlove the anim al,they bring itback and owe you nothing.Asyou can im agine,the return rate on thatdealwon'tbehigh. O nce the fam ily has the puppy athom e,they grow attached to it.For instance,they can' t keep yelling,''H ey,dogl/''so they nam e it.N ow the puppy isG eorge.lthasan identity. G eorge w ags his tail,plays with the children,licks the parents'faces,and basically acts adorable.H e now has apersonality. T he fam ily cares for G eorge.T hey feed him ,w alk him ,and even wipe hisbottom ifhe' ssoiled him self.A nd you know aswell asldo thatwhen people care forsom ething,they usually develop a bond to it.

W hen you were selling the puppy,itwasjustanotherpuppy. A fteraw eek w ith thefam ily,though,ithasconvinced them thatit doeswhatpuppiesshould do.Thatpuppy now isafam ily m ember. T he sam ple-based close doesn't apply only to puppies.As l said,luse the sam e close weekly,som etim esdaily. W hen lcold-callattradeshow s,ldon'ttry to getprospectsto buy my services in one three-day chunk.Thatw ould be quite a com m itm entfor them to m ake,w ith m y approaching them from out ofthe blue.lhold off a11talk of days and fees and com m itm ents untilafter theyke seen w hatlcan do forthem . l give them one show .O nce theyke seen the crowd, l tell them :''lcan do thisfive tim esa day fortherestofthe show atm y rate ofX dollars a day.lfyou don'tw antm y services,give m e a hug,and lw illleave.Thatshow w illhave been my giftto you.'' W hat can they say? Before l arrived,their 1700th w as dead. N ow they have prospects lined up dow n the aisle.l' ve forced

1o4

co xvlx cE K'ITI-ISAM PLES

theirhand.lfthey send m e aw ay,they look foolish.lfthey keep m e,they look like geniuses. Providing a sam ple of m y service is such a part ofm e that l opened this book w ith the technique. Rem em ber the Fright C hallenge? M y challenge to you w asno different than m y cold-callroutine,or M adam e Tussaud's w ax figure on the sidew alk,or that slice ofroastbeef.ltw asm y w ay ofsaying:''Reader,here is your sam ple.This is the kind oftactic you're going to learn from this book.lf this kind of tactic appeals to you,then you' re in for a treat.lfitdoesn' t appealto you,then putthis book down.You're notgoing to like the otherthings lhave to tellyou.'' A sam ple knocksdown barriers.N o m atterw hatyou're pitching- be it a product,a service,or an opinion- you m ust try to find a way to 1etpeople sam ple it.Even ifyou have to be gutsy or im aginative.

(lgtsy.N ick Corcodilosw as atone tim e a Silicon Valley head-

hunter.H e found the right people for the rightjobs.He also found outthatmostjob seekersdon' tknow the bestway to win the job on their own.Corcodilos' s advice? Provide employers w ith a sam ple thatyou can do whatyou say. Corcodilos,in his book Asê t/ ?eJfetgt l/ gggten tells readers that

oncetheyke located ajob opening,they should '' figureoutwhat itwilltake to do thejob successfully.''Then,he says,'' w hen you meettheemployer,don'twaitforanyoneto prodyou:do thejob, rightthere in the interviem '' ln otherw ords,don't fool around w ith endless sm alltalk or w aste tim e answ ering theoretical questions about ''W hat w ould you do if ...?''D on't even spend m uch tim e on your résum é, w hich is w hat youke done in the past for com panies that m ay have little sim ilarity to the com pany you're pitching to now . lnstead,grab a m arker,head overto the w hiteboard,and tell the interviewer:''Look,l've spent a 1ot of tim e researching your com pany,the field,and the m ain challenge you're facing.l'd like tw enty m inutes to show you exactly how l'd handle that chal-

coxvltkcE W 17l-ISAM PLES

lenge,ifyou hire m e.''W hen she gives you the go-ahead,you don' thold back.For20 m inutes,you fire yourbestideasand m ost pragm atic solutions ather. W hatif in her eyesyou don'tsolve the challenge facing her com pany? N otto worry.N o one really expectsyou to hand them com plete solutions in 20 m inutes.H owever,you w illhave given hera peek atyourtrue thinking and problem -solving skills.You'll also have shown thatyou're a person ofpassion and initiative.

lsthatagutsyway to win ajob?Sureis.lsitan effectiveway? Try it. Jmt glfgt gtfpe.So far,l've been discussing sam plesasifthey apply only to sales situations.Sam ples work in nonbusiness settings, too.Forinstance,in schools. Recently, a client told m e how his daughter's high school helped her class sam ple parenthood.Each student w as given an artificialinfantto look afterfora week.The sim ulated baby,he said,w asrealistic in itsappearance and,particularly,itsactions.lt burped and cooed.ltshead lolled.M ostim portantly,itcried ata11 hoursofthe day and night,like a realbaby.H is daughter had to w ake up and care forthe baby,otherw ise itcontinued fussing. T he baby also had am onitorbuiltinto it,so thathisdaughter' s teacher could tell w hether she handled or ignored the assignm ent.

Among the many lessonshisdaughterlearned wasjusthow all-encom passing the experience of parenting a baby is.W ith an infant,there are no breaksortim e-outs.W hen the baby cried,his daughter had to be there.W hen she w anted to hang out after school,she couldn' t stuffthe baby in her book bag.lts presence

affected everything shedid,justasarealbaby would. C onceptualizing and constructing a sim ulated baby seem s a tough chore.Butgetting teens to understand the responsibilities ofparenthood isa worthw hile reason fordoing it. M y question to you isthis:lfsom eone can inventa functioning artificialbaby as a w ay to sam ple parenthood,can' tyou com e up w ith aw ay forothels to sam ple youroffering,no m atterwhatitis?

CO NVIN CE W ITH SAM PLES

T H IN G S TO T H IN K ABO U T W H EN IT C O M ES T O C REATIN G A SA M PLE O F YO U R O FFERIN G A sk yourself,'' W hatprocessdo lwantto dem onstrate to the people l'm trying to influence?'and ''W hatresultdo lw antto show them ?'' A sam ple ofaprocessm ightbe giving a tourofyourfactory so prospectscan see the careyou take to m anufacture each car. A sam ple of a resultwould be lending prospects the resulting carfora w eek.

Some peoplewillwantto experience yourprocess(how youdowhatyoudo),whileotherswillcareonlyfortheresult (whattheygetfrom whatyoudo). M ake a piece ofyourprocessorresultinto asam ple: lfyou' re selling a pound bag ofcashew s,hand outthree free cashew s. lfyou paintw hole houses,painta closetfor nothing. lfyou' re selling a year-long consulting gig,give aw ay an hourlong session. See whatl'm suggesting?D o as M adam e Tussaud' sdid,and give people the actualproductin lim ited form . O ne m ore exam ple ofw hatl'm talking about:W hen M ark Levy,m y co-author,and lapproached agents and publishers w ith the idea for this book,we used an 85-page book proposal. Partofthatproposalwas information (gllogtourproposed book:its concept,its target audience, an annotated table of contents,a m arketing plan show ing whatw e would do to supportthe book w hen ithitthe stores.A11thatw as im portant. H owever,the largestpartof the proposalcom prised sam -

p1echapters.Quitesimply,theagentsand publisherswanted to see ifwe could produce the book w e w ere pitching.They didn' tw antourassurancesthatw e could do it;they w anted to

TH INGS TO TH INK ABO UT W H EN CREATIN G A SAM PLE

see the genuine item .O nly after they read these sam ples of textfrom the book did they getexcited aboutwhatwe w ere offering. C ustom ize yoursam ple. W hen lcold-call at a trade show,lfirst read a com pany' s signs and brochures.Then,w hen the 1700th m anager and l speak,lask herwhatm essages and products she w antsm e to push during m y free sam ple show.

M y resulting show, then, doesn' t just draw a crowd. lt draw s people who are intrigued by the com pany'sm essages. W hen l'm finished pitching,audience m em bersleaving their contactinform ation do so because they now understand and are interested in the firm . You,too,need to find w ays to custom ize yoursam ple for each audience.The reasons? The audience w illbetter understand w hat they get if they take you up on whatyou offer.

The/llalsofeelanindebtednesstoyoufortakingthetimeto alterw hatyou do to suitthem . W hatever and how everyou use yoursam ple,rem em berthis: T he people you w ant to influence are scared ofyou.They don' t entirely trustyou.They'd like to believe w hat you' re pitching is true,but theyke been burned before.G iven what theyke gone through,their caution is reasonable.Your giveaw ay- your sam ple- m ustbe greaterthan theirapprehension.

Y Backroom 'llps IorConvincing with Sam ples + Some samples are defined by physicallimits (e.g.,three cashews),whileothersaredefinedbytimelimits(e.g.,atrial software program thatgoesdead after30 days).Consider w aysyou could use one,the other,or170th.

+ M ostofthe samplesl' ve mentioned are giveaways.The/re free to yourprospects.lfind thatapproach works best.

co xvlx cE K'ITI-ISAM PLES

O fcourse,there are other approaches.For instance,the reduced-fee strategy.lfyou're a consultant and your all-day

workshop costs $2,000,you could give an hour-long introductory workshop for$300. + H ow you position yoursam ple in the m indsofyouraudience m atters.D irectm arketerstestthe positioning ofseveralsam p1e offers before com m itting to one.

For instance,the/llsend outtwo mailings forthe same product.O nemailing promisesafree sampleofwbiteniny toothpaste if phone num ber X is called.The other prom ises a free sampleofJ/retgt/ g-ea/ gtggcfgp toothpasteifphonenum berY iscalled. T he m arketers then totalthe num ber of sam ple requests phoned into each num ber.W hichever quality wins- w hitening orbreath enhancing- that' sthe quality they lead w ith in theirnationalcam paign. .

+ A ttim es,businessesuse sam ples notas a m eansofim pressing the person receiving the sam ple butas aw ay ofim pressing onlookers.A caricaturistm ay ask a passerby to sitfor a free portraitso thathe appearsin dem and to the people passing by. T his strategy is com m on in theaters staging live show s. T heater m anagem ent fills the em pty seats by giving aw ay tickets.Thatw ay,the show lookshotto the paying custom ers and to the m edia criticsreviewing the show.

A Transformation M echanism: Balancing a Coin on a DollarBill The Stene Youand a coll eague aredeciding whetherto startyourown business orcontinue on asemployeesatyourrespectivecompanies.You b0th know the market,are expertsin yourfiel ds,and feelyou/ve spotted

(continoed)

TH INGS TO TH INK ABO UT W H EN CREATIN G A SAM PLE

(Continoed) a need thatisn'tbeing met.Still,yourcolleague isnervousabout

Ieavingthesafefyofanestablished iob. Youask,'Doyouenioyyouriobk' ''Ihate it''she says. zzlfwestartourown business,do you thinkwe can find clientsk' ' zzDo youthinkwhatwe have to offerisvaluabIe to those clientsk' ' zzDo youthinkwe have a strong work ethick' ' ''Do youthinkwe have smartsk' ' ''Do youthinkwe cangetthe businessfundedk'' ''Absolutel y.'' ''Then Idon'tunderstand it.W hat'ssticking youk'' ''W henyou breakthingsdown into componentsIike that,the

businessseemsdoable.Verydoable.IguessI'm iustnotused totrp ing new things,so beginning a new venture isscary.'' W ithoutsaying awordastowhy,youreachintoyourpocket,pullout a dollarbilland a quarter,and sl ide them overtoyourcoll eague.zzokay,' yousay,'Iwantyouto bal ancethatcoinontheedgeofthatbiI.'' She smiles,because she knowsyou/re into making yourpointin curiousways.Infact,she thinksofthatasone ofyourbestqualities. Ratherthan fightyouon this,she picks up the billand triesto stand the edge ofthe coinonthe edge ofit.Aftera hal f-dozen attempts, she givesup.''I t'snotpossible ''she says. ''Yousay it'simpossible becauseyou don'tknow how to do it. Actually,it'seasy once you know the secret.'' Youtake the billfrom herand fold itwidthwise. Thenyouopen itslightly,so itstandson the table ina 9 shape. Youplace the quarterontop ofthe bill,nearthe apex ofthe9,find-

ingthespotwherethequarterstaysput(Figure9.1). (continoed)

CO NVIN CE W ITH SAM PLES

Figure 9.1 Balance coin on folded bill.

(Cont inved) Finqll y,yougrclspthe rightclnclI eftsidesofthe billclnclsl owl y open ituntili t'stclut withthecoin bcllclnced m rfectl y cl top i t.Beccluse you/re clshowoff youeven rclise the billclfootoffthe tclble clsthe coin stclysbcllclnced Yourcolleclgue clpplcluds clnclyouhclnclthe billclnclthe coin to herso she cclntry clgclin.she quickly qccomplishesthe tclsk You sqy,''You thoughtyou couldn'tdo itl x cquse m u didn'tknow how.Once you knew how itwqsq snqp.

/continved)

TH INGS TO TH INK ABO UT W H EN CREATIN G A SAM PLE

(Continoed) zzNow,I'm notsaying thatourbusinessventure isgoing to be a snap,butIreally believe there isa directparallelbefweenthisbill stuntand whatwe wantto do. zzW e already know a I otaboutthe marketand how ourexpertise canbenefitthatmarket.The partswe don'tknow about,we can get help on.W e canhireconsultants,we can contactSCO RE,orone of those othersmallbusinessagencies.W e reall y don'thave to know

absolutel yeverything beforewe maketheiump. zzlt'snota questi onofbeing a hundred percentsurewe canmake thiswork.Hell,I'm nota hundred percentsureofanything.Butifyou

wereeight ypercentsurewecoul d makeitasuccess,I'dsay'Let'siump.' zzW hatwedon'tknow now,we/llI earnwhilewe/re outthere. That'sthe onlyway.It'sIike the coinonthe bill.O ne minuteyoucan't do it,becauseyouhaven'ttried,and the nextminuteyoucando it,becauseyou/ve gotten some help and youworked it.W hatdo yousayk'' Yourcolleague putsthe coinatop the billand Iiftsitin the air. She staresatthecoin balanced there fora Iong moment,and she says,'Let'sdo it.'

Behlnd the Stene The stuntworksasdescribed in''The Scene.'

Backroom '' llps IorBalancing a Coin on a D ollar Bill + The billmustbe crisp,otherwise itwillbuckle when you setthe coinatop it.

#. Ifyou have trouble balancing thecoin,try thisvariati on:Fold the billwidthwisefirst,thenIengthwise.Now,Iay the coinonthe apex ofthe 9 and pullthe billtaut.The coin shoul d easily bal ance becauseofthe bill'sincreased structuralstrength.

T H E PO W ER O F FREE

hen acom pany hiresm e,they expectfury,excitem ent, and a 1700th bulging w ith prospects.To give them w hat they w ant,lsom etim es resortto base m otivators.Chiefam ong those m otivatorsis m oney.C row ds com e running forit. lrem em berone trade show a few years back.A neighboring 1700th had 1,200 people crow ded into it,while m ine had none. T he reason? They were about to give aw ay a H um m er, and the allure ofthe truck proved too m uch for attendeesto resist.N aturally,ldidn' trelish the situation,butlknew how to rectify it. l stood on m y platform ,waiting for them to announce the w inner' s nam e. The m om ent they did,l snapped 50 crisp hundred-dollar bills into a one-handed fan,held it high, and cried into my cranked-up PA system : ''Ladies and gentlem en, let' s hear it for the w inner of that H um m er!And forthose who didn'twin it,l' ve gotfive thousand dollarsto give aw ay.lsuggestyou stand in frontofm e rightnow, because even ifyou don' ttake hom e m y five grand,lwillgive you gifts ofgenuine value.''

TH E Pow El k OF FPAE

T he entire audience raced tow ard m e.M y 1700th attendance w entfrom O to 1,200 in the blink ofan eye.lstole m y com petitor' s crowd. N ow you m ight callm y story crass,but,rem em ber,lprom ised you the unvarnished truth.And w hen you can com m and 1,200 strangersto m ove in unison,you know you're dealing w ith som ething powerful,crass ornot. W hatw asitthatgotthe people to m ove so quickly? lfyou said '' m oney/''you're partially right. W hat kind of money? Easy money.Tree money.Everyone w antsto find treasure withoutdigging. lm agine if lhad said,'' l have five thousand dollars foryou if you answ er m y phones,clean m y house,and m ow my lawn for tw enty-fourw eeks.'H ow m any people would have raced overifl said that? That' sright,none.

Ijyouf zugttobeIlersgt gsfpe,/etgr. lï/ 90f, 1 7toyiveIleoll/esometbinytll tgfs/70t1, pt g/gtgl'/ean?jree.Trade-show exhibitorsknow thislesson well.Because they' re looking to attract passersby,they put out freebies like softw are, books,bags, and candy.The passersby grab the freebies as fastasthey can.N o exhibitorsevergo hom e w ith unused freebies.N otifthey're sm art. '

r' /?eLeytousinyjreebies(gs( g. l ï( gttrt gctfo. l ïi jeviceistorlt g/tesgrelrogr(gg?iencejully ggkerstt ggkst/ ?ept g/geo-ff . pllt gtyog'rebani jinytllt wl.Money,of .

course, has value to everyone, w hich is w hy it m otivates strangers so w ell.Each stranger,in his ow n m ind,converts the m oney into w hat he w ants.You don' t have to know a thing abouthim . O ther item s, though, require pitching skill.For instance, l often give aw ay Transform ation M echanism props,w hich com e em bossed w ith m y client' s logo.O ne such m echanism isnothing m ore than a three-inch-long m etal spring w ith a m etal ring threaded onto it.You can easily rem ove the ring ifyou know the secret.lfyou don' t,the ring staysthreaded. A s an experim ent,l' ve tossed out these rings on springs to crow dsusing tw o differentapproaches.

TH E Pow El k OFFPAE

D uring the firstapproach,lsim ply callita''gift''and say nothing m ore.

D uring the second approach,l toss it and say:''l am giving you a giftyou can use forthe restofyourlife.lt' s a giftthatw ill m ake you the star of every fam ily get-together,that w ill m ake you the centerofattention atyournextboardroom m eeting.lt' sa device thatisaseasy to operate asitispotent,and w illputasm ile on people' sfaces,asitgetstheirm indsracing.Ladies and gentlem en,don'tyou dare leave!N otuntillteach you thesecretof' T he Ring on Springl''' T he firstw ay,m any people 1et m y tossed 'gift''drop to the floor.They see itas a few cheap hardw are item sin a plastic bag and don'tunderstand how itcan benefitthem . T he second w ay,people fight for it.They,too,see thatthe props are cheap in term s of cost,but they understand that the value of those props is m ore than they can see.O nce theyke learned the secretto the Ring on Spring,they' llbe m ore popular and be able to com m and attention in key situations. W as llying? lfllied,l'd lose them .W hatldid w asteach them how to use the m echanism to achieve w hat lsaid.ltaughtthem itssecret,how to perform it,and how to use itasaw ay to change m om ents. By the tim e l finished pitching and teaching, m y crow dshad an appreciation forthatRing on Spring thatw entfar beyond the few cents thatthe physicalprops cost.

Ojjerinysometbinyjorjree,t/ geg,isn'te?;ogl/?.Youmustfashionyour free offer around som ething your audience finds valuable.A nd if they don'tfully understand the item ' svalue,you m ustm ake them understand. Look atthe practice oflnternetm arketers.They offerfree reports as a m eans of securing the nam es and e-m ail addresses of people visiting their sites. But these days w ebsite visitors are savvy.Theyke responded to one too m any lousy offers and have had their e-m ail accounts stuffed w ith spam as a result.To get a visitor' s inform ation now, the m arketer m ust sell them on the value ofthe free report.

TI-IE Pow Elt oy FP-EE

M any m arketers put a dollar am ount on their report,saying

som ething like,'This$79 reportisyoursfreeifyou sign up to receive m y newsletten''T hat dollar value gives it m ore perceived im portance.The m arketersalso peppertheirsiteswith m ini-sales letters for the free report, loading those letters w ith dozens of bullet-pointed reasonsasto w hy avisitorshould type in hernam e and e-m ailaddress and hitsend. D o these ploysw ork? Yes,butonly ifthe inform ation in the free reportisw orth reading.Peoplew illdow nload it,butthen the reporthas to deliver.lt doesn'tm atterifthe reportis free.ln the

visitor' smind,thatreportcontained wisdom worth $79.lfthe report com es up short,the m arketer has hurt his cause.That' s an im portant point to rem em ber:A freebie is representative ofthe com pany handing itout.lfthe freebie stinks,the com pany stinks. G iving aw ay som ething for free,then,is a wonderfulw ay to persuade people w ho don' tw antto be persuaded.To do it,though, you m ustdo itright.H ere are som e questionsto askyourselfasyou think aboutsw aying people to yourpointofview with freebies: W ho am ltrying to influence? W hatam ltrying to influence them about? D o l have any relevant inform ation that l can give them freely,thatthey'd find valuable? D o lhave any relevantphysicalitem s lcan give them freely, thatthey'd find valuable? W hatcan lsay ordo thatw ould getthem to fully appreciate the value ofthe inform ation oritem ? W hen isthe besttim e to give them the inform ation oritem s to help m y case? Let' s look at how these questions w ould work applied to a house sale. T' / ?esftgtgtfog:You own asaltbox home on severalacresofhilly land in Connecticut.A potentialbuyerhasm adeyou an offer,but

it' s$12,000 below whatyou'd accept.

TI-IE Pow El t oyFP-EE

You know this buyer loves your house, especially its wideplanked w ood floorsand w alls painted in period colors.But she' s concerned that there' s dam age she can' t see. She's thinks that once yourfurniture is gone,she'lldiscovergougesin the hard-toreplace floorand discolorationsin the hard-to-m atch w allpaint. She' s also concerned about the house's location in the hills. She' s nervous that a heavy snow w ill seal off the driveway and m ake it im possible for her to m ove.She' s been in situations like thatbefore,and found itdifficultto find aservice to plow herout.

J'// ?0(grlJtryinytoinjluence?Thepotentialbuyer. J//llt gt( grlJtryiny tofgjlgeace/?er( gôogt?Buying my house atmy price.The sale m ay hinge on finding w ays to ease her m ind aboutherfloor,w all,and hillconcerns. DoJlltgpeany rlept ggtfgforpl t gtfo. l ïtllt gtJctg' l ïyiveberjreely tllt gtsbe'? -

-

y' fgt : tpt g/gtgô/e?lflcan' tpersuadeherthatmyfloorsandwalls are in good condition,lcan give her a listofthe custom paints lused,and where lboughtthem .lcan also give her the nam e and num ber of the worker who installed the flooring w hen lfirstm oved in.

DoJll tgpeany rleptggtbbysicalfttwlsJct g' lïyiveberjreely,tllt gtsbeljin? pt g/gtgô/e?Since she' stroubled by the hills and snow,lcan

leavehermy oldleep with theplow attached to thefront. T he caris 10 yearso1d and isrusting badly,butitstillruns and can m ove the snow.lw asgoing to donate itto charity and take the tax credit.Butlcan throw itinto the deal, w hich w illactually be easierform e.

J//llt gtctg' l ïIsayori jotlltgttvouli jyet/?ertojullyabbreciatet/?ept g/geojtbe fg-forpl tgtfo. l ïorfttwl?lcan tellherhow

the store l'm sending

her to for the paint creates its ow n colors, based upon sam ples from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century N ew England houses.These are proprietary colors you can' t get anyw here else. J/// ?C' . :fst/ ?ebesttfrletoyive/?ert/ ?efg-forpltgtfo. l ïorfttwlstobelbm.')rcase?l can give herthe listofcolorsand the w orker' snam e now .

TH E POW ER OF FREE

T hatw ay,she hasthem whether she ups her offer ornot.

And we can write the Jeep and plow into the contract rightaw ay,so she seesl'm really and truly giving itto her, and w on'tw ithdraw the offer.

Gettheidea?You'renotcleaningoutyourjunk drawer.You're finding things that you can easily give for free, but that have value to the other person.By giving,you're creating a good im pression in her m ind. You're intensifying her interest in w hat you're offering.You're also creating a reciprocaleffect.

J/// JM wereceive,wehelfgt lellte;ttot/?eot/gerberson( gg;tloo;to3aylucê 0grr/el't.Think aboutyourown past,and you'llseewhatlmean. M aybe your com putercrashed,and you w ere terrified you'd lose acriticaldocum entstored on it.You phoned a friend saw y in com putertroubleshooting.H e cam e over,ortalked you through it over the phone, and saved your docum ent.H ow did that m ake you feelabout your friend? lfhe asked you for a favor the next day,w ould you grant it? O f course.And that' s the idea behind freebies. W hen you give a m eaningfulfreebie,people w ant to return

thefavor.lt' sexpected.AnepisodeofSeinjel?lampoonedthetrait. O n the show,ahack com edian offersJerry anew Armanisuitasa gift.W hen Jerry accepts,thehack suggeststhatJerry buy him a dinneras afriendly gesture.Jerry isdisgusted because he didn' t really need the suit,and he knowsthatthe hack justwants to

hang around him .The restofthe episode isspenton Jerry ashe begrudgingly tries fulfilling the obligations brought on by the

'' free''suit(thesuitisworth ameal,butwhatconstitutesa''meal''? lsitsoup and asandwich?lfso,whatkindofsoup?).

TheSeinjel?episodeisnotonlyfunny;ithighlightsan important point.You can try to create an obligation in others,butthe locus ofcontrolresidesw ithin them .You can' tforce them to feel grateful.You can't expect them to reciprocate in kind,if at all. T he bestyou can do isset the kinds of condition thatnorm ally

TH E Pow El k OFFPAE

create feelingsofgratitude.O nce youke done that,1etgo ofany absolutistic dem andsyou have aboutthe outcom e.

Y

Backroom 'IlpsIorGiving Freebies

+ A ny tim e you give aw ay an item in a persuasion situation, considerw ays ofbuilding its value in the otherperson' seyes. '' Building value''meansm aking theitem'sfmll/fcftusesand benefitsextlicit.You do thatsubtly orboldly.

Subtly.W hen l' m atdinnerwith clientswho arerealm agic fans,they ask m e to do an illusion ortwo atthe table.loblige by pulling out a pack of cards im printed w ith my com pany logo on back and doing a few effects,including a gam bling dem onstration com plete with second and bottom deals. M any tim es,1'11even show clients how to do a sim ple trick,w hich they can use at their next neighborhood gettogether. W hen we' re finished,lputthe deck back in its box,and l presentitto my tablem ate as agift.Before ldo,though,ltear offthe sm alltab on each side ofthe box.Asldo the tearing,l say, 'You don't need these.They don't serve any purpose. W hen the prosopen a new deck,they rem ove them .'Then l hand him the box,sanstabs. O verthe years,lhave had m ore than a few clientscallto book a show,and m ention thatthe deck lgave them acted as a rem inder.M any ofthem keep iton theirdesk or display it on a bookcase.lt' s a souvenir ofthe tim e a professionalcard handlergave them a private lesson. D id ldo any overt selling? N o.W hat l did do was give

them afreebie- essentially,52JoelBauerbusinesscards- butl gave itin such a way asto rom anticize it,to enhance itsvalue.

ldidn'thand them justany deck.lhanded them one we had 170th used,and thatconjuresup im agesofT' / ?eStiny,T' / ?e Cfgcfggt gtfKii j,and otherlarger-than-life images ofgamblers, streetoperators,and m agicians.

TI-IE Pow Elt oy FP-EE

Persuasion need not be overt. lt can be subtle. W hat sm all''things can you do to rom anticize your offering,orto m ake the otherperson experience itsfullvalue? Bol?ly.Suppose you're a consultant who specializes in creating sm 00th w ork-flow system s forw arehouses.A m anufacturer has called you to see ifyou and he have a fit.H e w ants an hour on the phone with you,so he can hear som e ofyourideas. You could approach his request in one of three w ays: ''

(1)Youcoulddothecallforfree,andchalkitup asprospecting;(2)you could consideritan hour' sconsulting,and bill him;or (3)you could combine the first two approaches. H ere' s how thatm ightsound: ' F' 0g:''lw ould love to speak with you aboutthe specificsofhow l can m ake your business run m ore productively.lm ust tell you,though,lcharge forthis kind ofca11.'' r' /?:rlt ggg-ft gctgrer:''Charge? Butl'm trying to see iflshould hire you.A calllike thisshould be partofyourcustom er acquisi.

tion process.''

' F' 0g:''lwould consideritpartofm y custom eracquisition process if a11lw ere going to do w as give you a sales pitch w ithout any m eat.Butthat' s notwhatldo. '' W hen we talk,lw on'thold back.You give m eyourproblem ,lw illfix it.lwilltellyou w hatldo and how ldo it.O n ourcall,you w illhearinsights and strategiesthathave taken m e years to develop.The sam e insights and strategies l've used to fix som e ofthe biggest m anufacturerw arehouses in the countnc'' r' /?:rlt ggg-ftgctgrer:'W hat' syourfee?'' ' F' 0g:'Four hundred dollars an hour.But what 1'11do for you is this:lw illgive you thatfirsthourasagift.Forgetaboutpaym ent.1'11do thatbecause ldon'twantyou to have any hesitation in using m y service.W e' 11 discuss your problem ,1'11 tellyou w aysto m ake a realdifference in w hatyou're doing, .

TI-IE Pow El t oyFP-EE

and afterthe hourw e can 170th decide ifitm akessense forus to continue working together.Sound fair?' ' T' /?erlt ggg-ftgctgrer:'M orethan fair.Thanksl'' D o you see whatbuilding value boldly m eans? ltdoesn' t m ean you need changew hatyou're giving theotherperson.lt m eansyou change the contextbefore he receivesit. + A s ltossoutfreebies,one ofm y standard pitch lines is,''Peop1e w ant things for free, and they w ant them now l''You'd think that line insulting,w ouldn'tyou? You'd think that as l delivered it to the crowd, people w ould storm out of the 1700th.Butthey don' t.The line actually elicits a hearty laugh, because everyone understandsitstruth. Besides'free''thekey word in thatline is'now.''T' ry toyive Ileoll/etllefrbrizefrlrlet lftgte/lr.O ursociety demandsinstantgratification.Criticize thatfact,oruse itto youradvantage. + Som etim es giving aw ay an item calls for an unconventional strategy.ln fact,the w ay you give aw ay an item can enhance itsdesirability. C ase in point:ln the 195Os,m y grandfatherD uffy owned a Polynesian restaurant,Pub X ki.O n every table sat crystal salt-and-pepper shakers shaped like tiki figures with the restaurant' s nam e etched into them . A s fast as the busboys putout these elegant shakers,patrons w ould steal them .Boom ! Gone!Slipped in a pocket, stuffed in a purse. Butthese petty thefts didn't annoy m y grandfather.They delighted him .H e w anted those shakers stolen,so thatthe nam e Pub X kiw as in frontofpeople,even w hile they salted theirfood athom e. A tone tim e,he considered giving patronsthe shakersasa prom otion,buthe latercanned the idea.H e figured the theft angle m ade the shakersm ore coveted,like trophies.

TH E POW ER OF FREE

A Transformation M echanism: The TrickThatFooled Houdini The Stene You're sitting on a bench,soaking up the Iunchtime sun,whenyou

seeyourbossandseveralco-workershavinga smoke.Youiumpto yourfeetand race overto them . '' Jason ''yousay to yourboss,''Iheard you/re aboutto turn

downtheGreenway proiect.' zzThat'sright,'he says,''ourdepartmentistoo busyto handl e it.

We/reatonehundred percentcapacify.Anextraproiectwouldkillus.'' zzButI'm notatone hundred percentcapacity,''yousay.'Ifwe

tookontheGreenwayproiectIcoul d runit,andwhat' smore,Icould turn itaround fast,withqualiy ''

zzYourunthe proiect?IIikeyourwork,butyou/veneverruna proiect,andIdon'twantyouexperimenting onGreenway.No,it' s an impossiblesituation.I'm going to passon it.' zzAn impossibl e situationk''you say.''Ispeciali ze indoing the imPossible.Letme show you.'

Youtakeoffyoursuitiacket,rollupyoursleeves,and borrow a handkerchi ef.You pickup a rockfrom the ground,and hand itto yourbossto inspect. zzA solid rockk' 'youask. zzA solid rock 'he says. Youtake itback,place itonyourIeftpalm,and slowl y coverit with the handkerchief. zzNow,Jason,yousay thatI'm don'thave enoughexperience to

handletheGreenway proiect.Youcall ed itzanimpossiblesituation.' Butimpossible situationscan be sol ved with ingenuity.' Asyouspeak,youstarthefting the covered rock inyourhand,as ifyou were preparing to tossit.Suddenly,you stop,and askyour bossand a couple ofyourofficematesto feelthe rock.

(continoed)

TH E POW ER OFFREE

(Continoed) ''It'sstillundertherek'' ''Itis,''they say. Youtake threedeep breaths,and hurlthe handkerchi efinto the air. The rockisgone. Yourhandsare empfy,exceptforthe handkerchief,whichyou returnto yourboss.Yourbossand officematesapplaud,asdoesa crowd thathad gathered around you. ''W hatdo you thinkk''youaskJason,asyou rolldown your sleeves.'W iIIyougive me a shotk'' ''W eII,thatthing with the rockwaspretfy clever.Ihave no idea how youdid it.So you're smart.And you do have guts.Imean,I've beenin businesstwenty-threeyearsand I've neverseen someone put themsel vesoutthere Iike thatto make a point.So,whatsay Igiveyou fwo hoursto draw up a rough planforhow you'd handle the Green-

way proiect.Ifit'ssound,1/11putyouinchargeoftheproiect.But hearme:Imake no promiseslThe plan hasgotto be good.No tricks.'

zzA chancetoshow youhow I'dhandletheproiectisaIIIask,'' yousay,asyousmileandsliponyoursuiti acket. Behlnd the Stene I've called thismechanism TheTrickThatFooled Houdinibecause eighfyyearsago itdid foolthe famed escapologist.A magiciandid it forHarry Houdini,substituting a pocketwatch forthe stone,and Houdinihad no idea w here the watchwent.Since then,magicianshave used the same routine to vanishsaltshakers,shotgl asses,carkeys,

paperweights,rubberball s,and aIImannerofsmall,stubbyobiects. The secret?Anaccomplice.The Iastpersonfeeling underthe

handkerchi efto makesuretheobiectisstilltherenonchalantlystealsit in hercupped hand.The restisacting. To persuade peopl e who don'twantto be persuaded,prepara-

tionisessential.Youcan'twing it.IntheGreenwayproiectexample, (continoed)

TH E POW ER OF FREE

(Continoed) youhad already heard thatyourboss,Jason,wasturning itdown. Youknew,though,thatyou coul d handle it,and thatyoucould use thatsuccessasa stepping-stone to biggersuccesses. Youalso knew thatyourbosstakesa Iunchtime smoke with other officesmokers.One ofthose smokers,Janice,youknow.She'sin yourdepartment. Earlierin the day,you pull ed Janice aside and asked forher help.Youpromised thatifshe cooperated,you'd include heronthis

high-visibilifyproiect.Sheagreed. Youexplained the mechanicsofthe mechanism to her,and did a few run-throughs. Atthe performance site,you pretend thateverything hashappened innocentl y.You/ve been sunning yourselfaftera good meal, and Io and behold,there'sJason.Yousprintover. W henyoucan'tconvince him withwords,youdip into yourbag oftricksto show thatyou/re asspecialasyousay you are. W henyougetto the pointwhere the rockiscovered,you ask severalpeople to reach,one ata time,underthe handkerchief,making sure the rock isthere. Janice goesIast.She,too,reachesunder,stealsthe rock,withdraws herhand,and dropsherarm atherside.There'sno heaton her.No one suspectsthatshe'spartofthe mechanism,so she needn't sweatthe steal.AIIattentionisonyou. The hefting and deep breathsareshowmanship,a red herring. W hileyou/re doing those things,Janice can pocketthe stone. W henthetimecomesforthe vanish,tossthe handkerchiefhigh into the airwith yourI efthand,and,asit'sdescending,come across with yourrighthand and snatch itdramatically.

Backroom 'IlpsIorthe Trick ThatFooled H oudini + The obiectcan be surprisingly I arge because no one willbe watching youraccomplice closely.

(continoed)

TH E POW ER OFFREE

(Continoed) # Onething theobiectshoul dn'tbeisnoisy.Ifitcanmake noise,it will,and yourconfederate willbe caughtred-handed.Don'tvanish any smallbells,dangl y earrings,orsugarbowls with Ioose Iids.And ifyouwantto make a setofcarkeysgo poof/pullone key from the ring and vanish itinstead.

# Thinkaboutthekindsofobiectyoumight''accidentall y'findatthe performance site.Considerpicking one thattiesintoyourpoint. Forinstance,you mightwri te a significantword orphrase or numberon the frontsheetofa pad ofFost-itnotes,and thenmake the pad disappear. # There'satI eastone othertrickthat'scommonl y referred to as zl'he TrickThatFool ed Houdini.'Thatone ismuch harderto do thanthe

mechanism youiustIearned,and i tssecretisclosel yguarded,soI won'texplainthe method,butIwillexplain the effect. A young Canadian magician named DaiVernon turned a deck'stop card face up,showed itsface to Houdini,turned itface down,and then openl y pl aced itsecond from the top.W ith a snap ofVernon'sfingers,the card reappeared on topofthedeck. AsfarasHoudinicould tell,no sleightofhand orduplicate cards were used.Vernon repeated thistrick severaltimes in a row for Houdini,fooling him eachtime. Vernon Iaterwenton to become known in the magic communify as zzThe Frofessor'and is Iargely acknowledged as the man who pioneered making magictricksI ook natural. W henp agicmagazineconducted a pol lamong itssubscribers forthe mostinfluentialmagi ciansofthe fwentiethcentury,Houdini pl aced firstand Vernonsecond.

p1119$ 111 T H E PO W ER O F G IFT S

n Chapter 9, l suggested you influence w ith a sam ple. ln Chapter1O,ltold you to hand outthingsforfree.Thischapter,l'm advising you to give gifts.The practicessound sim ilar, don' tthey? Buteach servesa distinctpurpose. A sam ple is som ething you give as a m eans of overt proof.

You'redemonstratingthatyou oryourproductcan do thejob,by

givingpeopleatasteofwhatthe/lleventuallybepayingfor. A freebie isa m ore veiled persuasion tactic.You're giving itto the other person as a m eans of attracting attention,creating a good im pression,or m anufacturing an indebtedness to you.A freebie m ay orm ay nothave adirectrelationship to youroffer. N ow,gifts.A gift is som ething you give w ithout expecting any directbenefit.You do it because itfeels good.G iving a gift m ay or m ay not help you in a business situation.lt' s best done regularly even daily.

A man lknow named AyeJaye is a master at this.He even wrote a book aboutit,T' /?eColijenRg/eojScbmoozi ny:T' /?eAgt/ geptfc .

Prt gctfceojïhatiny OtbersJ/J/.

TI-IE Pow El t oy Gly' rs

Jayewalksaround looking forwaysto hand outsmallgifts.lf he' svisiting a bookstore m anagerw ho can' t leave for lunch,he'll bring hera slice ofpizza.lfhe' sgetting hiscarrepaired and hears his m echanic curse because he doesn' t have the proper w rench,

Jayegoesoutand buysitforhim . Jaye also keepsabox ofpresentsin hiscartrunk.H e callsit his'' chatch''kit with ''chatch''being shortfortchotchke,the Yiddish w ord for ''a little som ething.''ln the kit,he stashes lottery tickets and hangover rem edies,am ong other things.H e' s alw ays adding to hiskit,because he'salw ayshanding outitem s.

Sometimes,Jaye's giftmay just be an appreciative word or funny rem ark.lfa bank tellerfeelsstressed because herline is 20

peoplelong,whenJayereachesherhemightsmileand say,'' After you take care ofm y transaction,you can take the rest ofthe afternoon off- w ith pay.''

H eevenusesjokesonhisoutgoingphonemessage:'' W hatdoyou calltwo thousand rabbitsrunning in revelse?A receding hare line.''

DoesJayegetspecialtreatm entbecauseofhisgifts?Often he does.The clerk atthe carrentalagency willgive him a gratisupgrade.The chefatthe restaurantw illcuthim a biggersteak.But that' s notw hy he doeswhathe does.

Plainly and simply,Jaye givespeople gifts because itm akes him happy.H e loves seeing the look on people's faces when he hands them an unexpected present; gif-t-giving also opens the doorto spirited conversationsw hereverhe goes. 1, too, practice gift-giving.And w hile l don't give gifts to

strangersasfrequently asJayedoes,ltry notto 1etaweek go by w ithout giving presents to m y friends, associates, clients, and

prospects.lenjoy celebrating ourrelationships.

My two rulesofgift-giving:(1)Give the bestgiftpossible, and (2)personalizethegiftasmuch asyoucan. G IV E T H E BEST G IFT PO SSIBLE Perhaps buying a friend a Rolex is overkill,but buying him the Rolex ofpastriesisn' t!

GlvE TI -IE BEST Gly' r POSSIBLE

127

W hen a friend invites my fam ily and m e over for dinner,w e stop at the best bakery we can find and load our car with the finestpies and cakesthey have in the shop.W hen w e pullup to m y friend' shom e,itcan be quite a sight.M y car doorsopen,and w e five Bauers pile out,each holding a rem arkable cheesecake,a key lim e pie,ora linzertorte. C an my friend,his fam ily,and my fam ily eat a11thatpastry? M aybe not.Butthe pastry isbeside the point.W e bring these fine cakes to show m y hiend that he deserves the best.W e bring abundance to show an abundance ofcaring and gratitude forhim . T he pastries he can always give aw ay to neighbors.lt' sw hat the quality of those pastries sym bolizes that' s im portant.W hen you're looking forgifts,alw ayslook forthe best,even ifyou don' t think you can afford it.You m ightbe surprised. 1'11give friends and associatesgiftsfrom X ffanyk.lhand them a X ffany'sbox,they open itand find a gold pen or a m oney clip engraved w ith their initials.The giftprobably costm e one hundred dollars,buttheX ffany' snam e elevatesitin theireyes.W hen they see theirgift,they feelgood about m e,them selves,and our friendship. O fcourse,spending heavy-duty m oney is som etim es appropriate.

A colleague ofm ine,D avid Stahl,w anted to thank an executive w ho had given him tens of thousands of dollars w orth of business.Stahlheard thatthe executive and hisfam ily were going

on vacation toJamaica.W ithoutsaying aword,Stahlhired aprivate tourguide forthe fam ily. W hen their plane landed,a lim o m et them ,and the guide stepped out and told the fam ily thatStahlhad hired him forthe duration of their trip.The fam ily w ere stunned. During their stay on the island, the guide chauffeured them , pointed out sites,and broughtthem to the bestplaces on the island know n only to locals.

(Somebusinessesfrown onsuch extravagantgifts,soifyou're going to use a strategy sim ilarto Stahlk,it' sbestto check w ith the

giftee' semployerfirst.)

TH E POW ER OF GIFTS

PERSO N A LIZE T H E G IFT A S M U C H A S YO U C AN ljustmentioned how lgetfriends'initialsengraved on the pens and clips lbuy forthem .That' s one w ay to personalize a gift.lt show s them thatyou puteffortand thoughtinto whatyou gave them ;there are m any otherw aysto do that. O ne of m y favorites is to create a gift as the recipient w atches.lalw ays carry sheets oforigam ipaper,and lcan fold a

horse,alocking jewelry box,orafunctioning jack-in-the-box on the spot.Seeing the craftsm anship lput into the piece m akes it special.The person understands l've invested tim e and effort to m ake herhappy,to give hersom ething lasting. O nce she sees m e m ake a figure,she m ay ask ifshe can learn the skill.That' sanothergiftlgive.Assoon asshe asks,we sitside by side,ltake a sheetofpaper,lhand her another,and we conductan im prom ptu folding lesson. lf the figure l' ve created is too intricate for her to learn in a single sitting,lgo hom e and shoota zo-m inute video,giving her detailed instructions on how to fold the piece. ln the video, l

m akesure she understandsthatlm adethetapejustforher.lcall herby nam e.lreferback to thingsw e discussed. Personalization doesn'tstop w ith the giftitself.The w ay you presentthe giftis im portant. ln m y briefcase lcarry a six-inch Lucite display case.W hen l'm finished folding a piece oforigam iforsom eone,lputitin the display case and give itto her as a little work ofartin herhonor.

lflshootavideo,ldon'tjustm ailitin aplain case.laffix a beautifulsnapshot ofm y fam ily to the case and w rap it in silver tissue paper,sealing it in a sleek black box.The gift' s container says asm uch aboutourfriendship asthe giftitselfdoes. Som etim esthe elegance ofthegiftand the effortyou putinto itare secondary to the tim elinessofthe gift.You m ustdevelop an ear for people' s problem s and a can-do attitude on how to solve those problem s. M y co-author,M ark Levy,had aproblem w ith astiffdeadline. A TV show' s staffercalled and said they w anted to interview him

H ow cAx Yo u APPLY TI -IESE PItlxclpLEs?

the nextevening aboutone ofhisbooks.M ark had neverbefore appeared on television,knew lhad,and phoned to ask m e w hich colorsworked on cam era. Rather than leaving anything to chance, l sent him an overnightpackage containing the appropriate handkerchief,cuff

links,and shirt(ithelpsto havefriendsyoursize).A11hehad to do w as open the box,iron the cottons,and put them on w ith a suit,and hew asTv-ready.lcould have spenta1otoftim e talking to M ark abouthow to dress and notto dress,butlknew lhad the answ erforhim a11ready. You m ustbe ready to help yourhiends and colleaguesin any w ay you can.G ive them the shirt offyour back,the w atch off yourw rist,ora contactfrom yourRolodex.lfyou' re notprepared to help them ,you shouldn'tassociate with them .

H O W CA N YO U APPLY T H ESE PRIN C IPLES? First,getinto the gift-giving habit.M ake it a point to give gifts tw o,three,fourtim esaw eek.lt'11help you asm uch asithelpsthe people w ho receive your gifts.You' llfeelbetter aboutyour life because you' ll be focusing on other people and how to m ake them happy. Second,start sm all.You needn't spend thousands of dollals to buy the services of a private tour guide.A dozen bagels would brighten up theday atmostoffices,so why notbring them youlself?

Third,give giftsto strangers.You can either do whatJaye does,and give sm allitem s at random m om ents,or do what ldo and use a m echanism to change the m om ent.Rem em ber,a trick,

ajoke,and akind word aregifts,too.W henyou look forwaysto be kind to strangers,the w orld seem s a friendlierplace.

Y

Backroom 'llps IorG iving G ilts

+ W hen you give gifts to adults,rem em berto bring som ething fortheir children,too:a doll,a coloring book,a baseballbat. T he parentsw illappreciate it.

TI-IE Pow El t oy Gly' rs

+ D on'texpectto receive anything in return.You're giving as a m eans of celebrating friendship and life. lf people w ant to give you som ething in return,1etthem .Butdon' t m ake them feelobligated.lfyou do,the giftceases to be a gift and instead becom es atransaction.

A Transformation M echanism: The Cork in the Bottle The Stene Yourun a callcenterand are trying to win businessfrom Tommy,the ownerofa health-club chain.So far,though,you/ve used aIIyour usualstrategies,and nothing seemsto work. You/ve talked with him abouthisprobl em:how histelephone salespeople are overwhelmed and slipping.You/ve told him about yourservice'sfeaturesand benefits.You/ve smoked outand an-

swered hisobiections.You/vewalked him throughyourtestimoni al book.Now,you/re showing him a graph showing yourcall -load capacify asyou wine and dine him ata French restaurant.Stillnothing. Tommy tellsyouhow hestarted the company with a singl e club, builtitinto a 190-cIub giant,and hasalwayssol ved hisproblems inhouse.Outsourcing isneversomething he seriously considered.Time fora mechanism. Youpourthe Iastofthewine into hisglassand putthe empty bottI e and itscorkin frontofhim .Youaskhim ifhe/llplay a game:zsee ifyou can fitthe corkinside the bottl e.' W ith a Iittleeffort,Tommy succeeds. zzNow,extractthe corkwithoutbreaking the bottle.' zzlsthatpossiblek' 'he asks. zzAbsolutel y,''yousay.Tommy isgame to tl ' y.

(continoed)

H OW CAN YO U APPLY THESE PRINCIPLES?

(Continoed) Heshakesand spinsthe bottle;the corkstaysput.He smacksit on itsbottom;still,the corkremains.He flicksthe bottle as ifhe were casting with a rod and reel;the corkdoesn'tbudge. zzIgi ve up.''

zzl -lave you exhausted aIIthe possibili tiesk' ' zzIhave'' ''Tommy,Ithinkyou/ve exhausted the possibilitiesbased upon whatyou see asyourresources.I'm here to tellyouthatthe resources atyourdisposalare much greaterthanyou think.'' So saying,you remove the c10th napkin from yourIap and fwistit into a tightlywound rope.Youthen push itthroughthe neckofthe bottl e,into the main chamber.Inside the bottl e,the end ofthe napkin partially unwinds. Younow shake the bottle untilthecorkgetscaughtinthefoldsat the end ofthe napkin,and thenyoustartto pullup the napkin.The cork ridesalong in it,compresseswhen itreachesthe bottle'sneck, and comesfree witha tug. ''Tommy,Ididn'tdo thatto show you up orshow off.Idid itto demonstrate thatitisn'tcheating to use toolsoutsideyournormal ones.Iknow youbuiltyourbusinessonyourown.And itwillal w ays be yourbusiness.You're incontrol.Butifyou ignore toolsthatcan help yourrevenuesgrow painl essly,you're hindering yourselfand hurting yourcompany.' He Iooksatyou,the bottle,the cork,and smiles.

Behlnd the Stene The method worksasdescribed in 'The Scene.'To recap:Takeyour napkin,hold itby itsends,and fwirlituntilitfwiststogetherIike the strandsofa rope.Then,thread the napkinthrough the bottl e'sneck, into the bottle'smain chamber,and shake the bottl e untilthe corkgets

caughtinthe napkin(Figure 11.1).Finally,withdraw thenapkinand thecorktogether(Figure 11.2). (continoed)

THE POW EZ O F GIFTS

q

('

+

J

# 1 N* .+/ ' v

h

'

. '

w

( C

Figure 11.1 Shake bottled cork onto napkin.

Figure 11.2 W ithdraw napkin and corktogether.

(Continved) Y

Backroom ' Tlps forthe Cork in the Bottle

* To getthe cork into the boltle spectqtorsmqytry to wedge itpqst the neckwith clkni fe orclspoon hclndl e.Letthem .I fI xssible in.

corrxxclte this prclgmcltism into yourpitch (''You were prclcti ccll enough to use the kni fe even though Iclidn'tmention the knife. Thclt's gccd .M clny m ople set up blccks for themsel ves thcl t

shouldn'texist./') * The nqpkin should be mclde of(r10th clncll:xlsti ff.Flimsy nqpkins mcl y work butthey requiregreclterpclti ence clncleffort * The corkneedsto si tIengthwiseonthe nqpkin otherwise itwillfclll when you pulli tthrough the neck.A fqiled qltemptorlwo will show youwhqtImeqn.

SO LID PRO O F

fpeople alw ays believed w hatyou said,persuasion w ould be a snap.You'd m ake an offer,and the otherperson w ould ac-

ceptorrejectit,based upon themeritsoftheoffer.Butthat' s notthe way ofthe w orld.People are suspicious.

The/resuspiciousforanumberofreasons:Theydon' tknow you;they think yourjudgmentisoff;they don'tbelieveyou have theirinterests at heart.W hatever the reason behind their suspicions,you m ustdealw ith itoryou'llhave no chance ofpersuading them .The w ay to dealw ith itisto prove yourclaim s asbest you can.Proofcan take m any form s. A s l discussed in Chapter 9,m y favorite form ofproof is to allow people to sam ple m y offer.W hen you give sam ples,there' s little confusion.The otherparty knowsw hatit' s getting and can m ake a decision based upon experience. Som etim es,though,sam ples aren'tpossible.ln thatcase,you need otherform sofproofto back up yourargum ents.

SOLID Plko oy

W hatare the bestform sofproof? Below are tw elve.Som e of these substantiate who you are,and others focus on substantiating youroffer.

C LIEN T LISTS W e're know n forw hom w e associate with.lfyou associate w ith prestigious individuals and com panies,you should have a listof those individualsand com paniesathand.lfthatlistislong,putit in alphabeticalorderfor easy reading.lf that list is short,forget alphabeticalorder and lead w ith your best nam es.You w antthe person you're influencing to think,'lfhe'sgood enough for D isney and lntel,he' sgood enough form e.'' C onsider dividing your list into client classifications.For instance,ifyou sellrealestate,you m ight have a listbroken dow n into residentialand com m ercialproperties.You could even divide the list further. Residential properties could be separated by neighborhood,and com m ercialpropertiescould be separated by industry type. W hy go to thistrouble? Because you wantto m ake an obvious point:H elping your prospect willbe easy because youke helped otherpeople like him m any tim esbefore.Yourclientlistgivesyour prospectconfidence.lfyou presentan undifferentiated listto him , he m ay notgetyourpoint.You m ustspoon-feed him .

C LIEN T TESTIM O N IALS W hen a client appreciates your w ork, ask her for a form alen-

dorsement.She can write it,oryou can jotdown herwordsand thoughts,write the endorsem entyourself,and send itto herfor approval. H ow should the finished letterread? Try this three-partstory form ula: T he first third describes the problem that gotyour client to hireyou.

CLIEN T TESTII VIO NIALS

T he second third talks aboutyou and yoursolution. T he finalthird show sthe clientbenefiting from yoursolution. H ere' s a sam ple letterusing thatform ula: To whom itmay concern: Tw o years ago,1was a11butfinished with my consulting business.M y problem? 1couldn' tfind theproperbalancebetween marketing my service and.doing the workclientshired meto d0.W hen 1focused on marketing,my clientloadsuffered.W hen 1focused on my clientloadvmy marketing dried up.1wasread. y to return to the 9-to-5 world. . Thenr1 chanced upon an article by Harry Kellar on how to structure sm allbusinesses so ow ners don' t feeltrapped in them .1 liked whathe said. rso 1hired him .W ithin a m onthrhe had.my entire operation system atized.1had.systemsforattracting customersr system sforgetting thework ctonersystem sforbilling. The upshot? l' ve never felt m ore organized and.relaxed in my life.N owr1havetim eenough togetnew clientsrand.d. ow ork that' s good enough tokeep my old.clientshappy.Since 1adopted H arry' s

systemsrmybusinesshaspulled inanadditional$31JOOOJwhich is 28 percentoverwhat1pulled in during thisperiod lastyear.

A notherw ay to structure atestim onialisto usew hatm arketer Sean D 'Souzacalls a''reverse testim onial.''Thatis,you ask theendorserto begin hisletterwith honestdoubtbefore praising you: To whom itmay concern: 1have hired severalso-called expertsto help m e straighten out my business.They usually have a few decenticteasrbutnothing to warranttheirexpense ormy tim e. SoJwhen 1saw H arry Kellar' sarticle aboutsystematizing your businessr1wasintriguedby hisinsightsrbutwashesitantto call.Finallyrthoughr1relented.Thank goodness1did....

W hy use thisdoubting form at? Because people are suspicious! lfa11yourtestim onialsshow you delivering the m oon,no one w ill

soLlo Plto oy

believe you.People willthink thatthe endorsers are your friends and w illsay anything to m ake you look good. W hen the endorser opens with doubt,it puts him and the reader in the sam e place.ln essence,the endorser is telling the

reader,'Hey,l'm justlike you.l've been biton the buttbefore, and ldidn' tw antithappening again.''O nly afterestablishing this com m on ground does the endorserm ove into hisproblem ,your

solution,and the benefitsheenjoyed. Besides having w ritten testim onials, consider having endorsers tape audio orvideo testim onials.You can use either form aton a website orfora prom otionalvideo thatyou m ailoutto prospects.

C ELEBRIT Y EN D O RSEM EN T S W hen a celebrity endorsesyourw ork,you' re borrow ing from his or her prestige.lfhe' s known forbeing innovative,you,too,becom e know n as innovative.lf she' s known as a brilliantinvestor, you becom e know n as a m arketwizard. H ow do you geta celebrity endorsem ent? You can pay forit,

asNike doeswhen ithiresDerekleterto pitch itssneakers.Or,if yourw ork w arrants it,you can approach a celebrity yourselfand see ifhe'llgive you afree thum bsup.

O fcourse,ifyou approach a celebrity like Jeter,good luck. H e no doubt has an arm y ofm anagers,public relations people, and office staffblocking him from casualinquiries.Butcelebrities in less-visible fields,such as a top scientistwho m ightbe willing to praise yourresearch paper,are easierto reach.

A SSO C IATIO N A N D O RG AN IZATIO N M EM BERSH IPS A n of-ficial-looking logo m akes everyone sit up and take notice: '' R ecom m ended by the Am erican H ea1th Association/'' 'Sanctioned by the W orld Anim alSociety/'''Praised by the League of

sultvEàzItEsul-lag

U nion W orkers.'Even when weke never heard ofthe organization,w e assum e thatitdem andsa certain standard ofexcellence. lf you are a m em ber of an association or organization that' s pertinentto yourfield,parade thatm em bership on your business card,w ebsite,and in yourm arketing m aterials.

lfyou aren' tamemberofany such organization,considerjoining one so thatyou can borrow from itsperceived respectability.

EX PERT O PIN IO N Seek outexpertcom m entary substantiating your claim s.lfyou're selling a drug thatcuresinsom nia,find outw hatthe surgeon general says about your drug' s properties.lf you're pushing an ergonom ic office chair,find outwhatthe W harton Business School says aboutcom fortand w orkplace perform ance.

Scoutnewspapers and trade journalsfor quotes.W hen you find them ,m ark dow n the nam e ofthe people who said them and the sources they cam e from .lfprospects question you aboutthe validity ofa statem ent,you w antto be able to steerthem to your source .

W hen you find one good expert opinion, don't stop there. Build abacklog ofevidence.

Also,don'tjustfind experts to back up one ortwo ofyour points.M ake a list of a11your key points,and find convincing quotesforeach. lfyou run across expertopinion thatcontradicts yourclaim s, record that dissenting opinion,too.Then,think abouthow you w illpunch holesin itifsom eone bringsitup to you.

SU RV EY RESU LT S People takesurveysand opinion pollson every subject:W ho are you voting for? H ow hasthe tax hike affected you? W hich brand ofsham poo do you use? H ow m any petsdo you own? Find a reliable survey,and use the data to supportyourpointofview.

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lfyou can'tfind such a survey,considerconducting yourow n street poll.lt isn't difficult.C om e up w ith five questions about youroffering,stop people on the street,and fire the questions at them .Record the num berofpeople you stopped,as wellastheir answ ers.

W hen you use yourfindingsto back up a pointin yourpitch, don' ttry to hide yourm ethod.Tellthe otherperson exactly w hat you did:'M y staffconducted a streetpoll.They took clipboards, and stopped people on 57th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.They asked five questions.Two hundred and eightpeople responded.H ere are the results.''Yourgum ption and willingness to testyourideasshould im pressthe otherperson.

T H E REA L REA SO N W H Y A ttim es,people willbe suspiciousbecause they don' tunderstand how you stand to benefitfrom a proposed deal.They reason:H is

ojjersoggkstoo. 4/00;ttobetrge.Obviously llekt /of' l g toyetsometbiny 0gtoj tllfsijeal,/?gtJcan' tjèure0gtf . pllt gt.Jtlog' tf .pt ggttoi jealf. pftllsorleogef z'/?o bii jestllfe l g sfrom rle. Yourjob,then,isto tellthe person why you're doing what you're doing. -

lfyou're selling $300 therm alcoats for$65,take outan ad that says:'These are the w arm est coats you can find.l bought 150 of them at the beginning of the season,figuring we w ere going to have a winteras cold aslastyeark.Surprise!lt' s been 50 degrees m ost days,w hich has saved m y back from shoveling show buthas hurt my pocketbook.H ere' s yourchance to grab a

bargain.l'm selling these $300 coats for $65 so lcan free up m oney formy spring stock.'' O n the trade-show floor,lregularly provide crowdswith reasons why m y client' s product is priced or built the w ay it is: ''Ladies and gentlem en,today lw ant to give you a free copy of

oursoftware.ltsretailprice? $199.W hy would lwantto give aw ay such an expensive product?

SPECIFICITY

'' Frankly,our m arketing stinks.W e don' t put enough m oney into the departm ent.lnstead,w e putthe lion' s share ofourfunds into research and developm ent.That' swhy we m ake such asuperiorproduct. '' W e give you the product,and we hope itim pressesyou.lfit im pressesyou,we're betting thatyou'lltellyourfriends. ''H ow m any ofyou w antto dealw ith a com pany thatdoesn' t know how to m arketbutm akesthe bestsoftw are outthere and is w illing to give itaw ay to create a grassrootsm arketing cam paign? Raise yourhandsl'' You don't have to be in a sales situation to use the reason w hy strategy.ln fact,parentsuse ita11the tim ew ith theirunruly children. T he otherday,lw as sitting in a restaurant and saw a m other arguing w ith herthree-year-old daughter.The child w as playing inches aw ay from the closed kitchen door. ''G et aw ay from there/''the m other said.The daughter ignored her. ''G et aw ay/''the m other continued ''or the door willhit you and we'llhave to take you to the doctor for stitches.''The child m oved.

SPEC IFIC IT Y W hich ofthese tw o statem entssoundsm ore credible? A . ''Send yourchild to ourhigh school.W e have high academ ic standards.'' B. ''Send yourchild to ourhigh school.Forthe pastthree years, the Board of Education has ranked us in the nation' s top fifteen,in term s ofSAT scores.'' T he obvious answ er:B.The language in B isspecific and tangible.ltcreates a picture in people' s m inds and has facts thatcan be corroborated.

SOLID Plto oy

People get suspicious when you speak in generalities.They think you're lying- or at the very least, you m ay not have thoughtthingsoutclearly.Try,then,to quantify. D on'tsay ''O urprocessors are fast.''Say ''O urprocessors are tw enty-seven percentfasterthan anyone else' sin the industry.'' D on' tsay,'' M y financialplanning servicecan help you grow your m oney.'Say,'' M y financialplanning service hasgiven m y clientsan averageyearly return on theirm oney ofseventeen percent.''

Again,thisruledoesn' tjustapply to business.Specificity makes forpersuasive com m unication,no m atterw hatthe situation. Suppose w eke agreed to go to lunch,and lw antto steeryou tow ard eating ltalian food.lm ightsay:'' W e have a num berofoptions.W e could go G reek,Chinese,deli.O rw e could go to this

ltalian place,Luigik,which Newsi jay said hasthe besthomem ade pasta on the lsland,and a m eat lasagna to die fon''Even if you

didn' t norm ally enjoy pasta or lasagna,you' d have to consider Luigi' s as an option given the weightofmy description.

C A SE STU D IES A case study is a story aboutone ofyour successes.You can deliver it in m inutes or seconds,depending upon the situation.ln fact,it' s a good idea to prepare 170th long and short versions of yourcase studies,so you're able to persuade in any circum stance. Say you sella C D -RO M package thatteachesbusinesspeople how to attractclients.Yourshortversion:'Charlene M illerowns a hairsalon thatserviced an average ofone hundred seventy-five

clientsaweek.She boughtmy CD package and applied justtwo techniques from it. W ithin thirty days, her w eekly client load

jumped twelve percent,to one hundred ninety-eight clients a week,and isholding steady.Thatjump bringsheran additional fourteen hundred and fifty dollarsa week.' A long version w ould sound m uch the sam e,only w ith m ore detail.Perhapsyou'd discuss M iller' s frustration athaving a stagnantbusinessforfouryears.Then you'd segue into how she used

PI -IOTOG RAPI-IS

yourtechniques.Finally,you'd talk aboutthe house she w asable to buy based upon the increased revenue your product helped bring in. C ase studies follow the sam e form at as a good testim onial. Begin w ith the problem yourclientw asexperiencing.D iscussthe

solutionyou applied.End with thebenefitstheclientnow enjoys. A n im portant point:H ave different studies for each of your persuasion points.For instance,one study m ightfocuson the increased revenue your product created for your client,while another study w ould highlight how your product im proved your client' sstanding in herindustry.

PH O T O G RAPH S A ttrade shows,lcreate crowds of50 to 8OO people five tim es a day,and lhave been doing so fortw elve years.D o the m ath.l've created m illionsofleadsform y clients. Still,w hen lcold-callon anew com pany,lusually have to start from scratch.The person l'm trying to influencedoesn' tknow m e. A s far as he' s concerned,everything ltell him is puffery.That' s w hen lpulloutmy photographs;they actasdevastating proof. U sually,lcarry a m inim um of 20 crowd shots.Som etim es,l pack asm any as 4O.O bviously,ldon'texpecthim to study each shot. lnstead, l use the cum ulative num ber of shots to overw helm him . A crowd thatlbuiltthree years ago in lndiacan help m e land a gig today in Las Vegas,if l've captured iton film .lfyou're not using photographs to prove your points,you're m issing out on one ofthe m ostconvincing piecesofevidence possible. C arry a digitalcam eraw ith you.W hen a clientis happy w ith your service,take his picture.lfyou're a hairdresser,take before and afterpicturesofyourclients.lfyou' re an intellectualproperty lawyer,take picturesofyourclient' s book in the w indow ofthe local bookstore.lfyou're a politician,take pictures of the new roadsyou helped to getbuilt.

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N aturally,you can also use photographs as a m eans ofpersuading som eone ayainstfollow ing acourse ofaction. For instance, if your firm m anufactures industrial-strength steel, and you're fighting for a contract,carry pictures of w hat your com petitor' s low er-grade steel looks like after it' s been stressed.

G U A RAN TEES M any businesspeople don't give guarantees because they don' t understand them .Your guarantee isn't offered for your client' s sake.lt' s foryour sake.lf you have a strong guarantee for your product or service,you w ill m ake m ore m oney.W hy? Because prospects are less aptto sit on the fence w hen they know thata w rong decision w on'tcostthem . H ere' s m y trade-show guarantee: lf1don' tdeliverforyouryou don' toweme adime.That' saprom ise no oneelse in my industry m akes. 1willcome to yourtrad. e shom jam the aisleswith peoplerdeliveryourmain messagerand.com pelthe crowd to leavetheircontact inform ation at your 1700th. l)y the time 1 finish my first performanceryou willbe awash with prospects who desperately wantyou to contactthem .ltw illbe an embarrassmentofrichesfor you.

And.ifJforwhateverreasonryou're displeased w ith theresultsof my firstperformancergive me ahug and.send me on my way.That firstperformance willhave been my giftto you. That' show confident1am that1can deliveronmy prom ise.

Pretty powerful,don' t you think? W hen people hear it,the dealis done.They' re w illing to risk tensofthousandsofdollarsto bring m e in because in the end theirrisk isnil.

O fcourse,giving back a11themoney isjustone form ofguarantee.You can also refund part of the m oney, redo your w ork untilthe clientissatisfied,and so forth.

PRO PS

Find a guarantee that you can live with and that would be m eaningfulto yourclients,and use it.

PRO PS Propshelp provide proofby giving three-dim ensionalsubstance to a claim .Supposeyou produce anewsletterthatcondensesbusiness booksforexecutives.Each m onth,you take three im portantbooks, abstracttheirm ain concepts,and send those abstractsto yourreadership in a lo-page newsletter.Your claim ? '' G et 1,000 pages of businessideasin 10 pagesl''H ow do you show proof? Sim ple. D uring your presentation,rem ove three fat business books from yourcase and slam them down on the table asastack.Then, rem ove one of your skinny newsletters and put it next to the books.The difference in size w ill be startling, and it w ill give youraudience an im age they'llrem em ber. H ow else could you use propswith yournew sletter? lm agine this:Afteryou show the fat books and your skinny newsletter, you could pass them out for exam ination.The audience w ould discoverthateach w as highlighted in yellow m arker. You'd explain that m onths before,you had clients highlight the concepts they found im portant. As your audience paged through the books,they'd see thatthere were relatively few passages highlighted.ln fact,no m ore than 2 percentofthe textw as in yellow.Butw hataboutyournew sletter? That' sadifferentstory. Yournewsletterisso dense w ith valuable inform ation that90 percent of it is highlighted in yellow.The paper looks like it' s glow ing. A s a further proof,you could have m em bers ofthe audience read afew highlighted passagesfrom a book,and then read a sim ilar section from your newsletter.This would show them that there' sno lossofcom prehension from one to the other. U sing props as proofis a 1otlike giving sam ples,only there can be a 1ot m ore dram a involved.For instance,M ark Levy,m y co-author,once heard aspeaker tellthe follow ing story:

SOLID Plko oy

ln the 196Os,N ew York City w asplagued by sm ashed parking m eters.Vandals would break the glassw indows atop each m eter,

justforkicks.Fixing themeterscostthecity afortune. A tthattim e,thick,unbreakable plastic w as a relatively new invention. H ow ever, the speaker had a friend w ho m anufactured it,and he had a piece m ade that m im icked the parkingm eterglass. T he speaker booked an appointm ent w ith a city official, w alked into his office with a sack over his shoulder,opened the sack,and pulled outa plastic window.Then he rem oved a sledgeham m er from the sack and ham m ered aw ay at the plastic. lt w ouldn' t break.T he speaker even gave the ham m er to the official,and asked him to try to break the plastic. Because of thatdem onstration,the speakergot a contractto putplastic w indow s into every city parking m eter.H is props- a sack,a sledgeham m er,and a plastic w indow- helped dram atize and prove whatw ould have been tepid claim sw ithoutthem .

Y

Backroom 'llps IorProviding Prool

+ W hile you should collectabundantproofsubstantiating your claim s,it' snota good idea to parade itall.Be selective. Show proof for claim s that m ake a difference to your prospect.lfyou sellcars and the prospectdoesn' t care about trunk space,you needn't talk about the cubic units of space yourcar' s trunk holds,orbrandish a photograph ofitloaded fora tw o-week cam ping trip. H owever,ifhe'sconcerned aboutthedurability ofthe car, supportthose claim sw ith proof.H and him letters from custom ers whoke driven the sam e car 250,000 m iles, and take him to an industry w atchdog'swebsite thatdiscussesthe car' s toughness. + Rem em ber,you need proofsubstantiating you and youroffering.lf the prospect thinks you're okay,but your offering is w eak,she won' ttakeyou up on yourproposition.T he inverse

PIAO PS

is also true:lfyouroffering looks good,butyou com e across asshadowy,she won' tdealw ith you. T he prospectm ustknow thatyou are an upstanding citizen,thatyourofferisstrong and ethical,and thatyou're proposing a win/win transaction. # Showing proofestablishes your trustw orthiness.Anotherw ay to establish trustw orthiness is by adm itting to som e sm all deficitin yourproductorservice.Thisisaparticularly effective strategy,when you contrastyourweaknessw ith yourstrength.

An example,for aJeep salesperson:''lfyou want speed, theJeep isnotthecarforyou.Takealook atitsspeedometer. lt only goes up to eighty-five m iles per hour.lfyou w ant to blow by people on the highw ay,you'll be m iserable.H ow ever,ifyou w anta durable car,a carthatthe army trustsw ith soldiers and supplies during w artim e,then this is w hat you w antto ow n.''

A Transformation M echanism: The Needle through the Balloon The Stene Youare an outside consultant,and an organi zation hashired youto teachtheirmanagersa specific probl em-solving methodology at whichyou're expert.From the start,though,you can tellthatthemanagershave unrealistic expectations. They/ve heard a Iotaboutyourmethodol ogy,and they thinkthat once they Iearn it,the hard work isover- theirorgani zationalprobIemswillvanish withouteffortorfollow-up.Thatkind ofbeliefspells disaster.Youwantto break them ofitfrom the get-go. From yourbriefcase,you removeand inflatea red ball oon.You also pullouta blackmarker.

(continoed)

SOLID PRO OF

(Continoed) Yousay:zBefore wegettoo deep into thisproblem-solving method,Iwantto know whatsome ofyou are going to use itfor. Don'tbe shy.Yelloutyouranswers.' O ne managersays,zIwantto use itto develop a system that/ll curtailemployee Iateness in mydepartment.''O nthe balloon,you write zzEmPIoyee Lateness.'' Feopleyelloutotherproblems:zzcostOverruns,''Sloppy Code,' zzhxl o New M arkets.''Youwrite eachonthe balloon in bold Ietters. zzThese are some ofyourorganizationalproblems,'you say as youtossthe ball oon into the air.zAnd here isyourstarting pointfor solutions....'Before the ball oon comesdown,you reach into your case and producea Iong,silverneedle. Youcontinue:zzThisneedle representsthe problem-solving methodol ogy.Now,it'snota cure-all.Once you/ ve Iearned it,thatdoesn't meanyourprobl emswillwash awaydownthe drain,no fuss,no muss.Using thismethodology requiresthoughtand creativify.Italso requirespersistence.You can apply itonce ...'' Asyouspeak,yougently push the needl e throughoneside ofthe balloon and outtheother.Amazingl y,itdoesn'tpop. '' . . . an d nothing happens.Youcanappl y ittwice ...'' Again,you push the needl e through the balloon.Again,no pop. '' . . . an d stillnothing happens.Yourproblemsdon'tseem to change.Butit'sthe steady,continuousapplicationofthe method that shows results.'' So saying,youtossthe balloon high in the airand allow itto descend onto the pointofthe needle.Instantly,itbursts. The managersIaugh and cl ap.They I ove yourtrick.M ore important,they're in a differentframe ofmind.A frame ofmind thatpre. paresthem forthe hard workahead.

(continoed)

PZO PS

(Continved) Behind 'lve scene How cltxsitwork?The bcllcxx hclsfcvrsecretone.inch pi ecesoftrclns.

pclrenttcll x clffi xeclto i t(Figure 12.1).' rhesepi ecesqren'tplqced qtop one clnother.Instecld eclch isstuckto cldi fferentpclrtofthe bclll con. W hen m uplunge

theneedle in ( Fi gure 12.2),yougothrough one piece oftclm . W hen you push the needl e outtheother side yougo throughcl differentpi ece oftclm . The bcllloon won't breclkbeccluse the ' tclpe clutomcl ti cclll y

. -

/ -'

seclIstheholesbehind

*'

the needle. W hen m u/re v. roajyfor( asoconcl ' ' . penetrclti on,stclb the needl e throughthe re. Fi mclining unhcl rmed gure 12.1 A secretpiece ofclear ' t piecesoftcl pe. ape. T o finishthe mechcl. nism,tossthe bclll oon up inthe clir clnclI eti t descendonto the needl e.Chclncescl re the needl e'spointwillcome in contcl ctwith cln untclm clsectionofthe bcllloon cclusing i rto burst

(continved)

SOLID P2OOF

w

k.

.!

e!

Figure 12.2 Flunge the needle into the balloon.

(Continved) Y

Backroom 'llps forthe N eedle through the

Balloon * To prepqre the bqllcon inflqte it qppl y the tqpe,qnd deflqte i t. You mcly wclntto pclck i tin clbclg ofpclrly bcllloons so itseems thcl tyou/vegrclbbed clbclllooncltrclndom.Becclrefulthough not to I ose trcl ckofyourgimm i cked bcllloon. * Ifyourneedl e hclsclneyeletcltoneend you ccln clltclch clthi n col. ored riblxm to i t whi ch clclclsvisi bilily clnclcltouch ofclclssto the m netrcltions.

* Ifm u onl y wclntto sti ck the needle through once then you only need clffixtwo pi ecesoftcll x to the bclll oon. * You ccl n cllso m rform this mechqnism wi th one piece oftcl pe. Merely stclb the needle into the tcll x cl nclw i thdrclw i twithout going cl11the wcly through the bqlloon.

(continved)

PRO PS

(Continoed) + How many timescanyousticktheneedlethrougha piece oftape? O nce.One push weakens the integrity ofthe tape.Two pushes andyou'llusually pop the balloon. The tapedoesn'tmake the balloon Ieakproof.W hatitdoesis dramatically slow the Ieak.The tape all owsthe balloon to graduall y defl ate overthe course ofhours. + How can you spotthe tapewhen you need to? Up close,the tape isrelativel y easy to see.From a distance ofa couple ofyardsor more,it'sinvisible. Ifyou/reconcerned aboutspotting thetape,though,reali zethe writing on the balloonwillhel p you I ocate it.W henyou printover the tape,the inkinyourmarkerwillhave a slightl y differentI ook. # It's possible thatthe balloon willbreak,even ifyou hitthe tape perfectl y.Ifthathappens,rememberyourtraining:Keep going. Incorporate whathappens into yourpatter:'You can appl y

theproblem-solvingmethodologyonce ...(Pop/)...and I ookat thatlAIIyourproblemsdissipate into thin air.Butthat' s only one way to Iookatit.Youalso need to Iookatwhatdid the popping. The needle,orin ourcase,the problem-solving methodol ogy.You mustfirstunderstand the methodology insideand out,then ...' W hen you present,don'tadmitmistakes.Take yourmistake and make itwork.

D Y N A M IC C LA RIT Y

1can teach anybod. y how to getwhat they want out oflife. The problem is that 1can' t find anybod. y who can tell me w hatthey want. M ark Twain

eing clearaboutwhatyou w antis one ofthe m ostpersuasive qualitiesthere is.lfyou know w hat you're after and are passionate aboutgetting it,yourbattle is halfw on. O ne of the reasons l'm successful at trade show s is because w hatl'm afterisso clearto m e,it' sasifthe im agesw ere painted in burning colors on a billboard a thousand feethigh. lw antto create crow ds that spill into other booths.lw ant those crowdsentertained.lw antm y clientto dom inate the show . T hatkind of clarity helps m e m ake those thingshappen.-r' / ?: Ilfctgresinm. ' )rrlfgt : t( gct( gsterlll/t gtes.lfthe realcrowd isn' tasbig asthe crow d in m y head,lw ork untilitis.lfthe people standing before m e aren't entertained, lswitch what l'm doing until they are.lf m y clientisn' tdom inating the show,lturn up the energy untilthe crow d isbegging form y client' sproductsam ples. .

H ow D o You GET CLEAP. ?

T hatkind ofclarity helps m e to be an influentialpresence to others.A leader. O n the trade-show floor, l lead. l tell strangers where to stand,how to spend their tim e,w hat to think about my client' s product.D oesthism ake m e arrogant? N o,itm akesm e a realist. Everyone wants to be led. That' s w hy organizations have C EO s,film shave directors,and w ork crews have forem en.That' s w hy governm ents exist.L fe can be com plex and daunting.W e can' teach be expertin a11things.lnstead,w e counton leadersto actforus. A tthe trade show,no one proclaim s m e leader.lassum e the role. People listen because l'm not afraid to show that l know w hatl'm talking about,and thatwhatl'm talking aboutisin their bestinterest.lyell.leducate.lchallenge. Everyone w ants to follow som eone who can inspire them w ith a picture of w hat could be. Everyone w ants to be 1ed by som eone w ho can show them how to get there w ithout dying along the w ay. ln your career,you m ust becom e a leader.W hatyou w ant m ustbecom e so clearthat,like am ystic,you have no trouble seeing it.W hatyou w antm ustbecom e so clearthat,like a poet,you have no trouble describing it.lfw hatyou see excitesyou,itw ill excite others.You w illbecom e persuasive because ofyourvision and energy.

H O W D O YO U G ET C LEAR? O ne w ay is to w rite aboutw hatyou w antin detail.ln the book D ret gmsfgto Actfog,author and acting teacher M ilton Katselastells hisstudents: lt' shard to facespecificsrbutyou must.Define everythingrno matter how small it seem s.W rite dow n every detail...lfyou're an actor and.want a 7V seriesrwhat type? ...Don't get into this vague ideaaboutwanting to bea successfulactorrasuccessfulbusi-

DYNAI VIIC CLARITY

nessperson,a successfularchitect.Thatdoesn' tcutit.lt' slike saying,''1justwantacar.You know,a car,any kind.. ''N o,m ake itclear. W hat make? W hatyear? W hat model? W hatcolor? Know what you want.M ake itreal.

D etailshelp you see.G etting specific about aconceptpushes you to experience thatconcept.You m usttake w hatitisyou w ant out ofthe w orld ofthe abstract and renderit in steeland glass, flesh and bone.As Katselas says,''M ake it real.''O nly then can you actupon it.

A notherw ay to getclearisto considerwhatyou w antfrom a new perspective.

lnstead of basing w hat you w ant on your current situation and assum ptions,discoverwhatyou might really want ifyour life were better.Ask yourself:W hat would lw ant if l had no constraints? W hatw ould lw antto do if lcould do it for free? W here' sm y passion? T hese questions m ight sound frivolous.After a11,you probab1y have afam ily,a m ortgage,carpaym ents,and otherreal-world responsibilities.But if you don't fit your passion into your life, you'llregretit. You m ustfollow yourpassion,because you have no choice.A life without passion is a living death.M any people w alk around

dead.They don'tknow whatthe/redoing.They'resick anddepressed.You get depressed w hen you a11yourefforts com e from duty and reflex.D on't m ake that m istake. D on't think survival w hen you could be thinking about creating a kingdom for yourselfand yourfam ily. lfyou say you don'tknow whatyou w ant,you're lying.You're lying oryou' re m aking things hard foryourself.G etting clear on

whatyouwantiseasierthan you think.ltjustmeansasking yourselfquestionsaboutcontributionsyou'd like to m ake,phenom ena you'd like to experience,people you'd like to m eet,and then acting upon youransw ers.

Som e questionsto help you getclear:

H ow D o You GET CLEAR?

W hatprojectsdo youwantto takeon?Do youwantto write books? Build steelsuspension bridges? Curtailfam ine in

Africa? Think about your potential projects in detail. M ake them live.Stay with the im ages untilyou feelthem . W ho do you w antto w ork with? Brains? G o-getters? People w ho do w hatthey're supposed to do w ithoutbeing asked tw ice? W here do you w ant to w ork? lf it' s in a new office,describe thatoffice to yourselfin detail.See the cherry desk.Sm ell the green, leather-backed chair.Look out your window overlooking where? M anhattan? London?Yourbackyard? W hereveryou w antto be,putyouroffice there. O nce youke deeply thought about what you w ant in business,think aboutthe otherparts ofyourlife.W hatdo you w ant foryour fam ily life? Financiallife? W hatwould you like to see? W hat would you like to experience? H ow do you see yourself contributing to the world? D on't look at this as goalsetting.l' m not asking you to set goals,m ake deadlines,write tim elines.There'sno form ality here. l'm asking you to dream aboutwhatyou love and areprepared to do.l'm nottelling you to be balanced in yourw ishing.lfanything,l'm urging you to fallheadlong into yourobsessions. D oing what excites you will m ake you persuasive quicker than any otherm ethod you'llever read about.lfyou know w hat you w antand why you w antit,people willbe draw n to you.Any tacticsyou' llneed to influence them you'llpick up w ithouteffort. You'llpick them up and use them because the resultofusing them w illbe so great. A 11this talk ofspirited clarity rem inds m e ofa story from my co-authorM ark' sbook Accfkeattg/(legfgs.ln it,M ark writesabouta businessm an who w as trying to w in pay raises for his entire departm ent.The problem ?H e had to pitch to ahigh-powered board of directors that included FederalReserve Board Chairm an Alan G reenspan.Asyou can im agine,the thoughtofpresenting before

DYNAM IC CLARITY

one ofthe m ostpow erfulm en in the world had this businessm an shaking in hiswingtips.Buthe w asalso thrilled by the challenge. To prepare for the m eeting,he bought a tablet and a pencil, and for three weeks he practiced pitching in it every night,a1m ostasifhe were writing ascene fora play. H e'd write aboutthe room the pitch w ould take place in,the

argumentshe'd use,and the objectionshe'd face.ln hiswriting, this businessm an pulled no punches.H e had Greenspan fire the

toughestobjections he could think of,and he practiced hisanswers.By the tim e the m eeting rolled around,he feltasifhe had already lived it dozens of tim es, and he had contingencies for anything thatcould happen. T he upshot,ofcourse,is thatthe businessm an won raisesfor everyone in his departm ent.The reason? H e w as clear about w hat he w anted and how to get it. H is fire and his practical preparation m ade him persuasive. To persuade people who don't w ant to be persuaded, you m ust know what result you w ant w ith stark clarity.You m ust know whatbrecisel y you're going afterin any given situation,and in yourcareer as aw hole.

Y

Backroom 'llp IorGetting Clear

+ W hen lask people to tellm e whatthey w ant,they often tell meaboutwhattheywantand wby they wantit.ln mostcases, the w hy isunnecessary. W hen it com es to the things you're passionate about,

knowing why (ifthat' s possible)isn'tgoing to do you any good. lf youke alw ays dream ed of writing a novel,you w rite yournovel.Period.You getconcrete aboutthe type ofnovel you want to w rite,its characters,its plot.You get detailed about the tim es of day you're going to w rite it,and where. You get clear aboutw ho you're going to subm it it to w hen you're done,and how you' re going to increase its chancesof being accepted.You write it.lfitstinks,you rew rite it.

H ow D o You GE'r CLEAP.?

L fe is aboutaction.W hat' sin yourhead doesn' thelp anyone,unlessyou take thatthought,m ake itphysical,and show itto the w orld. lf a11your life you w anted to w rite a novel,what good w ould itdo to discoverthatyou w anted to writeitin orderto be popular, or as a w ay of getting back at that bully who knocked you dow n in firstgrade? lsthatknow ledge going to change your prose? W i11 it alter the list of publishers you'll send the finished m anuscriptto? People spend fartoo m uch tim e on whys,as a m eans of putting offaction.They believe thataslong asthey're thinking about whys, they're doing productive w ork. ln fact,

the/rescared and theywon'tadmitit.Orthey'rescared and they think that digging up m otivations w ill som ehow m ake everything alright.Don' t fallforthose traps.G et clear about w hatyou w ant and do itw ithout delay.You becom e happy and persuasive when you' re m oving forward.

A Transformation M echanism: The Im movable Finger The Stene Youare a sixth-grade history teacher,and yourclassisbegging you notto assi gnthem weekend homeworkabouttheAmerican Revolution.Ofcourse,you know thatthe assignmentisessentialto further theirunderstanding,so youdecide to have somefun with them. ''Iwillnotgive youhomeworkifyou can pass my specialfourquestionquiz.Butifany ofyoumissesevenone question,thewhol e classfail s.Doyouwantto take the quizk' The chil dren Iookatone anotherwithconcern,butthey tellyou to go ahead with it.Afterall,they have nothing to I ose.They begin opening notebooksand taking outpens.

(continoed)

DYNAM IC CLAPJTY

(Continved) ''No,''you scl y.'Thisisn'tthcltkind ofqui z.Ifsnotwri lten.And, clctuclll y it'snotorcllei ther.You score itonyourhclncls.'The children Iookmore concernedthclnbefore ''Iwclntecl chofm uto plqcem urri ghthclnd fl cltonthedesk.Now

curlm urmiddl efi ngeri n so i trestsunderyourpcllm''(Fi gure 13.1). Once they hcl ve theirhclndsm siti oned prom rly youconti nue: ''Firstquestion:The Boston Teq Pqrly tcok plqce inAmericq.If youthinkthcl tstcl tementistrue Iiftyourri ghtthumb.ButE)e cclrefullIf you Ii ftclny ofyourotherfingertipswhil e m u Ii ftyourthumb you/ve fclil ed.AIIri ght give me yourclnswers.''

(continved)

Figure 13.1 Curlmiddle fingerunder hand.

H OW D O YOU GET CLEAR?

(Continoed) AIIthe children proudly Ii fttheirthumbsan inchoffthe deskand are carefulnotto move theirotherfingers.Youcongratulate them on theirschol arship.The BostonTea Farfy did take place in America, and 100 percentofthe classgotthe answerright.Youaskthem to puttheirthumbsdown. ''Second question.FaulRevere cried,'The British are cominglThe Britishare comingl'I fthatstatementistrue,raiseyourpinky.'Again, aIIthe childrencomply.They raise theirpinkiesand place them back onthe table. ''Third question.The ContinentalCongresswasheld in Fhiladelphia.Ifthatstatementistrue,raise yourindex fingen''The children can'tbelieve theirgood fortune.Sucheasy questionslEvery child raisesan index finger,and Iowersitto thetable. ''Thisfourth question isforthe money.Ifyougetitri ght,no homework.The question:GeorgeW ashingtonwasthe firstpresidentofthe United States.Ifyouthinkthatstatementistrue,raise yourring fingen' ' The chil dren thinkthisfinalquestion isa slam dunk,butwaitl: They can'tmove theirfingers.Each child triesto Iifthisorherring finger,butthey aIIfind itimpossibl e withoutIifting theirotherfingers.It's as iftheirring fingersare Iocked in place. They know they/ ve been had,butthe experience ofbeing unable to Iifttheirfingerisa mindblower.They struggle to Iiftit,simul taneously grunting and Iaughing. Ofcourse,they now haveto do theirhomework.Butratherthan feeling scammed by yourmechanism,they feelasifthey've gained a neattrickthey can pullontheirfriendsforthe restoftheirIife.They complete theirhomeworkgladly.

Behlnd the Stene There isno trick.Because ofbiomechanics,humansfind itimpossibl e to move theirring fingerswhen theirmiddle fingersare curled in.Is

(continoed)

DYNAI VIIC CLARITY

(Continoed) therean evolutionary advantage to this?Ifyou know ofone,e-mail me aboutit.

Backroom 'llp Iorthe Imm ovable Finger + This and some ofthe othermechanisms are challenges.You/re challenging spectatorsto do something in orderto wina reward. Youneed to be cautiousabouthow you perform sucha mechanism .You don'twantto do itwith an airofsuperiorify.That would backfire.Instead,perform itwith a twinkle inyoureye. Toward thatend,youwantto makesureyouraudienceknows how to do the mechanism themselves when you're through.You give itto them asa gift,assomething thattheycanal w ayspullout to change the moment,wheneverthey feelitnecessary.

BE D IST IN C T

hen ltold acolleague lhad written thisbook,he asked if it w as hard to decide w hich persuasion techniquesto include.ltold him itwasn' thard at all.W hen l conduct business, l use only a few sim ple techniques;those are the oneslincluded. T he techniques luse are the only ones lneed.They get m e

jobs,wow my crowds,m akem eseven figuresayear.Becauseof them ,l'm leading a life llove.H ow m any m ore techniques do lneed? A ny one of m y techniques could m ake a huge difference in yourlife.lm ention this,reader,because l' m concerned. l'm concerned you m ight start reading aboutthe next strategy,think Jalrea?y 7tgofzqt/ gt gtone,and skip thechapter.Thatwould be a m istake. You m ay already know the following strategy,butyou m ay notbe using itfully.Thisnextone hasdone a 1otform e.lthas,in fact,m ade m e distinct in a crow ded field.The strategy is called positioning.

BE DISTIN CT

W H AT IS PO SITIO N IN G ? lt' sam arketing term coined byA1Riesandlack Troutin the early 197Os,and itrefers to the public' sperception ofa productor service.An exam ple:M ost people perceive Volvo as ''the safe can'' T hat is,w hen consum ers w ant an auto that'llkeep them safe in dire situations,Volvo popsinto to theirm inds. ln m arketing term s,Volvo ofz'gsthe safety position.lfyou had a car com pany and you w anted to com pete in the m arketplace, touting your car as '' the safe car''would be suicide,because your claim would go against the im age your audience already has in their m ind.And people don't change their m inds easily.You'd have to pick anotherattribute to push,and use that asyourproduct' sposition. W hatotherpositions are there? H ere are a few : BM W is positioned as ''the ultim ate driving m achine/'' w hich m eans the carruns like clockwork and givesyou a sm 00th ride. D odge trucks are''ram tough/''w hich m eansthey can takethe kind of abuse pickup trucksare supposed to take.

Jeepsare the originalSU VS,which meansthey setthe standard for a11the SU VSthatfollowed. Each car' s position in the public' s m ind isdefined and distinct. W hen the com paniesthatm ake these vehiclesprom ote them ,they do so by playing up featuresthatfallwithin theircars'attribute.

W H Y PIC K A PO SITIO N ? C om panies adopt positions because having a focused position gives them a better chance of being noticed and rem em bered. W hen a com pany positions its products,it recognizes that in a crow ded,m edia-driven world like ours,theirproductscan'tbe a11 things to a11people. Sure,Volvo could expand itsim age and claim otherattributes asitsstrong points.ltcould design a snazzy new body forone of

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itscars,and m arketitasa roadster.Butw hatwould happen? That im age would confuse the public.They' d see a car whose im age suggests speed,com ing from a com pany w hose im age suggests safety.Those im ages don't m atch.The roadster would failbecause itwould confuse people,and the com pany's overallsafety im age would suffer.lnstead ofm uddying the w aters,Volvo stays w ith safety and sticksw ith being a big fish in a sm allpond. Positioning a product show s that a com pany is realistic.lts nottrying to rule the world.ltshappy to claim apiece ofit.

Positioning isn'tjustforcompanies.lndividualsuse it,too. W hen M ark talksto clients aboutpositioning forindividuals, m y co-author tells the story about how he ended up review ing

sportsbooksforT' /?etiew J'or/t' fv es. H e meta'fv eseditor,senthim awriting sample,and wasinvited to review a book. '' W hatkind ofbooksdo you review ?''the editorasked. '' A ny kind/''said M ark.''lke worked in the book field foradecade,and lcan w rite about any book you send m e.' T he editor then gave M ark a strong lesson in the pow er of positioning for individuals.H e said:''lhave a card file with the nam esofpeople w ho w rite review sform e.lhave a card here for you.lflputthe phrase 'Review s any kind ofbook'on yourcard,l willnevercallyou.lwillnevereven t/ gfg/taboutyou.W hy? Because publishers don'tpublish books thatfit in a category called ' A ny L nd ''' M ark quickly changed his approach:'W hich category do you

havethe/fzqestreviewersfor?'' T he editorstarted ticking offalist:''Sports ...'' ''Stop rightthere!''said M ark.'lreview sportsbooks.'

From thatpositioning,M ark gotinto T' /?etiew J'or/t' fv esasa sports-book review er. Finding the proper spotforyourself needn't be harder than that.lstarted using positioning before lhad even heard ofthe strategy. l thought of it as a m eans of m aking m yself distinct w ithin a crow ded field- the field ofm agic.

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T hrough the m id to late 197Os,lw asa teenage cruise-ship m agician.W hen lw asn' t in school, lw as aboard ship,entertaining guests.ln thatenvironm ent,lthrived.Every day lknew whatw as required ofm e:lhad to w earthe sam e type ofclothes and perform the sam e type oftricks,before the sam e type ofaudience. Eventually,though,lgrew tired of the discipline,so lleftto pursue w hat l thought of as a broader m agic career.ln point of fact,lleftto pursue a fuzzy,ill-defined career. lknew lw as a m agician,but the type ofm agic ldid and the venuesw here lperform ed changed from nightto night. M y show s becam e a hodgepodge ofstyles.Som e nights,l'd perform grand illusions,like The Floating Lady.O ther nights,l perform ed sm allertricks,using a m anic,Robin W illiam s-inspired com edy approach.Stillothernights,lfilled m y show w ith brutal physicalstunts,like breaking rocks on m y head with a sledgeham m er. M y perform ance venues also had no rhym e or reason.O n M onday l m ight give a show at a com m unity fund-raiser.O n Tuesday,a bar.O n W ednesday,a society party.O n Thursday,a strip club. lw asm aking a good living,but ldidn' tknow where to focus. A t one point, l actually gave up m agic as a profession.M y w ife and lhad our firstchild,and lthoughtita good ideato get setiousaboutlife.lopened a com ic-book shop.lhad neverread a com ic book in m y life,so in hindsightthatw asn' tthe bestidea.l closed the shop in a year.l figured if lwasgoing to succeed in supporting m y fam ily,m agic w asm y bestchance ofdoing it. W hen lagain started perform ing m agic fulltim e,lgravitated tow ard trade-show gigs. Corporations would hire m agicians,

clowns,jugglers,dancers,runway models,and talking robotsto stand in frontoftheirbooths and draw attention.

lhad done trade-show jobsbefore,butlhad neverfocused exclusively on them .N ow,though,targeting them seem ed like common sense.M y reasoning:CorllortgtfogslJt gperloreploge.'.yrt/gt ggJt grl.

iliesf z'/ ?of zugtrletobetjonn( gtlurmftzptg/ gs.I jacorllort gtfogbiresrle,Jctgg cbar yerloreplogeyrt/ gtggJct ggcbaryejor( glurmftzptg/ ?. ' ..

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l am not a deep thinker,but in m any instances m y shallow thinking benefitsm e. Targeting the corporate m arketgotm e wondering aboutm y positioning. To attract m ore com panies, l knew l'd have to change m y look and m y act. Forone thing,lstarted dressing sharp.N o m ore cheap suits. N o m ore fake-leather shoes.The people l w as rubbing elbow s w ith looked like a m illion dollars.lfthey looked like a m illion,l had to look like tw o m illion. Foranother,lthrew away my garish m agic props.The props, such as lacquered m agic boxes with dragons stenciled on them , w ere signaling to the audience that there w as nothing unique aboutwhatlw asdoing.The propswere obviously store-bought, w hich m eant that other m agicians were perform ing w ith them , and,perhaps,even the audience m em bersthem selves could perform them ifthey had interestenough to find am agic shop. A lacquered box, a m agic w and, a top hat- all those things

would brand me as run-of-the-mill,a sm all-timer,a jester.W ho w ould stop to hearwhatlhad to say iflwere no m ore than aclow n? M y act also became edgier. W hereas m ost performers were afraid ofoffending,lused an in-your-face approach asacom e-on.lt happened forD arwinian reasons.lfldidn'tdem and thatpeople stop, they' d w alk right by into a com petitor' s booth- one with flashing

lights,women inbikinis,andcelebrity spokespeoplewho hadjustreturned from aspace launch orthrow n five SuperBowltouchdowns.

M y requests,then,becamechallenges:'Sir,join ushere in the 1700th and see ifwe can im prove your life thisvery afternoon.lf you don'tstop,you w illbe sorry later.L fe turns on decisions as sim ple asthisone.' T his new approach worked.At the trade shows,crow ds of 100,200,400,even 8OO peoplew ere form ing around m e to listen to my pitches.W hat' sm ore,these people were heading into the 1700th w hen lasked them to,so my clientcould collecttheircontactinform ation. W hat l w as doing began to seem far rem oved from m agic. True,lw as stillusing tricks,but the clim ax of the tricks becam e

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secondary. lt w as the ideas behind the tricks- what the tricks stood for- thatseem ed to be getting and holding people' s attention.lsoon w as m aking a conscious effort at turning my tricks into Transform ation M echanism s,asw aysofaltering the m om ent m etaphorically forthe people w ho stopped. M y clientslooked atm e aslessam agician and m ore an entertaining com pany spokesm an. From a business standpoint, that

changesuited me.M ostm agiciansm adeonly $300-$1,000 aday attrade show s,because they were looked upon assom ething nice to have in a1700th butby no m eansessentialto the successofthe show .lwanted substantially m ore. To play up the entertaining spokesm an angle,lstarted labeling m yselfan '' infotainen' ' W hen lvisited prospects and they asked iflw as a m agician, l'd say:''N o.ldon'tlike m agicians.They foolm e,and who likes to be fooled? N o,what l do isn't ordinary m agic.lt' s 'infotainm ent.'ltakeyourproductand com bine itw ith m y unique form of persuasion- parthypnosisdem onstration,partm ind-controlpresentation,partpitch.Five tim es a day,lwillhave your 1700th inundated with prospects. W ith m e pitching, the only problem you'llhave atthe trade show isfinding enough staffto handlethe crush ofpeople who'llbe m aking theirw ay into yourbooth.'' W ith my new positioning,lwasable to charge and receive afee 20 tim esgreaterthan m y competitors'.And m y clientsdidn' tsee m e asan expense.To them ,lw asan asset.M y serviceswere recorded in a differentpartofthe ledger.lwasn' ta m agician who gotpaid from the m oney reserved forthe card-trick guys;lw as the m agnetwho pulled in prospects.ln essence, lwas the head of the com pany' s trade-show salesteam - and that' show lw ascom pensated. T hese days lstillrefer to myselfas an infotainer,but l've refined my identity even further. To m y clients,the benefit in hiring m e is thatldraw crow ds. Crofzqks,then,ismy new position.lt' stheword lown in theminds ofthe people w ho stage and exhibitattrade shows.lt'sthe im age l'm associated with.

x o Sw EA'I-

To strengthen m y position,a11m y m aterials revolve around crow ds.M y tag line is''C row ds G uaranteedl''M y salesguarantee focuseson m y ability to draw acrow d.M y w ebsite hascrowdson every page and even containstim e-lapse footage ofm e building a crow d.W hen you open m y portfolio,an oversized crow d pops up.The sam e goes form y bifold businesscard:lhave staffwho

glue a two-inch tall pop-up crowd to my cards,just so my prospects w ill open them , laugh, and associate m e with fastappearing crow ds. W hen lcold-callon booths,lpush m y crowd association further.As lspeak w ith the 1700th m anager,lpull a billfold-sized,

accordion-pleated display casefrom my jacket,snap itopen,and reveal 20 color photographs of m e com m anding crowds.lfthe 1700th isconnected to the lnternet,lcontinue m y pitch as laccess m y website and pointoutthe shots ofand testim onials aboutm y w ork w ith crow ds.lpaint aw ord picture ofwhatthe crow d w ill look like asitfilesinto the prospect' s1700th.Attim es,leven build a crowd w hile l'm pitching m y services;ldon' task ifshe'll1etm e

do it;ljustdo it.Afterall,whatdem onstrates my claimsabout crow dsbetterthan creating acrow d rightthere,outofnothing? l've gone into detailaboutm y position and w hatldo to push itso you can understand the single-m inded focusittakesto m ake yourself know n for a particular attribute.W hen you com e up w ith your own attribute,you w ant the people you' re trying to persuade to think ofyou as the obvious choice in your field. Betteryet,you wantto be positioned asthe only one in your field.N extto you,everyone else ism inorleague.

N O SW EAT ln a m om ent,1'11teach you how to go aboutpositioning,orperhapsrepositioning,so you becom e m ore persuasive in your business. Before l do, though, l w ant to m ake one thing clear: Positioning needn't be som e grand career strategy.You needn' t w aitto do ituntilyou have a11yourducksin a row.

BE DISTIN CT

l find that w hen som e people think about how to position them selves,they freeze.T hey think,''lflpick thew rong position, l'm sunk.''T hat' s unrealistic.You can m ake m istakes.You can be

known fordifferenttraitsamong differentpeople.You justhave to be sure that w hat you' re offering is of quality,that you can truly solve your audience' s needs,and thatyour m essage to your audience is strongly focused.

W H Y D O ES PO SITIO N IN G W O RK ? According to Seth Godin and Jay Conrad Levinson in theirbook CetJ// gt gtJ'ogDeserve,positioning worksbecause itfollowstheway ourm ind naturally functions.W e pigeonhole.W e reduce and distort.W e putpeople into conceptualboxes. W e don'tdo any ofthis purposefully or m aliciously.W e do it because the w orld fires so m uch inform ation at us that m aking snap judgmentshelpsuscope.lfwe had to stop and ponderthe m eaning ofevery w ord w e hearand every sm ile we see,we'd be reduced to ababbling m ess.M aking fastassum ptionshelpsus live. A slong as you undelstand how pigeonholing w orks,you can use itto youradvantage.ln fact,G odin and Levinson w rite,'Positioning isnothing m ore than pigeonholing yourselfon purpose.''

W H AT A RE SO M E SLA N TS TO PO SITIO N YO U RSELF BY? By Feature H ere,you take an elem entofw hatyou do,and becom e know n forthat.Perhapsyou're a plum ber,and you w antto persuade the people to hire you overthe fourhundred otherplum bersin your area.H ow w ould you m ake yourselfdistinctthrough a feature? lfyou work a1oton new ly constructed hom es,you could call yourself'' T he N ew Construction Plum ber.''You specialize in handlingjobsin homeslessthan two yearsold.

K 'I-IAT Al kE SOM E SLAN' I'S 'ro Po slrlox Yo ultsEl-y BY?

W ould thatlim ityouraudience? Yes.Peoplew ith hom esbuilt in the 1920sprobably wouldn' tcallyou.Butl'd w agerthatpeople w ho lived in new hom esw ould flood yourphone w ith calls.Your target m arketw ould be sm aller,but a 1ot of people w ithin that m arketwould be m otivated to contactyou. lf '' T he N ew Construction Plum ber''didn' t suit you, you could position yourself as a plum berw ho specializes in servicing older houses.O r historic hom es.O r apartm ent buildings. O rskyscrapers. You could even position yourself as doing a certain segm ent of plum bing:unclogging drains,installing sinks,replacing steel pipeswith sturdieralloy m odels. T he questionsyou should ask yourselfare:W hatam lselling? ls it a product,a service, an opinion? W hat are the features of w hatl'm trying to sell?lsone feature m ore im portantto my audience than another? lsone feature m ore unique than another? lf l highlighted one feature,w ould there be a large enough audience forit? H ow w ould lreach thisaudience?

By Benelit A benefitiswhatpeople getfrom using yourproduct' sorservice' s feature.To m ake thatclearer,1etm e give you an exam ple. Suppose you're selling a pen.The interesting thing about the pen? lt doesn't lose ink-flow w hen you w rite upside dow n. T hat' s one ofits features.W hat' s the benefit ofthatfeature? ln other w ords,why w ould w riting upside dow n be im portant to custom ers? You can keep the pen and a pad ofpaper next to your bed, and in the m iddle of the nightw hen you get an idea,you don' t have to turn on the light or get out ofbed to record the idea. N ow,you'llneverlose those flashesofinspiration. H ow,then,m ightthatpen bepositioned?As'The lnspiration Recorder.''O r, 'The M illion-D ollar Pen/''since you don't lose your m illion-dollar ideas.O r, 'The D ream Pen/' since you can

recordyourdreamswhilethe/restillfreshinyourmind.

BE Dlsrlx c'r

N ow that you see how positioning by benefit m ight w ork w ith a pen,let' s see how itw ould w ork foryou.Suppose you're a banker.W hat are the features of your service? You save your clients m oney.You help them m ake decisions on how to grow theirm oney.You counselthem on how to plan for retirem ent. W hat,then,are the benefits ofyourfeatures? There are several,butone obvious benefitis that by dealing w ith you,clients have peace ofm ind.They know theirm oney' s safe,theirfuture' s safe,theirfam ily iscared for. Should you position yourself around the concept ''peace of m ind' '? Perhaps,ifyou feelthat' s im portantto yourclients and if none ofyourcom petitorsalready ownsthatpositioning.

Questionsyoushould askyourselfare:W hatarethebenefits to m y features? W hich benefits seem m ost im portant? W hich benefitis t/?emost important? H ow can ltest my assumption? H ow can luse thatbenefitasthe basisofeverything ldo?

IN A N U TSH ELL To use positioning,do the follow ing: G etclearaboutwho you' re trying to persuade and aboutw hat you're trying to persuade them . Find outw hat your audience m ost values w hen it com es to youroffering. Take an attribute from youroffering,one thatyour audience w ould closely associate w ith w hatthey value. M ake sure no one else in yourfield is definitively associated w ith thatattribute.lf they are,find a way to alterthe attribute so it' s unique to you. Push thatattribute thatbosition fora11it'sworth.Build your presentations, m echanism s, and m arketing m aterials around it.Becom e single-m inded.

IN A NUTSHELL

Y

Backroom 'llps IorBeing Distinct

+ You can position yourself,yourbusiness,ora particularoffer-

ing.Justm ake sure thatone position doesn' tclash with another.lf you own a high-end m ortuary,you probably don' t

wantto position yourselfasan easygoingjoker. + W hatdo lm ean by positioning '' youlself'' ? lfyou have a quality that you and your audience particularly value,you can stress thatquality in everything you do.Forinstance,ifyou're adetail person and you' re in a businessthatw arrantsclose attention to detail,stress that im age.To do so,you' d dress im m aculately; have neatly com bed hair and m anicured nails; keep a neat briefcase;have a website featuring lots ofarticlesyouke w rit-

ten,showingthatyouknow yoursubjectfrom every angle. O bviously, if your defining attribute w as confidence, you'd stressdifferentbehaviors.You could stilldressw elland keep a neatbriefcase,butyou'd m ake a consciouseffortto be m ore forcefulin expressing youropinions,and so forth. ls this practice artificial? Yes.Butrem em ber,the w orld is pigeonholing you.They're fitting you into a conceptualbox w hether you like it ornot.There are w inner boxes and loser boxes,so you m ightasw ellsuggestthe bestbox foryou. # H ow do you find outw hatyour audience values? Ask them .

Question them abouttheirproblems,theirpains,theirtrium phs,their daily struggles. A lso,study whatyourcom petitors are doing.W hatpositions do they already own,ifany? Are those positionsw orking for them ? lfyou were them ,how m ight you alter their positions to work better? D oes altering their positions suggestanew position foryou? + O ften,you'llneed to alteryourbusinessso itfitsa strong position.Say you own a petshop,and a pet-supply superstore opens a block aw ay.The superstore' s prices are cheaperthan

BE Dlsrlx c'r

yours,and theirstock is larger.H ead to head,it' s im possible foryou to com pete. W hat do you do? Look forw ays to distinguish yourself from the superstore,and push thatdistinction for a11it' sw orth. O ne w ay you're differentis thatyou sellanim als,and the superstore doesn' t.Selling anim als,in fact,has alw ays been the m ostlucrative partofyourbusiness.You adoptthat,then, asyourposition.The otherstore sellsproducts,butyourstore specializesin the anim alsthem selves.You reduce your supply section by three-quarters,and stock the saved spacew ith cats, dogs,birds,rabbits, rodents, and reptiles.You parade your new approach in the window ofyourstore,on yourw ebsite, in the new spapers.You even talk about selecting and caring foran anim alatlocalevents. D oesitw ork? You m ake itw ork. + You can have adifferentposition foreach m arketyou serve. To the businessw orld,lam an infotainer.H ow ever,to the restofthe w orld lam som ething different,a ''perceptionist.'' A perceptionistissom eone w ho readspeople by studying their body language and physiologicalreactions.There' s no m agic or m etaphysics involved.lt' s m ore like being a poker playerw ho know sw hen an opponentis bluffing because the opponent sweats and nervously plays w ith his chips.lf you know w hatto look for,a person'sbody and behaviorw illgive him aw ay m ore often than not. l developed m y perceptionist talent from my work as a m agician.There are m any tricks that depend upon the perform er' s ability to pick up avolunteer' sunintentionalclues. For instance,ifyou ask som eone to hide a coin in either hand w hile her arm s are behind her back,you'll be able to dope outwhich hand the coin isin when she brings her arm s forw ard.H ow ? She'lltip you offby turning herhead tow ard the fistw ith the coin.H ertip,ofcourse,isn' tconscious.A nd it isn't obvious.Still,if you know w hat to look for,and you

Ix A NLITSI-IELL

couplethatwith othertelltalesigns(likepupildilation),the m ethod is reliable.A fter aw hile,you develop a knack forit. W hen lappearon television it' susually asa perceptionist. W hy? Because reading people isw hatinterests the TV audience.O n a talk show,no one cares that ldraw crow ds and furnish com paniesw ith sales leads.W hatthe talk-show audience is concerned about is understanding how we connect w ith one another in rem arkable w ays,and how w e can use m ore of oursensesto lead a better life.O n the show s,that' s w hatlteach.That' sw hy they ask m e on. T hink about establishing m ultiple positions for yourself. Sure,you w ant to be focused.But you also w ant each audience to have w hat' s m ostvaluable to it.

A Transformation M echanism: The Lightand Heavy Ferson The Stene It'sthe roll outparfyforyourfirm'snew CD-ROM game,andyou/re surrounded by reportersfrom industry and entertainmentnewspapers and magazines.They/ve come to you,the head ofthe designteam, hoping fora col orfulanecdote. Youtellthem storiesaboutrowdy developmentsessionsthat Iasted three daysstraight,and how you researched human anatomy so you could add realism to the game'sviol ence.The re-

portersIove it.Yourcandorisiustwhatthey needfortheirarticles. Thingsare goingso well,youdecideto gofortheiugular.You Iaunch a mechanism. You say:'I'm sureyou/veaIIheard how much moreourgame,Explosionl,has in itthanourcompetitor'sgame,Killfest30001W e packed itwithmoregraphics,morestrategies,more blood.Ourgame isheavywith bonuses.Butdon' ttake myword.Letme prove it.''

(continoed)

BE D ISTINCT

(Cont inved) From clExxlkcclse m u grqb q copy ofyourcomm ti . tor'sCD,whi ch m udisplqy L lween m urpqlms with yourelbowscl tm ursides

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(Fi gure 1zt.1). Youclskone rerxxterto hold yourIeftclrm clnclcln. otherto hold yourri ghtclrm

(Fi gure 1:.2).Onthecountof three,youclskthem t o Ii ftm u slrcli ghtup inthe clirwhich *

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k;t .49 . 72 '..-'

clndholdyouclfcotoffthe ground.''Noti ce ourcomm ti. tor'sgqme,k' illkstJ000/ is

Figure 1zt.1 Display CD.

sojjjin,hassoIi trl etoi t,IIclt

itoffersno resistclnce to these gentl emen 'The rem rtersputyou down,clnclyoutossyourcomm titor'sgclme to thefloor

(continved)

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Figure 1:.2 Armsheld oneachside.

IN A NLITSHELL

(Continved) ''Now,forourCD,'you scly.Youhold clcopy ofyourgclme be. lween yourpcllmsclnclclskthe sclmelwo rer xxtersto Iiftm u.Amclz.

ingly,theyccln/t.Yourl xdywon'tbucbe.Thephdcxgrclphersinthe crowdfbhttogetclnunobstructedshotfortheirpublicqti ons. ''I ncqseyouthinktheseguysccln'tIi ftmeL cclusethe/retired from hcl ving Ii fted me the firsttime Iet'sgetlwo more reportersto try.'' Two more st ep forwqrd grclb yourclrms clnclcltemptto Ii ftyou. Agqin m u don'tmove eventhough youseem to l :xlstqnding exqcdy clsyou st ooclthe firsttime.

Youscly:''Lclcliesclnclgentlemen Exposionlhclssomuchini t kidswillhcl ve t o cclrry i tin clwheel bqrrow to geti thome.'The re. portersclre Iclughing clsthey wri te downyourevery word.

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Behind 'he A ene Fk)w dtx sthismechqni sm work?Ithqsto do wi ththe wqyyouplqce ycvrqrms. Fklldthem onewqy qnd m u/reeqsyto Ii ft.Holdthem qndherwqy qndyou/re tough.The lx stpqrf 80lll wqysIookneqrl y identi cql. l-bre'sthe method i n detqi l: stclnclwirhm urclrms hclnging slrclightdown.Now Icckycvrel bowscl gclinst m ursides clnclbring m ur hclndsup,so thcltm urfore. clrmsclre pclrcll elto theflcor

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ti ontoE)eIi fted.

(continved)

BE D ISTINCT

(Cont inved) From clExxlkcclse m u grqb q copy ofyourcomm ti . tor'sCD,whi ch m udisplqy L lween m urpqlms with yourelbowscl tm ursides

'

(Fi gure 1zt.1). Youclskone rerxxterto hold yourIeftclrm clnclcln. otherto hold yourri ghtclrm

(Fi gure 1:.2).Onthecountof three,youclskthem t o Ii ftm u slrcli ghtup inthe clirwhich *

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they do.Thereportershoist

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k;t .49 . 72 '..-'

clndholdyouclfcotoffthe ground.''Noti ce ourcomm ti. tor'sgqme,k' illkstJ000/ is

Figure 1zt.1 Display CD.

sojjjin,hassoIi trl etoi t,IIclt

itoffersno resistclnce to these gentl emen 'The rem rtersputyou down,clnclyoutossyourcomm titor'sgclme to thefloor

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IN A NUTSHELL

(Continoed) + A version ofthis mechanism once prevented a war.In 1856,AIgeria threatened to splitofffrom France.Napoléon IIIcould have

responded wi th force,butinstead he sentconiurorJean-Eugene Robert-l -l oudinto intimidate the Algerianswith magic. W hile in Algeria,Robert-l -loudin performed his fullevening show,during which he produced coinsand cannonballsfrom out ofnowhere.Forhisfinale,he broughtforth hismostmemorable iIIusion,the Lightand Heavy Chest. The magician pl aced a smallwooden box on the stage and challenged a powerfulaudience memberto Iiftit.A strong Al gerianstepped forward and Iifted iteasil y. Robert-l -l oudin then made some magicalgestures,and asked him to try again.Thistime the man pull ed with aIIhis might;he pull ed so hard,in fact,thathe cried outin pain orfearand ran from thestage.The box nevermoved. The uprising wasstopped before itbegan.

O V ER C O M E RESISTA N C E

s good asyour offerings are,you w illencounterresis-

tance.People willobject,sometimes strongly.N otto w orry.

O bjectionsare opinions,and opinionscan bechanged.Even staunch opinion: Legal decisions get reversed;liberals becom e conservatives; 'bad'' film s becom e recognized as m asterpieces. N othing isw ritten in stone.Behind every law,politicaldecision,

and artisticjudgmentarepeople.Peoplewho change theirminds based upon new circum stances,fresh evaluation,and w him . lf m eeting resistance scaresyou,you're unrealistically elevat-

ing the consequences.O bjectionscan' tcripple you.They're not toxic.They needn' tscrew up yourlife,unlessyou 1etthem .

Youke heard it said before:An objection just means the prospectneeds m ore inform ation.For the m ost part,that' s true.

Thepersonyou'retryingtopersuademaynott/ gfg/tthe/reasking for m ore inform ation, or for a different perspective on w hat

youkesaid,/?gtt/gtgfs/90:7youlJt ggtl/eft.Theirresistanceisjustpartof the conversation- and it' sno m ore im portantthan any otherpart ofthe conversation.

SIDE APPROACH ES

T H E STRA IG H T FO RW A RD A PPRO AC H Prepare to m eetresistance.

lfyou' re selling a productorservice,listthe com mon objectionsyou're going to hear.They'llfallinto in two categories.O ne

isabouttheproductorserviceitself(''notenoughfunctions/'''inconvenientdelivelx''''too expensive'').The otherisaboutthe person' s ability to dealwith the productorservice (''notinterested''''don' thavethefunds'''don' thavetheroom' '). O nce you know w hat kindsofresistance you' llbe facing,re-

search the facts surrounding each objection.lfyou're going to hear about price, have your pricing inform ation dow n cold. Know a11 your prices, as well as those of your com petitors.lf you'llbe hearing aboutinconvenientdelivery,find outeverything you can about how you and your com petitors deliver.Research otherdeliveroptions,too. Researching the factsincludes having a rationale- a 'reason w hy'' - for each of your propositions. For instance, if you're price is 10 percenthigherthan anyone elsek,perhaps that'sbecause your product generates a 20 percent greater result than anyone else's. A rm ed with thisinform ation,you m ay be able to answ erpeo-

ple' s concernsjust by knowing what they' re going to say,and then confidently presenting the factsto them .

That' s the firstway lhandle objections.That' smy preferred w ay.ldon' tspin orsellorgetdefensive.lgive inform ation.After

a11,we'rejusthaving aconversation,and l'm answeringtheirquestions the sam e way l'd answer their questions if they asked m e w here lw entforlunch and w hatm y favorite book is.

SID E APPRO A C H ES O fcourse,som etim esthe directapproach doesn'tw ork.lfso,that

doesn'tm akethe objectorrightorm ewrong.ltsuredoesn'tmean l stop.Rem em ber,w e're dealing in opinions.This isn't m oving

178

ovEltcol vlE RESISTANCE

m ountains,it' schanging thoughts.lhave a num berofside strategieslrely on when lm eetcontinued resistance: Preten?.' y. 0gt log'tggkerstt ggt : tt/ ?eobjection.Even ifit' sastandard ob-

jection,ask herto clarify it:''You say my price istwice ashigh as you're willing to pay.Explain whatyou m ean.'W hen she starts talking,she m ay have trouble explaining the groundsfor her ob-

jection.She also m ay,with alittle help from you,talk herselfout ofherobjection.Use this technique to uncoverwhatyou considerfalseobjections. Asê/?erf . pllt gtsbereally f .ptggtstoêgofz?.W hen yourpersuadeeraises whatsoundslike a phony objection,don'ttry overcoming it.lnstead,ask herto com e clean:''Look,lcan tellthat' snotwhat' s really bothering you.Tell m e,what really has you concerned?''A variation is to insert som e guilt into the technique to m ake her

objection seem absurd,given thecircumstances:''Look,lcan tell that' s notwhat' s bothering you.Afterall,yourcom pany isone of the richest m anufacturers of com puter chips on the planet.So, w hen you tellm e m y fee is too high,lknow that' s notthe w hole story.W hat' sreally bothering you?''

Re hrtooneojyourc/featsf z'/?o/ ?tgtltllest grleobjection.Thisissimilarto thatsales chestnut,the ''Fee1,Felt,Found''technique:''lknow how

you/l.Someofmyotherclientsoriginally-fltthatway.Butwhen they started using my service,theyy' oggt: t...''You can use the sam e form ula,butifyou're m ore specific,you m ake itm ore believ-

able.W hen yourprospectraisesan objection,laugh and say:''You

remind me ofJeff,the ownerofAcmeTrucking.BeforeJeffhired m e,he said exactly the sam e thing you said.1'11tellyou w hatltold him ....So,he hired m e.T hat w as four yeals ago.W eke been doing business ever since.Thanks to the work weke been doing together, his firm ' s productivity has risen by tw enty-three per-

cent.''Youkenotonly answered theobjection,youkeputitwithin a potentcontextby aligning your prospectwith a clientwho has been successfulusing the sam e service you' re offering her.

kklt gêe/?erobjection intoajointobjective.lread thisapproach inJeffrey J.Fox' sexcellentbook,. H' of .ptollecorle( gRwfgrltgêer.Since then,

SIDE APPROACH ES

179

l've used itdozensoftimes.The technique:You take the objection and make itinto a mutually agreed upon objective.Forexam ple ifshesays,'Yourservice istoo expensive 'you say,''So our

objective is to make ourservice affordable foryou?'lfshe says yes to your question,she' s said yes to your offering;the tw o of

you then work to reach thatobjective together.lfshe saysno, youke uncovered a false objective and can move forward to uncoverthe realreason.

kklt gêe/ ?erobjection t/ ?every reason toJ0(gllet gt : tf . pftllt/ ?eijeal.Forthis approach,youtakewhatthe objectorsaysand twistitinto abenefitstrongerthan herobjection:''You don' twantto buy thisair conditionerbecause it' s too noisy? Do you know why it' s noisy? Because inside this airconditioneristhe m ostpowerfulengine on the m arket.That engine willcool a three-thousand-square-foot house to sixty-five degreesin nine m inutes.A quietengine m eans a weak engine,w hich m akesfor a hot,stuffy house.''

Ayreef .pftllt/?eobjection( ggt : tretgfffr plyourrltgf. l ïbenejits.Thisissimilar to theprevioustechnique.Attimes,yourobjector' sreasoningwill --

be sound.lfso,there' sno reason to debate her aboutit.lnstead, agree,and then tellherwhy she should stillgo ahead w ith your suggestion:''You're right,w e don'thave any red dresses in stock. Butyou didn'treally com e in here fora red dress,did you? You cam e in foran Arm anidress.An Arm anidresswillm akeyou look beautiful,w illm ake you stand out,w illputevery eye in the room on you....

Cet/?ertoseet/ ?ecogset/gegcesoJgotusi n. lyourservices.lfshe'sclosing the door on your services,throw her into a future w ithout you. T his is a favorite of m ine: 'lf you didn't have m e generating crow ds atyournexttrade show ,w hatw ould you do that' sdifferentfrom w hatyouke already failed w ith?''You're trying to gether to verbalize the dire consequences. O f course,you can always paint the bleak picture yourself: '' W ithout m e, here' s w hat l see happening, based upon w hat youke told m e:You w illhave a 1700th with a 1otofstaffstanding around and eating the free candy.Every few m inutes,a show at.

ovEltcol vlE P-ESISTANCE

tendee willw anderby,stop in the 1700th,and ten stafferswilldescend upon him ,frightening him off.'' You can also becom e som ew hat belligerent with this technique,as long as the person you' re pitching to knows you have herbestinterestatheart:'' lcan see why you w ouldn' tw antto hire m e,a perform erw ho has between one hundred and five hundred people surrounding him at the show at any given tim e,and who has generated three m illion leads for his clients.lt m akes sense thatyou' d w ant to go along doing exactly w hatitisyouke been doing, putting out bowls of candy, handing out balloons w ith your com pany' s logo,and getting forty-tw o leads a day.M akes sense.M akes sense thatyouke spentone pointtw o m illion dollars on your1700th construction,and yetyou're spending a dollar seventy-nine on a bag ofcandy to attractpeople.''

A LTERN AT E W AYS O F D EA LIN G W IT H RESISTA N C E A lthough getting resistance is natural,you obviously w ant to strive foraslittle resistance aspossible.The bestw ay ofachieving that is to bring up the resistance points yourself w hen you're pitching.H ow do you do that?Two w ays. T he firstway is to be up frontaboutit,and tellyouraudience

thatyoukeheard a specific objection before.W hen you use this approach, you show you're honest as you're preem pting w hat people are thinking:'You can purchase ourseason ticketpackage for a11 eighty-one hom e gam es.O f course,som e people tellus thateighty-one gam es isn'tfor them .They couldn'tpossibly find the tim e to attend them all.That' s reasonable.W ho can attend so m any gam es them selves? That' s w hy m any businesses buy this package.Theirpeople go to asm any gam esasthey like,and then they use theirseats as a rew ard for good clients,a rem inder for lapsed clients,and an enticem entforhotprospects.'' T he second w ay,you knit the sam e inform ation into your pitch,w ithout raising it as a red flag:'' You can use this eighty-

ALTERNATE W AYS OF DEALING W ITH RESISTANCE

one-gam e package for yourself, or as a business developm ent tool ''

Y

Backroom 'llps IorO vercom ing Resistance

+ lfyou're getting a1otofresistance,lw ouldn' tfocuson snappy

waysofovercoming objections.lnstead,l'd try to strengthen m y presentations.ln particular,m ake sure you're giving your prospect a sam ple ofyourw ork;sufficientsupporting proof, including a guarantee;and,a Transform ation M echanism designed to throw herconcernsin a new light. A lso,m ake sure she appreciates the value ofw hatyou're offering.Ask her,''W hatdo you like bestaboutm y offer,and w hy?''You m ay discover that she' s leftout features,or that there are benefits she doesn'tfully understand.lfso,work on those pointswith her.G etherto appreciate them by dem onstrating that part of the offering,or by painting a w ord pic-

tureofherfully enjoying the benefit. # A ttitude is im portant in handling resistance.Approach the people you're trying to persuade in whatlcall'The Gift-shift M indset.'Attrade show s,ldo notpitch m y servicesto com paniesfrom a position ofsubservience.ldo itfrom strength.l am the answ erto theirproblem s. A s l' m w alking into the convention center,l'm thinking: '' W ait until these people see w hat l can do for them .They have no ideathe giftthey're aboutto receive.lw illm ake their show . lw ill m ake them their bonuses and earn them their raises.They w illthank theirlucky stars thatlhappened upon them ,and thatthey hired m e.'' T hat' s the m indset.You are not an expense or an intrusion.You are a gift.That' s how you m ustapproach yourpersuasion situations. Sell yourself on yourself. Convince yourselfthatw hatyou're offering isworth farm ore than w hat you're asking forit.From thatm indset,overcom ing resistance iseasy.

OVERCOI VIE RESISTANCE

A Transformation M echanism: The Reappearing M atch The Stene

AstheheadofHumanResources,it'syouriobtoseethattheright peopl e are broughtinto the company.Those peopl e mustbe high pro. ducers,and they mustknow how to workaspartofa team. Sharon,the head ofSales,haspresented youwith a problem. She wantsto hire Tim,who hasproven himsel fa top-notch producer forothercompanies,butwho hasshownthathe'sa maveri ck.He has a history ofbullying hisco-workers,ofmaking hisown deals,of being argumentativewithcustomers. Because he can produce,Sharon iswilling to takea chance on him.You are not.You/re afraid thatTim'spresence mightdamage the entire SalesDivision.To demonstrate yourposition,you perform a mechanism. Sharonand youareata restaurantdiscussing the matter.You hold up a bookofmatchesand say,zThis isthe Sales Division.' Youopenthe bookand pointto the matchesinside.zThese,''you say,zare yoursal espeopl e.Seethisone in the middl e?That' sTim. 8uIIhim out.''So saying,you hold the bookand Sharontearsoutthe match.Youclose the book,take the match,and strike it. Asitburns,yousay:'W e know Tim isfiery.The good partishis passion helpsclosesales.He hasal w aysbeena top producerwhereverhe' sworked.The bad partis he hasbeenfired from wherever he'sworked,because he endsuptreating people Iike garbage.Tim' s aIIaboutmaking fastsales,and screw the consequences.Inthe end, he al w aysburnsout.'So saying youblow outthe matchand drop it into yourcoffee cup,where itsi zzles. Youcontinue:zzNow you mightbewilling to take a chance on him,becauseyoucanal w ayscan him.Butbringing someone Iike thatinto yourdivision hasa Iasting effecton the othersalespeople.

(continoed)

ALTEPN ATE W AYS O FD EALING W ITH PESISTAN CE

(Continved) W hen someone isthcl tsel fish thcl tdisrupti ve,the iIeffectofhis being there IclstsI ong cl fterhe'sIeft.Tclke clI (x)k.'' You hclnclshclron the m cl tchl x ok sheom nsi t clnclthere bclck in i tsspot,isthe Tim mcltchlItshecld isburned butit'sclffixed inthe bcokclsifitneverIeft.Youtclke the Exx)kbclckfrom her. ''Onceyou invite someone Iikethcltin,''you scly,''hisinfluence ccln hurtthingsinwclysyouccln'teven dreclm cll xlut.''AsYou specl k, you ri p outthe burned mcltch strike itclgclinstthe Exx)k clnclitre. Ii ghls.You use i tto setthe entire bookclflclme clnclthenyou dump it into yourcoffee cup. You clnclshclroncontinue yourtcllk she ismuch I esssureofher rxlsition thqnwhen you stqrted

Behind 'I' - scene Before Iexplqin how to m rform thismechclnism understclnd thcltdur. ing ityou/llbe burning quite clfew mcltches.Don' tcltemptthisunl ess you/recertclinm ucclndo i tsqfel y.I fyouhcl ve clny doubt skip this mechclnism 'there clre others inthe Exx)kwi thoutthe downside. To prepqre,find cl mcltchlxokthclfsrelqti vel y full.Pickclmcl tch neclrthe center clnclIeveri tup so it's sti llcltcl checlto the Exx)k but .

'

stclndserect(Figure 15.1). -

.

Figure 15.1 Erectmatch.

Teqrcl nothermcl tchout ofthe Exxlk.Use itto Iight the cltcl checlmcltch. Blow outthe torn mcl tch thenthe clltclchecl

(continved)

O VEZCO ME ZESISTANCE

mcltch wcli tclfew m inutes forthe cltcl checlmcltchto cool clnclpush i tbcl ck down,so itresumesi tsnor. mcllposi ti on inthe Exxlk. W hcltycv now hclve iscl EXG J mclt ches wirhone mcltchrxeburned cl nclstillcl t. tclched i nthe Exxlk.You/re set. Atthe m rformclnce si te tclke outthe mcltchlxokclncl openthecovertowqrdyou.

Figure 15.2 M atch hidden E,y thumb.

W ithyourthumb,l x ndthe burned mcl tchdownsoyour thumbcoversit hiding i t

from view (Figure 15.2). Don't outofgui ltornerves try to prove thcltthe mcltchbook is norm cll.I t'sclm cltchlxx)k'm ople qssume it'snormqlunl essyou give them clreclsonto doubt.Justhold the Exx)k in clnordinqrywcly. Extend the mcltchlxoktowclrd yourspectqtorclnd clskherto teclr outclmcl tch:Ei therpointto clmcltch inthe middle orscly ''some. where inthe middle.''G rip the bcokfirmly while she teclrsitout. Asyou sm clk,bring the mcl tchbcoktowclrd you clnclIeverthe hidden m cltch bclck into the Exxlk.Close the cover. W hen you wclntto vcl nishthe sm ctcltor'smclt ch tclke i tfrom her Ii ghtit cl ncldrop i tinto yourcup. Reli ghting the burned mcltch isclfclke.out.Hold the Exx)ktowclrd you,grip clfresh m cl tch nexlto the burned one clnclteclri tout.Light it.I fyou plcly yourpclrtnonchcllclntl y clnclyourmovementsclre relcl. ti vely qui ck no one willnotice you/ve used clfresh one.Ifthey do

(continved)

ALTERNATE W AYS OF DEALING W ITH RESISTANCE

(Continoed) well,you're using the mechani sm to dramati zea point.It'snota trick. So don'tsweatit.

Backroom 'llp Iorthe Reappearing M atch + The bestway to perform this mechanism is to make itseem im-

promptu,asifyouiustthoughttodo itthenandthere.Thewayto make itseem spontaneous,then,isto grab a matchbook from the restaurantahead oftime and prepare itathome.Then,when you have a Iunchtime meeting,suggestthatyou meetin yourspecial eatery.W henyouarrive,it'llbe easyto switch an ordinary matchbookforyourgimmicked one.

T H E LO O K

his chaptercontainsthe book' sm ostim portantpersuasion lesson.But l w arn you,you m ay not like it.The

lesson? Jfof . pyou loo;ct g' l ïsbellt/?e?i jjerencebetweenJettf' l g yourIlrollosftfo. l ï(gccelltet : torrçjectei j. People judge a book by itscover.They respectordiscount you instantly based on your appearance.You can have the best service in the w orld,butifyou look sloppy,people assum e your service issloppy. lt' sunfair,lknow.Yourcontentshould rule the day.Yourideas and work ethic should be the only thing people consider.Butthey don' t. People respect those w ho look like they deserve respect.

Theyspendmoneyonthosewholooklikethe/reworth money. W hen you look w ellputtogether,the assum ption isthatyour abilitiesare asgood asyourappearance.Take the early tw entieth-

century conjurorM axM alini. h/lalini m ade his reputation by perform ing w orldwide for kings and queens and other heads of state.W as he the w orld' s bestentertainer? N o.W ashe the bestlooking? Farfrom it.

TI-IE 4,4,4 PP-INCIPL, E

H ew as atiny fatm an w ith a horrible accentwho did peculiar m agic. But he dressed im peccably. l've heard he changed his clothestwo orthreetim esa day.T he finestclothing in the w orld. A cane,a m onocle,apocketw atch.H e w asugly,yetbeautiful. Nlaliniperform ed w orldw ide forroyalty and headsofstate in largepartbecause belooke?likebesllog/t: tbeIler-forplfe l g -fortlltwl. lf life isn' t fair,you w antto be one of the people getting the unfair advantages.Getting those advantages isn' t as hard as you think- ifyou dress well. D ressing well gives you rapport w ith othersin afraction ofthe norm altim e. W hen lapproach people attrade shows,the m ain reason they listen to m e isthat lhave the look and bearing ofsom eone who should be listened to.l'm wearing a dark suit,dark shoes,a dark tie,a dark belt,a white shirt,and cufflinks.A powerlook.Very high fashion.M y hairis com bed and sprayed.M y nailsare m anicured.llook asifl'd stepped offthe pagesofa m agazine. W hy do ltake such pains? BecauseJf zugttorlt g/tem.' )rli jeeasier.l w antto give m yselfevery opportunity.

lf lapproached people in a T-shirt and jeans,they wouldn' t take m e seriously.lflapproached them in a rum pled,m ism atched

sportsjacketand slacks,l'd haveto give thepitch ofthe agesbefore they'd even considerw hat lw assaying. By dressing well, l set a context of success.They listen to w hatlsay w ith differentears.O fcourse,once l'm hired lhave to deliver.Butw ithoutlooking polished,lwould never have gotten the chance to prove myself.

T H E 4,4,4 PRIN C IPLE lfirstlearned aboutdressing as a persuaderfrom my grandfather D uffy.Being som ething ofa showm an him self,he called hisfashion advice 'The 4,4, 4 Principle.' D uffy told m e it takes four m inutesm ore to putyourselftogetherin the m orning than itdoes to throw on w hatever' s lying in a pile;you'll feel four degrees

TH E LOO K

w arm erin a blazer;and you'llcreate four thousand tim es the im pression w hen you look good. Perhaps l' ve taken D uffy' s advice to an extrem e,butitw orks form e.Today,lam alm ostalw aysdressed forperform ance.That m eans ifyou see m e on a Saturday m orning shopping in Sears, chancesare l'm w earing asuitand tie.W hy do ldo that?Because lam m y business,and lneverknow w hom 1'11run into.l've unexpectedly m et CEO S in m alls,and reportersw hile l' m getting m y car' soi1changed.W hen these people see m e,llook like asuccess, and people gravitate tow ard success.

W H Y D O N T A LL BU SIN ESSPEO PLE D RESS W ELL? H ere are a few reasons: T' llelrkog't7tgof, p/ 9of , 17.W etruly areproductsofourenvironment, and if som eone com es from a background in which dressw asn' t stressed,he probably w on'tpick itup on hisow n.O r ifhe does, he m ay only dressup forspecialoccasions,like w eddingsand funerals.

' rbey nevertllfg/t( glpogtft.To care aboutdress,aperson m ustfirst understand that people are sizing him up a11day long,based on hisappearance.lfhe doesn' t realize that,he'llthink w earing gag T-shirtsto the office ischarm ing.

' rbey tllfg/ttbey alreai jy?o.Thebig reason behind dressingwellis to create an im pression on others.W hatsom eone thinksabouther own look is im portant,butshe needs to balance self-satisfaction w ith how others see her.

' rbey tllfg/tit' sjustjor''lookersv'lfsomeonehasan attractiveface and body,he' sahead ofthe gam e.Butphysicalbeauty isn'tnecessary to be com m anding and persuasive.lam no m ovie star,but l gettreated like one because llook and actlike a m an ofachievem ent.Good clothing m akesanyone look better.

' rbey'reajrai?ojstan?inyogt.M any peopleareterrifiedofstanding outbecause they have an unrealistic idea aboutw hatitm eans

TH E RLILES OF G O OD DRESS

189

tobehuman.Beinghumandoesn' tmeanbeingperfect.Pet hctionis g0t( gl Jgrlt gg olltfog.O nce they take thatidea to heart,itbecom es easierforthem to putthem selvesoutthere in a way thatgetsothers looking at them .Anyone can com m and a room despite his flaw s,insecurities,and w eaknesses,forthe sim ple reason thateveryone in the room has flaws,insecurities and weaknesses.W hen w e pitch,w e're pitching to otherhum ans,notto deities.

T H E RU LES O F G O O D D RESS O n any given day,lstand on a riser before thousands of people w ho are w atching m y every m ove.lcan' t afford lousy looks or bad-hairdays.W hatl've done,then,isto create m y own easy-torepeat rules that enable m e to consistently look like a person of influence.lw illshare those rulesw ith you.Considerthem a base on w hich you can build- a no-brainerguide to pow erdressing. DressJ/ettert/ gtgg everyoneelse.The conventionalwisdom isto fit in.But that' s notw hat you should be doing.You w ant to stand

out.My advice:A/fzqt gyskress(gsi jyou'reJofg. p to ( gtvei ji jiny.That doesn'tm ean you wear a tuxedo or a gow n with a flow ing train. W hat it does m ean is that you wear evening clothes,day and night,w eekdaysand w eekends.

T' f z7ot/ gogst gg;t?ollatsrlt g/tesyous/ gtgr!lenouybjorIlrfrletfrle.Dressing w ellcostsm oney,butnotasm uch asyou' d think.An investm ent oftw o grand w illgive you aw ardrobe thatwillkeep you looking good foryears. J' sit grJ//t gc/t( gg;tyray.M ostpeople don' tknow whatcolors to w earorhow to m atch contrasting colors.They wearshades that clash w ith theirskin tone and m ake them appeari11.Saveyourself the headache.Black and gray look cool.A black suit and a gray suit are essentialfor m en and wom en.Those dark colors act as your personalproscenium arch,fram ing your face and handsthe m ostexpressive partsofyourbody.You can wearthe com ponents of each suit interchangeably. Black and gray also m ake people look slim .

190

THE LOO K

J' tturlèbt-coloreilshfrts ani l

Figure 16.1 Change yourtie, changeyourIife.

blouses.You wantsom e separa. tion betw een your dark fram e and your shirt or blouse. Light colors work best. You can' t go wrong with white or light blue.For sweaters/stick w ith rich colors/ like deep red.A half.dozen shirtsand a couple of m ock turtleneck sweaterswilldo thetrick. J' to r Jurk ties JAJJ uscots. W hat you w ear around your neck helps to act as a bridge between yourjacketandyour shirt or blouse. Look sharp w ith a black/ gras blue/ or m aroon tie.Stripesw ork too

(Figure 16.1).Xv/onaencanuse contrasting ascotsand neck scanresasaccents. Another choice: a tie the sam e color as your light shirtw hite on w hite/blue on blue/gray on gray.

J' tlrili jkrenttextures=Jbues.Buy oneshirtthat' sbrushed cot. ton/one that' s silk/and so on.Sam e strateo rforyour ties:lvlix w eaves.By com bining shirtsand tiesofdifferentfabricsand feels/ yourlladd refinem entto your outfit.

J' tlrtbejinestsboesyou ca ajjoril.Scuffed shoeswith worn. dow n heels can turn a m illion.dollar look into a dim e.store look.

Buy black/ofcourse.(Andwearblacksocks/too.) Ymraccessorks.You wantasubstantialbeltwith asilver/platinum / or white.gold buckle. Skip yellow gold- it m akes it seem that yourretnring too hard.You also wantsilver/platinum /orwhite.gold cufflinks.Sam e thing foryourw atch.A w atch isthe only piece of jewelnrlwear/becauseit' spractical.Anything elsedetractsfrom my

THE Itul -Es oy co oo Dll ss

191

hands and face/which is w here l want people looking.

/.@

Azlu/r zojj-tbe-racksTTv bani lmaile. L.

lvlost off.the.rack suits w ere m anufactured using glue and have sleevesw ith buttonsthatare purely ornam ental.To give these suitsa m ore dignified look/pay a tailor to add som e single.needle stitching around the lapels and collarsand m akeyour phony but. tonholesinto the realthing.Your suitswillnow look as ifthey cost triple theirprice.

,' f o

y .

Figure 16.2 Reverse iacket so Iining shows.

Hireaconsultantorbejrieni lastore saksckrk lf your re nenrous about m aking a wrong fashion choice you can hire a consultantto shop with yow or ask a w ell.dressed store salesclerk for advice.

Lookgool outoj yourpxggigT.

I ' w

..

/ ...

#'

4 r

t

,

ax

I

N't

W hen you travel/forgetthe hotel iron and carry a powerful portable steam er instead.You can pack your jacket and pants to m inim ize their creases. H ere' s how:Turn the jacket inside out

(Figure 16.2),andnestoneshoul. derinsidetheother(Figure 16.3).

Now fold the jacket in half.L y the pants on a flat surface/then placethejacketoverthem atthe Figure 16.3 Nestoneshoul- knee. Fold the pants over the derinside the other. jacket (Figure 16.4).The puffy

TH E LOO K

bulk ofthe jacket willkeep the

1

Pants from creasing badly. O uruniform stellpeople a 1ot aboutw ho w e are.lfyour re a scientist, you w ear a 1ab coat. lf you' re a construction w orker,you

wear work boots. lf your job hinges on persuasion, your uniform should show that you think thingsout and prepare.T he out-

fits l'vejustdescribed provethat. G ood dress, then, is m ore than surface decoration. lt's an outK re aperFigure 16.: Fold pantsover w ard expression thatyour s on of de t a i l a nd c a r e. iacket.

Y

Backroom 'llps forthe Look

* Besides dressing w ell, you m ust also be im m aculately groom ed.Boost your appearance by getting regular m anicures,pedicures,and haircuts.lfyourteeth are yellow ed,believe m e,theyr re detracting from your look even if no one tellsyou so.G etthem w hitened. Speaking ofgroom ing,llikea tanned look,but ldon' tlike

sitting in the sun (forobvioushealth reasons).Therefore,l use a bronzer.ltevensoutm y skin tone during the das and it washes offatnight. * W hen you pitch,you never know whatstray inform ation you can use to attractattention.Forinstance w hen people ask m e aboutmy clothes,luse m y outfitas aTransform ation lvlechanism,educating people aboutwhatl'm wearing an1theproductl'm pushing.

TH E RULES OF G O OD DRESS

A Transformation M echanism: The M igrating Fepper The Stene You've been Iocking hornswithJeremy fora week,so you've invited him fora mealatthe Iocaldinerto tl ' y and work outyourdifferences. Youtellhim youunderstand thathe'sused to researching al one, butthe head ofthe departmentwantsyou involved because ofyour specialized knowledge.Jeremy,though,hasfoughtyouaIIthe way. He Iooksatyourinvol vementasa slap in hisface. W hileyou'rewaiting foryourentréesto come,you try starting a

conversationaboutsomething otherthanwork,iusttoIightenthe mood.ButJeremywon'tbudge.He'sclosemouthed. Youdecide thata mechanism isinorder. Youwalkoverto thecash register,take a toothpick,and tossit onto the table.'Jeremy,''yousay,''Ietme show you something Ithink you'llfind odd,butinteresting.'' Yougrab the peppershaker,twistoffthe cap,and poura thin Iayerofpepperinto yourgl assofwater. ''Ido find thatodd ''saysJeremy. ''blb$' (,it it:;irts E)irttirr.' Youhand him a toothpick,and ask him to dip ithal M ay into the water.He Iooksatyou Iikeyou/re nuts,buthe complies.Nothing happens,though.Fepperstillblanketsthe water'ssurface. zzW hatare you trying to provek' 'he says. zzl'm trying to prove thatwhen we worktogether,coolthingscan haPPen.' Yougrip hishand by thewristand ask him to dip the toothpick again.He does,onl y thistime he'sdelighted bywhathesees.The momentthe toothpicktouchesthe water,the pepperstartsrushing away from it,almostasifby magic. zzl -low did you do thatk' 'he asks.

(continoed)

TH E LOO K

(Continoed) ''Ididn'tdo it.W e did it.W orking togetherwecanmake the seas part...move mountains ...or,getsome pepperto shiftina gl ass.'' Hesmil es,the firsttime he' ssmiled since you've known him. ''Now ''he says ''canyouIetgo ofmy wristk' '

Behlnd the Stene To prepare,youneed to secretl y smearyourindex fingerwith Iiquid soap.A couple ofdropswilldo.Ikeep some ina smallziplock bag, whichIkeep in my pocketorbriefcase;thatway,Idon'thave to Ieave the tableand draw suspicion.W hen Iwantto perform this mechanism,Iopen the bag and dip my fingerinthesoapwhil e I'm searching fora pen ora piece ofpaper.Ittakesonl y a few seconds. Ifyou don'twantto go to the troubl e ofcarl -ying soap,you can putsome on yourfingerwhen youvisitthe bathroom,orifyou/re home,whil e washing a dish.In fact,dishwashing Iiquid isan ideal

substituteforIiquid hand soap.(Beforewarned,though:Onceyou/ve soaped the pad ofyourfingertip,don'ttouch itto anything,otherwise

you/llruboffthesecret.) Howeveryou/ve accomplished it,you now have soap on your index finger;the personyou/re trying to persuade issitting across from you;you/ve tossed a toothpickin frontofhim;you have a glass ofwaterbetweenyou;and you/re holding a peppershaker. Dustthe waterwith pepper.Nottoo much.Justenough to darken the water' ssurface. Askthe persuadee to dip the toothpick halM ay into the water. Nothing willhappen. Take the toothpickfrom him,using the hand withthe soapy finger. Askhim to hold hishand straightabove thewater.Ashe does this,casually rub the edge ofthe toothpickwith yourfinger. Flace the toothpickbackin hishand,and use b0th yourhandsto grab onto hiswrist.

(continoed)

TH E RULES OF G O OD DRESS

(Continoed) Guide hishand so the soaped tipofthe toothpick breaksthe water'ssurface. W hen itdoes,the soap willrushoffthe toothpick,into the water, carrying the pepperwith it. Ferhapsnota miracle forthe ages,butit'swondrousto see ifyou don'tknow the secretl

Backroom 'Ilps Iorthe M igrating Pepper # O bviousl y,you/llwantto soap yourfingerasclose aspossible to performance time;otherwise,the soap willdry. # Anotherway oftransferring the soap is to grab two toothpicks. Hand one to the spectator,and appl y the soap to the second toothpickwhile his eyes are on the first.Then,afterhisfails,ask him to try itwithyourtoothpick. # Youhave the spectatordip the toothpick into the waterfirstto establish the conditionsthatthe pepperis underbefore the magic happens.Ifyou performed thismechanism withoutIetting thespectatortry itfirst,he mightthink it's naturalforthe pepperto rush away from the toothpick. The same dynamic comes into play any time you/re trying to seIIsomeone on an idea.Unlessthey understand what'normal' is- w hatthe baseline is- they'll never understand the benefitofappl ying yoursolution. Make sure they understand their situation.M ake sure they

know iusthow muchtheircurrentapproachesarehindering them. Tben presentyoursolution. + Stillanotherway to perform this mechanism is to skip the toothpick,and stickyourfingerdirectly in thewater.Ofcourse,thisapproach gives a differentfeelto the mechanism because it's you

(continoed)

TH E LOO K

(Continoed) making the magic happen.So zzwhen we work together, cool thingscanhappen' 'wouldn'tbe the propertheme.O netheme that

cou/dworkwiththisapproachwould be zzifyouknow iustwhere to attacka problem,youcan solve itquickly and easil y.' # Don'tperform thismechanism underbrightsunlight,where the Iiquid soap mightshine in the water. # W hy notuse a barofsoap? Because soap scraped from a baris difficultto transferfrom fingerto toothpick.Also,barsoap iseasierto spotbecause ittendsto adhere to yourfingerin noticeable slivers.

T H E PLAT FO RM PIT C H

did notwrite this book to turn you into a pitchm an orpitchwom an.lw rote itso that you could learn pitch-persuasion strategies to use in everyday life.lhope that as youke been reading,youke been using the strategies.lfnot,lurge you to pick the three or four that appeal to you m ost, and take the plunge.Practice them briefly and then go live.U se them in the superm arket,the m ovie theater,the boardroom ,wherever.T hese persuasion strategies m ay be based upon principles of theatrical

entertainment,butthe/remeantforcommon,daily use. T his chapter,how ever,is not about com m on, daily use. lt' s about using the strategies in platform settings.lt' s abouthow to influence people asyou pitch,present,orgive a speech. lw illnotspeak theory in thischapter.lw illtellyou whatl've done for the past 24 years and offer suggestions on how you m ightapply the philosophies and techniques in yoursituation.

TH E PLATFO RNIPITCH

T H E A U D IEN C E lperform before tw o distinctgroups.O ne is a seated audience.l start w ith people in an auditorium whoke com e specifically to hearm e speak.Typically,a corporation hashired m e to talk about sales,persuasion,orpersonalexcellence.Everyone in the room is quiet and on theirbestbehavior. T he other is a trade-show audience.lstartwith no one.This group lm ustbuild in the m idstofafrenetic,com petitive environm ent,fullofpulsing m usic,flashing lights,and scantily clad m odels.lm ust attracta crowd,pullthem into m y client' s 1700th,and sellthem on m y client' sproducts.

T H E STRU CT U RE T he two audiences seem w ildly different,yet paradoxically,the sam e pitch structure is effective with 170th.l call it m y ''Build, H old,M ove Process.''The process lookslike this: T he Build Step getstheir attention. T he H old Step talks abouttheirproblem s and m y solutions. T he M ove Step tellsthem how to im m ediately benefitfrom m y solutions.

T H E BU ILD STEP W hetherthe audience isquietly seated with folded handsorw alking through chaos,the firstthing lm ustdo isw in theirattention.

lneverassumethe/reinterested in meorinwhatlhaveto say.Even if they appear attentive,they m ay in fact be thinking

aboutfiveo'clockortheraisetheywerejustscrewed outof.Their bodiesm ay be m ine,butnottheirm inds.lw ant170th. M y favorite w ay to gain their attention isw ith a prop.lwalk the platform w hile holding a fifty-dollar billand say:'W ea1th is w hatyou believe itto be.lknow som eonew ho thoughtfifty dollarsm ade him a rich m an.

TI-IE BLIIL, D S' T' EP

199

'' M y grandfatherAlbertcarried afifty-dollarbillwith him ,because his fathersaid a fifty in yourpocketiswealth.Albertnever

spentit.He'djustlook atit. '' N ow,lknow fifty dollars was w orth a 1ot m ore back w hen A lbertcarried it,butto m e afifty-dollarbillisn'twealth.'' A sldeliverthe line,lballup the billand tossit,like apiece of garbage,into the audience.Thatgets their attention.lfwe're in an auditorium ,people sit up.lf we're at a trade show,passersby congregate.lcontinue on,m oving from m y grandfather'sconcept of wealth to m y concept of w ealth. l then tie m y concept of w ealth to the productl' m pitching. T he fifty-dollarbillstory is an exam ple ofhow to use a prop to lead into the body of a presentation.A fter a11,you can talk

aboutany subjectonceyoukebroughtup wealth,becausewealth isan encompassing term .Any subjectcan bem adetofitit.Sometim es,though,yourprop and w hat it represents don' thave to fit yourtopic so seam lessly. W hen lw ant to build a trade-show audience, l often use a prop-based Transform ation M echanism that has no bearing on the product l've been hired to pitch.ldo itpurely to create m ass, nOtto delivera salesm essage. 1'11leap from the stage and stand in the aisle.W hy? Because w aiting for people to com e to m e is slow.lgo to them to speed things up. W hen l' m in the aisle,lcom m andeer a few people one to act asa volunteer,the rest to act as an audience.Thissm allaudience bringsm ore people together,because they know som ething unusualis afoot.A sm allcrowd attractsa largerone. lthen borrow an item from the volunteer a w atch,a credit card,a shoe.lfm y volunteeris ayoung m an,lm ight ask him to

remove hisshirtso lcan perform amechanism with it.(1only take the shirtifhe'sw earing aT-shirtunderneath;ldon' tw antm y

performanceturning into aflesh show.)luse theitem asafocal point,w hich intensifiesthe interestofpassersby. T hen,w ith a 1otofshowm anship,lperform the m echanism . lt m ightbe one from thisbook,orone requiring greaterpractice

TH E PLATFO P.I VIPITCH

(forinstance,shootingarubberbandone-handedacrossthefloor so thattheband jetsahundred feet,reversesdirection,and scoots

backtome). W hen theyke seen m e do what looks to be im possible, l prom ise otherm iraclesifthey follow m e back to '' the giftdeploy-

mentarea''(alsoknownasthestage). lm ake no attem pt to tie the m echanism to m y client' s offer-

ing.W hatldid wastotally forthe crowd' senjoyment.ltwasentertainm ent.

M y perform ance is transactional:l will continue to intrigue and delight them ,if they stay around for my m essages. lf they don' tstay around,they won'tbe entertained. W hen the people crow d around m y stage, l ask them to

squeezeintightly.lfthe/rein tight,the/remorefocusedon my m essage.lfthey're in tight,they w on'tthink aboutleaving.lfyou lose 1person in frontyou lose 30 in back,and lcan't1etthathappen.lgrab their attention and hold it.

H ow W ould You U se the Build Step? C onsider gaining the attention ofyour audience in one ofthese energizing w ays:

J//ft/g( gT' rt ggs-forplt gtfogkklec/ gtggfsm.Rem ember,a mechanism isa trick w ith a point.ltm akes an idea clearand com pelling by explaining itthrough the lensofm etaphor.You create a m echanism by taking a key pointfrom yourspeech,com bining itw ith a talentorstunt,and seeing whatcom esfrom it. lfyou' re a plumberwho singsopera,binyolYou haveyourself the m akingsofa m em orable m echanism .W hen you w alk outto give a prospecting talk to localbusiness leaders,you can sing an aria.T hat'llm ake them take notice.W hen you're finished,you can discuss the sim ilarities betw een opera and the plum bing problem syou solve. J//ft/g(ggogsyplôo/fcrlec/ gtggfsrl.Attimes,youcanperform amech-

anism thatdoesn' thavemuch significanceotherthan beingenjoyable to w atch.You use itto entertain and putthe focus on you.

TI -IE I-IO LD STEP

A gain,suppose you're that singing plum ber.You open w ith the aria,people clap enthusiastically,you thank them and head into yourtalk.D one. J//ft/g( gcballove.A dangerousyeteffectivetechnique.ltsdownside:You can com e acrossasm anipulative.ltsupside:A challenge gripspeople and invitestheiractive response. You can create a challenge by taking one ofyour key points and couching its upside as som ething frightening:''l m ustw arn you.M y productivity system is going to allow you to achieve som e heavy gains. But here' s the snag. You're not Superm an. Som e people getso intoxicated by com pleting a week' sworth of w ork in two-and-a-halfdaysthatthey becom e greedy.T hey start taking on m ore,and ittaxesthem .They can'tsleep,they becom e irritable,they bark atthepeople w ho love them .You do notw ant to go there!Think carefully before investing in m y system ,because iftw ice the personalproductivity isn'tenough foryou,you m ightgetyourselfinto trem endoustrouble.' You can also challenge people by daring them to w ithstand the benefitsofw hatyou're pitching:''lfyou visitYellow stone N a-

tionalPark,ldare you notto stand in awe ofthe m ajestic redw oods.ldare you not to shed a tear as you w atch a bald eagle flash acrossthe sky.ldare you not to have the vacation to w hich you com pare a11other vacations.l don't think you can do it. l w ould betevery dollarin m y pocketthatifyou visitYellowstone thisyear,you willbe called back to it,year afteryear.You willbe addicted.ltw illbe an addiction you cannotbreak.''

T H E H O LD ST EP ldivide the H old Step into tw o stages:Pain and Solution.

Pain O nce lhave the audience' s attention,lw ork to keep it.Because people live in their problem s,that' sw here l go.lstartthe H old Step by m aking theirpain realto them .lopen wounds.

TI-IE PLATFO I ?.M PITCI-I

W hatldo istearthem down.lidentify and harp on whatisn' t w orking for them . l bring up fam iliar obstacles: not enough m oney,not enough productivity,not enough tim e,not enough freedom ,notenough contribution to the w orld. lintroduce the Law of lnsanity,which is doing what youke alw ays done and expecting different results.''H ow m any ofyou regularly follow that1aw ?'lask.Everyone raisestheirhand. lentertheirworld and 1etthem know thatlhave suffered everything theyke suffered- only l' ve identified w hatw asn'tw orking and changed it. l am not sm arter than they are. l only changed earlier.lam notspecial.But lam doing w hatthey long to do. Because lso accurately tellthem abouttheirproblem s,som e people think they are listening to afriend.lcorrecttheirassum ption.''lam notyourfriend 'lsay.'lam abusinessperson presenting you with an opportunity.You can' thang outw ith m e,and the only tim e you getto hear m e is now.That' s w hy you should be taking notes.The solutionsl'm going to give you costm e m illions to figure out.'' By the tim e l'm finished,they're a11ears.

H ow W ould You Create Pain in YourAudience? lknow thatcreating pain soundsnasty,butifyou have a product, service,or opinion thatw ould genuinely benefityour audience, you shouldn' t think twice aboutselling itto them ashard as you can.C reating pain is only m ean-spirited ifyou don'thave a solution,orifyoursolution stinks.lfthat' sthe case,don'teven getup to speak. You don'thave to foam atthe m outh to getpeople to experience pain.A low-key approach isjustaseffective.An example: ''Lookingforajob in today' smarketcanbeadispiriting task.First, you have to write a résum é,which is a docum ent that reduces yourlife to a single page with lots ofwhite space.T he sad thing is,m any of us can' t even find enough w orthwhile things to fill that page.W e have to pad itwith hype,we make one project

TH E H O LD STEP

203

sound like six,we take creditforresultsthatw e barely had ahand in creating.Even with a11that,w e som etim es have to buy a ré-

sumé book and appropriatebulletpointsfrom it,justto flesh out ourdocum ent.''

Solution O nce the audience know s lunderstand theirdeepestproblem s,l m ove on to the solution.lflam selling a car,the car is the solution.lflam teaching people how to sell,m y salesapproach isthe solution. T his isthe education partofm y presentation.Thisiswhere l talk to people about facts and m ethods and substantiate w hat l say with proofand sam ples.H ere,lcolorwhatlsay with slogans and by handing outfreebies. l've already gone into detail about this solution stage in a large partofthisbook,so lw on' trehash thatinform ation.W hatl w illdo,though,iselucidate on som e particulars. D uring thisstage,lkeep the entertainm entlevelhigh.W hile l talk,lcontinue to use m echanism s to hold attention and give m y concepts oom ph.W ith the m echanism s,ltry notto fallinto predictable patterns. l m ay perform a m echanism straight through to the end before presenting the audience with new pitch inform ation. O r, l m ay string out the m echanism for 20 m inutes,inserting pitch inform ation within itas lgo. lm ake certain to give people a technique or tw o specific to their fields, which will blow them aw ay regardless of w hether they buy w hat l'm pitching.For instance,ifl'm speaking before Realtors, l suggest that w hen theyke sold a hom e, they m ark down the projected date by which the buyerswillhave paid off 20 percent of their m ortgage.W hen thatdate arrives,the Realtors should callthe buyers and advise them to cancelthe expensive PM linsurance they were required to buy when they bought their hom es.That phone call saves the buyers thousands and gives the Realtors a friendly w ay of reestablishing contact w ith people w ho m ightbe interested in m oving again.

TI-IE PLATFO R. M PITCI. -I

Building value for the audience is forem ost in m y m ind. ln

otherwords,ldon'tjustplop inform ation in frontofthem .lhelp them see, hear, sm ell, taste, and feel that inform ation.l paint scenes ofw hattheirlivesw ould be like using it,and lunderscore those scenesw ith pictures ofwhatwould happen ifthey continued on theirpresentroute.

H ow W ould You O llerYourAudience Solutions? Rem em ber,whateveryoursolution,you need to sellitto people. Even ifitsim portance isobviousto you,itm ay notbe apparentto youraudience.Building value iscritical. N o productisexpensive ifitsperceived value ishigh enough.

To the prospect,a $10,000 price tag feels like 10 cents,ifthe pricey option willbring the properresult. T he sam e dynam ic appliesto pitching in noncom m ercialsituations. lf you're proposing that neighbors form trash pick-up team s to clean the localpark,you' d betterbuild value like crazy,

otherwiseyoursolution willjustseem an annoyance. W hen the park is clean,w hatwillitdo for people? M ake the neighborhood prettier.Raise property values.H eighten com m unity spirit.M ake itsafe forfam iliesto picnic,children to run,and dogsto rom p.That' s building value.You say it,and you getpeop1e to feelit.

O fcourse,ifyoujustmakeclaimsabouthow thecommunity w ill be better,no one w ill listen.You m ust show them .That' s w hatthe Solution Stage isfor.lf a clean park raisesproperty values,show the audience how high and w here you gotthat inform ation. Perhaps you asked a city planner, or did a real estate

check ofsurrounding park communities.Quote your sources. D isplay photographs.Brandish docum entssigned by experts.

T H E M O VE STEP T he M ove Step is aboutaction.ln salesparlance,itis''the close.'' T he audience has been educated and entertained,and they un-

THE M OVE STEP

derstand how the offering willm ake their livesbetter.N ow they m ust m ove.

W hen l'm pitching,ltellthem thatifthey have any hesitation about accepting my proposal,that' s norm al. Changing for the better need notbe com fortable. ldon'tgive people m any options,because options dilute m y m essage.l'm clearand precise aboutw hatlw antthem to do. ltellthem thateveryone hasthe ability to acceptm y offer,but few willtake it.M ost people follow the path of least resistance, because thatpath hasdone okay forthem .lfokay isenough,then they should stick w ith it.lfthey are looking for better,though,l have already proved to them thatlknow abetterw ay. lgive them an advantageforbuying today because ifldo not, they willnot.They willdeliberate.They willprocrastinate.O ur m indsare like law yers,and we can find reasonsfororagainstany position w e w ant.By tom orrow,they w illhave thought of 137 reasonsnotto buy,even ifbuying isin theirbestinterest. T he advantage lgive?A longerguarantee.A price break.Free technicalsupport.Som ething.Som e rew ard thatvanishes when m y show is over. lalso rem ove the risk forbuying:' T ry ourproducton forsize. lfyou don'tlike it,we insiston giving you yourm oney back.W e can' tafford unhappy custom ers.''ldon'tw antrem orsefulbuyers.l w ant people to have faith in the com pany l'm pitching and in theirown decisions. Even w hen l'm teaching an audience how to sellorpersuade, l include this M ove Step.lpush them .loverwhelm them w ith value.There is no option. lf they don't use the strategies l've taughtthem ,they willgetthe sam e resultthey have been getting, and thatresultsent them to m e in the firstplace.l1etno one off the hook.

H ow W ould You U se the M ove Step? To be effective in this step,you m ust be clear about the result you're looking for.W hen you're finished speaking,do you w ant

TH E PLATFO RNIPITCH

people to leave their contactinform ation,buy your tape set,or sign a contract? W hateveryou decide,that' sw hatyou base your close on.Your ''Buy todayl''advantage stem s from that, as does yourguarantee.

T he M ove Step isalso agood tim e foryou to tellpeoplew hat it' scosting them to ignore your m essage.lfthey leftwithouttaking you up on youroffer,how w ould they be w orse off? M ake sure youke answ ered the audience's questions before proceeding to thisstep.You w antto have the lastw ord.You w ant to end with fire and a callto action.You don'tw antthe concerns of one or tw o audience m em bers to stand in the w ay of your strong m essage.

Y

Backroom 'llps IorPlatlorm Pitching

+ Be prepared to expand or contract your presentation,based upon what'shappening in the room .lfone partis going particularly w ell,harp on it.lfanother partisslow,cutit. + lnvolve your audience,butdon't1etthem take over.lask peop1e to participate in m echanism s and to raise their hands w hen they agree with m y points.H ow ever, l am alw ays in controlof the presentation' s flow. lf a volunteer isn't doing w hatlw ant,lthink nothing ofsitting him dow n abruptly. W hen you pitch,think ofyourselfas a m ovie director.lt' s

yourjob to tellpeoplewhatto do,so thatsomething wonder-

fu1happens.Youneedn' tbe abusive.Justfirm . # Do you use slides? lfso,you should only projectanew slide onto the w allafter youke started talking about it.Also,the im age on the slide should be assim ple and crisp aspossible:a tw o-word sentence;a color photograph;a ridiculously easyto-follow graph. lf you start talking about the slide too early oryou split your focus between w hat you're saying and what the slide show s,people w illtune you out and attend to the slide.

TI -IE l vlovE STEP

+ D oes public speaking m ake you nervous? lt needn' t.Speaking,in and ofitself,isn'tinherently stressful.lfyou're excessively nervous, it m eans you're som ehow being unrealistic. Perhapsyou' re expecting perfection from yourself,or you're elevating the consequencesofyourpitch.The bestw ay outof that trap is to speak often.You'llsee thatnothing life-threatening happensw hen you m ake m istakes.

A Transformation M echanism: Cutting a Ferson in Halfw ith Ropes The Stene

You/rechairingthecommitteewhoseiob i tisto raisefundsto reelect the mayor. The committee ishard working,butyou/reconcerned aboutthe strategiesthey/re proposing.Forthe mostpart,those strategiesare dulland uninspired. Yourealize thatyou can'tdemand thatthey think more creatively, more enthusiasticall y.So,you decideto openthisweek'smeeting with a mechanism designed to inspire new thinking inthem.You ask

Nick,Emma,andSarahtoioinyouatthefrontoftheroom. ''To opentonight'smeeting,'yousay,'IthoughtI'd do something different.A magictrick.Butnotsome I ametrick.Iwantto perform the greatesttrickofall ,Sawing a FersoninHalf.Nick,please stand here.' The committee membersIaugh.They don'tknow whatyou/re going to do,butthey I ove whatyou/re doing. Youcontinue:''Now,Idon'thave the money fora fancy box and a buzz saw,becauseIsink mostofmy money into the mayor'scampaignlSo,forgive me.Iwantto do the poorman'sversion ofSawing a Ferson in Half.Since Idon'thave any gimmicked propsto do the trick,1/11have to use these ropes.I tmay be a bitmore bloody than normal.Ifso,Nick,forgive me.''

(continoed)

TH E PLATFOP.M PITCH

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Figure 1Z.1 Ropes behind the back.

(Continved) Inyourhclnd m u hold two rom s eclch cll xlutfi vefeetIong.You hclve Emmq clndScl rclh stclndonei thersideofN i ckclsthey grip the

rom s(Figure 17.1).Youencircl eN i ck'swqistwiththeoneoftherom s clnclti ei tstwoendstcxgetherthusstrclpping him i n( Fbure 17.2). ''O nthe countofthree,'you scly,''Iwclntyou lwo Iclcli esto yclnk the yourrom . enclsforwclrd.Ifthisworks they willm nelrclte N i ck's body clnclhe/llbe none the worseforweclr.Ifitcltxsn't Ni ck Iknow

how to usemysui tiqcketclscltourniquet.Everyone recl cly.'' On ''Threel''the womenpullhclrd clnd the rom sseem to sli ce ri ghtthroughN ick'sbodywith no iIIeffects.W hclt'smore you invite the womento pclssclround the rom sto everyone inthe room .They truly clre normql.Everyone i s impressed. You stclrtthe meeting clncl whencln ideclseemsuninspired you referbcl ckto the om ning mechqnism clnclclskpeopl e how they mi ght

(continved)

THE M O VE STEP

209

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Figure 1Z.2 Tie one rope around waist.

(Continved) mqke the ideclunderconsiderqtion ''PIcly biggen''Yougetspiri ted re. sponses.

Behind 'he scene To prepqre,cutlwo pi ecesoffive.fcot.l ong rope fold ecl chone in

hcllf clnclbindthem tcx getherwi thclsmclllpieceofwhitethrecld (Fig. ure 17.3). W hen you/re recldy to perform the tri ck pickup the ropesso thclt yourhclnclconceqlsthe center To the qudience you/re holding lwo Iong piecesofrom . W hen you hclve yourvolunteeron stcl ge,pl clce the ropesL hincl

him so hisboclyobscurestheirgimmi ckedmiddl e (Fi gure 17.:). Then infrontofhislxdy grclb cln end from eitherside clnclti e them together.

/continved)

TH E PLATFOP.M PITCH

? / w.!?

Figure 1Z.3 Bind centerstogetherw ith thread.