Chapter 4- Advanced Linguistics

This section will teach about the special techniques that can be used in a sentence to increase the possibilities of persuasion and suggestion.
Hopefully, by now, you have quite an understanding of how important wording is when creating strong rapport with a person. We are now going to delve deeper into these realms and uncover the special words and techniques that enhance our ability to persuade our subjects.

FACT AND OPINION MERGE

We can all tell facts and opinions about anything in the world. From movies: “That film had poor ratings from critics, it was rubbish”, to clothes: “The top is orange, the top looks like sick!” We can also all tell the difference between what is fact, and what is opinion…or can we?
What if it was possible that we could get people to believe that what we are saying is fact, though it is indeed only an opinion? What if we could change people’s perceptions on reality?

EXPLANATION

If we can gain agreement on a few facts with our subject, then in the same sentence we can include an opinion; which will also be regarded as fact. Before we continue; let’s look at an example.

EXAMPLE

You are a motorbike-salesman, trying to sell a HONDA NSR. Note the use of fact and opinion.
“Now this motorbike is a HONDA NSR 125, it has full bodywork, will reach speeds around 100mph and rides like a dream”

Let’s deconstruct this statement.
I first use a fact about the motorbike being a HONDA NSR 125, there is no doubt about this and doesn’t need to be questioned as the buyer will see this for themselves. Again, I use another fact about it having full bodywork. The last fact I say is that it reaches speeds around 100mph (there is an extra subtlety here we will touch on later). The last statement is totally opinion based, yet it reads and sounds like a fact, so the buyer would believe that it “rides like a dream” without questioning. Can you see how we can shift a person’s perceptions of what is real?

BINDING

Binding is where we place a statement that is accepted as true next to a statement we want to be accepted as true. The bind usually comes into play after at least two facts have been stated, so the subject already assumes the next statement will be fact.
So, we have learnt how to get someone really interested in buying a motorbike, but what about getting someone to not like something? It uses the same idea; let’s have a look.

EXAMPLE

You do not like someone, and want your friend to dislike them too (this is a little cruel, isn’t it?) Note the use of fact and opinion.

“Look at her, she is standing there in that denim skirt, holding her bag, thinking she is really gorgeous” 􀃅 Obvious opinion- we can not possibly know what this girl is thinking, yet it is still regarded as fact.

Let’s refer back to the motorbike example again. I mentioned that there was an extra little subtlety hidden in the phrasing, have you noticed what it is yet? It is what I have decided to call the around about effect.

THE “AROUND ABOUT” EFFECT

Before I explain what this is and how I use it, let’s first examine what around about means. If I said to you “a can of coke costs around about 30pence”, I think that would be fair to say, knowing that a can costs about 37pence. So, around about means ‘nearly’, or ‘just over’. As most people like to think positively when we give them a statement including the words “around about”, they will generally accept what we say as “spot on”. For example, if I want to sell a can of coke, someone asks how much it is and I say “around 30pence” they believe it will be 30pence, yet when they get to the till and it says 40pence, they realise I haven’t lied, they just haven’t picked up on the information I sent them. Also, I have noticed that sometimes when a person asks me how much something is and I say“£10”, this person believes this is too much and often says “no thank you”. But what if I was to use the around about effect? I tried this same thing but when I said “around £10” the person seems to think that this is cheaper than “£10” when in fact it could even be more expensive.

CONCLUSION

Using the phrase “around about” or simply “around” allows us to also be “average” on what we say. So back to the motorbike example. I say the bike will go around 100mph, this is accepted as fact, but the bike only does 80mph. This is a deceptive technique many salesmen use nowadays, use in reference to your own beliefs.

QUESTIONS AND COMMANDS

In some circumstances we are most persuasive when we ask a question, in others; we are more likely to get the desired response when we give a command. If we could mix the two ways of gaining a desired response we could have control over what the subject does and when we want them to.

When we ask a question, our pitch increases towards the end. This is the basic way we can recognise when there would be a question mark at the end of the sentence if written down. When we say a command, out pitch tends to drop at the end of the sentence, again this is how we know that an exclamation mark should be at the end of the statement if written. If we think about it, anything can be asked as a question or as a statement, in fact, I could give a command, and the response could be the exact same sentence I have just said, but in the form of a question.

EXAMPLE

“Go and get me some chocolate and a glass of coke!” 􀃅 command
“Go and get me some chocolate and a glass of coke?” 􀃅 question

Your tonality is extremely important when using embedded commands. We can use marking to emphasise exactly what we want to be done for us. This is done by pausing right before your command point in the sentence, therefore marking the next word so unconsciously, the subject pays special attention to the command coming next. You must not be afraid to mark words with confidence, if you are too subtle, it will not work as well.

Let’s change the sentence so that the command is a little more embedded:

“Do you ever feel as though you sometimes (PAUSE) smile for no reason?”

Try this a few times on some people until you get the tonality perfect, you will notice that the unconscious mind picks up the command “smile for no reason” and the person will smile uncontrollably! Another way to play on the unconscious minds of the subject is to ask a question in the form of a command; again, they will pick this up and do what you say.

“Do you ever feel as though you sometimes smile for no reason!”

It is harder than you would expect to say a question as a command, remember your tonality should decrease towards the end of the sentence.

QUOTES

One of the best ways of using persuasion onto a subject is through word of mouth. How many times have you bought something because somebody you know said it was good, or cool? Form my own experience I can say I have done this many of times.
We can again alter someone’s actions and thoughts by incorporating the use of quotes into our linguistics. If I were to talk to a person and say what a “friend” had told me, or what someone else thinks on the matter in a subtle way, the subject I am talking to will unconsciously pick up on this and treat it like a command. They will to start to see things in the same way my “friend” does because that is what I have described to the subject.

EXAMPLE:

You want to create a strong rapport with someone, so you speak to him or her about someone else.

“Charlie said she feels as though she really knows me well, as though she can tell me anything and has known me for years. She thinks we have a strong bond and should be best friends. Isn’t that nice?”

EXPLANATION

Through the use of quotes the subject you are speaking to associates himself or herself with “Charlie” and will feel the same way as “Charlie” apparently does. This is a great way of increasing the rapport between you and the subject. Another great example of this was what a friend of mine once used to get a girl to go out with him:

“Yesterday, I was shopping around ASDA and I heard this couple together, the man said “I really love you, I want to kiss you so much it is driving me wild and I know you feel the same way! Can you imagine that? Wow!” Soon after this, the girl realised that she wanted to kiss my friend, and we had a success!

This worked because she consciously hears my friend telling her a story (the man wanted to kiss the woman, can she imagine it etc), yet she unconsciously associates you with being the man, and her with being the woman, so she feels compelled to wanting to kiss you as the woman in the story did want to kiss the man.

CONCLUSION

By using quotes we can tell people what we want them to do by replacing them with another person’s responses in a story. So, if you feel very strongly about someone you have strong rapport with, tell him/her a story where a man/woman (same sex as you) tells a man/woman (same sex as subject) that s/he really likes him/her and that s/he feels the same way and they started to kiss etc…be imaginative! Hmm….Maybe I should write a book to explain this conclusion…