The more skillful a person is in the use of language, the more persuasive they will be. People are persuaded by us based on the words we use. Words affect our perceptions, our attitudes, our beliefs, and our emotions. The words we use in the persuasion process make all the difference in the world. Language used incorrectly will trigger the wrong response and decrease your ability to persuade.
Word skills are also directly related to earning power. Successful people all share a common ability to use language in ways that evoke vivid thoughts, feelings, and actions in their audiences. Carl Jung revealed that all words are full of symbols and each symbol triggers an emotional reaction or feeling. All words have emotional meanings that are different than their definitions in the dictionary. Understanding words and their emotional triggers will enhance your ability to persuade and influence.
Word Choice —
Article about REAL Scary In-Flight Announcements
Understand that proper language varies from setting to setting, and from event to event. One word choice does not work in every circumstance or culture. Word choice can also be critical to defusing situations or in getting people to accept your point of view. Even one word can make the difference between rejection and acceptance. In a study by social psychologist Harold Kelley, students were given a list of qualities describing a guest speaker they were about to hear. Each student read from either one of the following two lists:
Cold, industrious, critical, practical, and determined
Warm, industrious, critical, practical, and determined
Of course, the students who read #1 had less than positive feelings about the speaker. The interesting thing, though, is that the lists are exactly the same except for the first word! They found that the first word at the front of the list conditioned how the student felt in reading through the rest of the list. It didn’t matter that none of the following words were negative. Just reading the word “cold” tainted how the students read the rest of the list.
As I mentioned the airline industry has mastered the power of words. They know word choice is critical to getting their point across and to reduce stress. In one situation, a flight attendant had run out of steak as an option for dinner entrée. Instead of telling the customers their only option was chicken, the flight attendant said, “You can have a piece of marinated chicken breast, sautéed in mushrooms in a light cream sauce, or a piece of beef.” Consequently, people chose the chicken because it sounded better. Think about the words next time you read a restaurant menu.