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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 .

 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.
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i
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'J-
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- 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 lunder-
stand w hy he'
sbeen theundisputed leader in persuasion.ButHow ttlPcrsuat
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Pcc')!cW'
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g.ïWff
wtttll?cPcrsuatk? isn'tjustastonraboutJoel.lt'
san unselfish
recipeforpersonalandprofessionaldevelopm ent.Thisbook isagift.'
.- M attHill,president,TheH illGroup

'JoelBauerandM arkLev.
srelevatetheartofsalesmanshipto alevelothersonly
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ingtoshare.Tl-uly/thisisabook on how tobeasuccess.'
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.- M ax Cohen,cofounderand CEO ,CashAdvance.com
'BauerandLev.srdon'tjustprovethepowerofpersuasion intheirnew book/they
show youhow to becomeanexpertatthiskeylifeski ll- quicklyandeasily'
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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,educa-
tional/and fun.Read itand putsom emagicintoyourbusinesslife.'
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leffreyJ.Fox,authorofHow toM akeBigAz
ftlse.
yin YtlvrOwn Small
Businessand H ow to Becom eCEO

'DonaldTrump'
sairlojt/ Dcfp!andJoelBauer'
sHowttlPtrsuat
kPcc')!cTbtlDc'
g.
ï
Wffwtttll?cPtrsuatlc?aretwo essentialsforthoselooking to succeed inbusiness.'
.- llob 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 a1-
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.- D avid G oldsmith,founder,M etaM atrix Consulting,Inc.

'JoelBauer issuch a rock star.He hasshownup with hisown brand ofreal

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'A m ustread and a funread forbusinesspeople atany level.Thebook grabs
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-
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'
H ow ttlPcrsuatkPcc')!cT btlDc'
g.
ïWff
w tttll?cPcrsuat
k?w illshakeyou outofyour
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.-
lohn Izzo authorofSecondInnocence:RediscoveringIoy
& W tlsflc'randAwakening tlle CorporateSoul
 l10A102E28gàpE
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10SE2E28gàpEp
 l1()A102E28t)l)E
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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.
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How to persuadepeoplewho don'
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lncludesbibliographicalreferencesand index.
ISBN 0-471-64797-7(hardcover)
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Tltle.
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74832 2004
153.8'52.--(1(222 2003027633

8
 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' retgsgreJs/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 1

CI -IANGE TI-IE M OM ENT 13
THE TpakhlsyoltlvlzkTlox M ECI-IANISM 22
THE BODY M ETAPI-IOR 40
THE PAPER M ETAPI-IOR 53
THEQulcltPITCH OPENING 66
THEQulcltPITCH BODY 78
THE SLOGAN PITCI -I 90
C otkvlxcE w l7'l
-ISAMPLES 1O1
THE Pow Ek oy FItEE 112
11 THE Pow Ek OF G IFTS 125
12 SOLID Pkooy 133
13 D YNAMIC C I -ARlTY 15O
BE D ls-
rlxc'r 159
O vEkcol vlEREsls-r/txcE 176
16 THE LOOK 186
17 THE PLATFOR&1PITCH 197
18 THE V ECHANISI VIEMERGENCY K IT 213

INDEX
A BO UT THE AUTHO ZS
 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 re-
ally about;m y m other,C arolBauer,and m y father,Stephen
Shoyer;m y adoring grandfathers,Albertand D uf-fy;and m y clos-
estfriends,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 get-
ting 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 writ-
ing 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' sapeculi-
arity in my shoe''Cohen,PattiDanos,Kevin Daum (foratwo-
hourconversation 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 e-

tim 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 influ-
ence,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 Lls-
fExElt

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 situation-
thatis,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 audi-
ence'ssize and intellectualm akeup.Everyone- and lm ean every-
one- 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 J-foa?toPersgtgkePeoble J///
?0D0g1 J/tggtto BePersgtgt
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,pub-
1ic speakers,and teachers.
A n audience thatdeserves specialm ention is singles.M y per-
suasion 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 prin-
ciple iscriticalifyou w antto be a pow erfulpersuader.The term
bèbcogcel)tismostoften used in the TV and film industries,par-
ticularly during pitch m eetings, in w hich writers throw con-
densed 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? Accord-
ing 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 any-
thing,it's this:People w illopen them selves up to a com m ercial
-fyou ent
ertain them.Take away theentertainment,and
m essage f
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 yearin-
dustry.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 pa-

nies' 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 beau-
tiful,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 aterissub-
tle.After a11,m ost com panies in the industry take a dignified ap-
proach 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.En-
tertainm 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 light-
hearted.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 tech-
nique: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 attention-
grabber(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 in-
triguing,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 hon-
estly. 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 profes-
sionaland 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 entertain-
m entprinciples,not drowning in them .W hile you're learning to
entertain,you'llalso be learning good,solid business and influ-
ence practices.
l don'tw ant to leave this introductory chapterw ithout put-
ting 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 up-
com 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 largesttrade-
show 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 be-
lieve thatthousandsofundifferentiated onlookersare aw asted ex-
pense, 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 dif-
ferent 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' ssuc-
cess 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,butbe-
cause 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 hathap-
penswhen 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 expecta-
tion,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/
gojaStg/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 Transfor-
m ation M echanism .You can use these m echanism s in any situa-
tion 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-inch-
high 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 construc-
tion,five hundred thousand dollarsto rentfloor space,and hun-
dreds 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 lis-
ten 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 actthrough-
outthe day thatm y client' slead-generation m achinesare flooded
w ith prospects.
H ow welldo ldo?The J' $Q//StreetJogrgtg/Onlinecallsme ''
the
chairm an ofthe board''ofcorporate trade show rainm aking.f' t
gst
 ovEltv lEw

Corllltgg'
.
)rw ritesthatl'm ''an expertatgetting the attention ofpeo-
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?

lwroteJ- foa?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.Theirphi-
losophy 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' snei-
thersinister,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 in-
fluence othersisto look and behave asifyou're aperson ofinflu-
ence.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 peo-

ple.D on't believe m e? Try this:Ask a friend to
think aboutthe bestsum m erday she' sever expe-
rienced,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 perspec-
tive,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 fol-
lowing 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 self-
protective, distancing language. ln language that can neither
offend nor inspire.lt sounds som ething like this:''T he organiza-
tion's goalis to assum e leadership ofthe industry by the fourth
quarter ofnextyear.T he organization plans to do thisby im ple-
m 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 leader-
ship 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 un-
derstand 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 re-
sponses.lfthey are crisp and authentic,lm ove on.lfnot,lques-
tion 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 oti-
vations,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 co-
w orkers as they really are,m aybe for the firsttim e.They under-
stand 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 acti-
vate theirim aginations and hearts.lgetthem seeing in three di-
m 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 theirorgani-
zation 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.Tor-
tggehasdone 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 cele-
bration.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 sprin-
kled 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 plan-
ning 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
oftheJ- ft
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 conver-
sation,e-m ail,phone calls,or a variety ofother m edia.The re-
sult? D avenportand Beck w rote:
Overall,the factorsmosthighly associatedwith getting rtheexec-
utives'lattention,in rank order,were:the message was personal-
ized.,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 es-
sagesthat170th evoke? twlotfo.
l
ïand werebersonalize? were more than
tw ice aslikely to be attended to asthe m essageswithoutthose at-
tributes.''
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

+ Stobtlof
zqgll/t
glrfgpyourfrlllorttggcetot/
.
?efzqor/k.Supposeyou manu-
facture 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 sol-
ace w hen daily life proves too m uch.You help readers focus
on hum ankind' s higher ideals.These are wonderfuland gen-
uine 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 anufac-
turer,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 feelbet-

terabouthow 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
gg-
t
/fg.
pt/
?erlorleat-for
t/
gtwl.People speak asthey think.Theirspoken language mir-
rors 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/fïes-
tfogstlltgtrtwlopetllt
wlj-
- rorltllefrcf
ïrreatsftfïtgtfog.
O ne type of question l use focuses on the past.For in-
stance:
 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 otion-
laden them es.The listeneris ''lost''and has learned a ''signifi-
cant''workplace lesson.-r' . /
?:rloreextranet/ ?esftfït
gtfogyourt/f ïestfo.
l
ï
(gkkresses,t/?erlorelikely you'llclltge l
g et/
?erlorleatj-
- ortllt
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 get-
ting them to flip a perspective and create a new reality:
''W hatwould have to happen foryourm ostagonizing busi-
nessproblem 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 associ-
ates.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 ent-

changing 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 entertain-
m 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 echa-
nism 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 o-
sphere.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 usbetterun-
derstand 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 isrepre-
sented 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
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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.En-
tertaining 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 on-

stration.

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 eansnec-
essary 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 letterofthealphabetthatcorre-
spond.swith it.SoJifyou're thinking ofthe numberonerthe corre-
sponding 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 possi-
bility,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 qual-
ifies 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'lg(gtvorlulay?Do you chairmeetings
w ith scientists?Are you expertatreaching decision m ak-
ers? 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
gtskillst10you lltgpe?Can you bake a chocolate cake?Fish
like a pro? Sketch a realistic still life? Build a sturdy bu-
reau?Throw and catch a Frisbee like a grad student?
J//llt
gttrfcês(ggt:
tbuzzlest 10youêgofz??Canyoujuggleknives?Find
a selected card from a shuffled pack? Add row s ofthree-
digitnum 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 recogniz-
able,butnotenough detailto tella com plete story.You w antthe
headline.The thum bnailsketch.
N ow take thatconceptand m atch itup to each taskyou do,tal-
entyou 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
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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- acolorfulFris-

bee- 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 avis-
ceralexperience.
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,entertain-
m ent-based,out-of-the-ordinary situation,she can'tuse her stan-
dard 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/
gtggfsrl: 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
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A /fgefrorlyourfgpeatory:''lcan juggleknives.''
-

A rlec/gt
ggfsrl:Attherolloutparty,startjuggling knivesasan at-
tention 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 graphi-
cally 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:J- foa?toPersgt
gkePeoble
J///
?0Dog' tJ//t
ggttoBePersgtgt
le;tto therescue!lconsiderthe Trans-
form 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 re-
ally need them .Thatw ay you get com fortable attracting atten-
tion 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 conclu-

sion,lofferyou an additionalfourm echanism sto draw upon.
lalso describe each m echanism aspart ofan im aginary situa-
tion 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 po-
nents. 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 cross-
country 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,politean-
swersaboutherdatabasecompany 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 in-
trigued.Because youdon'tappeardangerous- seated infirstclass,
elegantl y dressed- she decidesto go along and pressesyou formore
information.
''Icreatefeelingsona grandscale''yousay.zMaiorcorpora-
tions,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 in-
formation.Thatmagazine hasfwo hundred orso pages,with hun-
dredsofpicturesand 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 itflash-
ing.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 busi-
nesscard,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,maiorcorporationshireustofashioncam-
paignsthatcreate 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 attractsatten-
tionand enabl esyouto presentyouroffering in itsmetaphoricalwake.
To perform the mechanism,clandestinely obtain fwo piecesofin-
formation:a page numberfrom the middle ofa magazine,and the
Iongestword onthe top Iine ofthatpage.
Thatinformationwoul d have beensimpl e to acquireinthe airplane
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 slowly 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 numbershese-
Iected.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
forindividuals 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?

; '>
<

blb'k
f- qR ! .''u:
a.
jr
.FII.,
. x.
::,'. '
,
.
k..
tr
u j4g;j,;
,I
,

Figure 3.1 Riffle the uppercorners.

(Cont
inved)
W hen youperform the force you clre cltthe sclme time exe.
cuting whcltmentclliststerm cl''m iscclll.''I
t'sclstclndclrd m incl.reclcl.
ing technique.You I ook clt the inform cl ti
on on clpcl ge on cl
plclying cclrd oron clslip ofpclper,clnclyou cclllthcltinformqti on
by clnothernclme.Are you I ying?Perhqps butitisclthecl triccllIie.
You/re Iying inthe sclme wcl y Lclurence OlivierIies in Humletclncl
M clrlon Brclndo Ii
es in Ihe Goc/rcfllef' .Ifyou need prqctice wi th
thistechnique Icokcltyourcl cxg clnclcclllitclcclt.Lcok cltyourccl t
clnclccllli
tcltree.Lookcltcltree clnclccllli tclcclr.You/llsoon get
the hclng ofit.
/continved)
 TH E TRANSFORI
VIATION IVIECHAN ISI
VI

(Continoed)
# Frealtbe force asinconseqoential:Youwantyourspectatorto
thinkofa random number,so whatbetterway ofgetting sucha
numberthan Ietting chance decide?Like a mixing machine bl ow-
ing Iottery ball
s,you/re riffling through yourmagazine asa
meansofshuffling numbers.AsIong asyouplay itnatura1,few
peopl e willeven rememberthatyou everheld a magazine.
# A trooblesbooting point:Attimes,you may riffl e through aIIthe
pagesinyourmagazine withoutthe spectator'scalling stop.Nota
big deal.Say ''Let'sstartover,'and repeat.
# Naturally,you can also perform this mechanism with books.If
yourare going to pitch ina house oroffice,find away to secretl y
peekinto oneofthe owner'sbooksso you can memorize a page
numberand word.8utthe book backwhere youfound it.
W hen you're ready to perform,grab severalvolumesfrom the
bookshel ves,includingtheforce book.Brieflystudytheircovers,asif
you'reweighing the meritsofeach,hand theforce booktoyourspec-
tator,keepone foryoursel f,and discard the rest.Now you're set.
# Inthe airplane scenario,Imade itseem thatyouwere going to re-
vealthismechanism'ssecret,butthatwasan interest-holding tech-
nique only.Neverrevealthe secret.W hy?
Lookatitfrom thespectator'
spointofview.Youhaveiustread
hermind.ThinkofthatlYou have apparentl y iourneyed into her
thoughts,into the pl
ace where she keeps herIovesand ambitions,
herfears and failures,and you/ve broughtbackevidence ofthat
trip.Even ifthe spectatordoesn'tfull y believe yourclaim,she's
damned sure youdid something brilliant.So ifyouspillthe beans,
she'sgoing to be disappointed:Youdidn'tread hermind,nordid
you do anything particul
arl
y brilliant.
Ofcourse,eventhough I've warned you notto give away the
secret,Isuspectthatyou will...once.Butafterthatone time,I
know you won'tdo i tagain.It'sdisturbing to see the Iook ofad-
mirationdrain from a face.
(continoed)
 W HAT IF YOU D ON'T HAVE A SKILL? 39

(Continoed)
+ TheioboftheTransformationMechanism istomoveconversations
to a di
fferentI
evelofthought.Inthe airplane scenario,Ihad you
use the mechanism as a way ofgetting the executive to experi-
ence wonder,which iswhatyourmarketing program purportsto
do.So shefeltwonder,whileyoutalked aboutdelivering wonder.
W hatothermessagescoul d thismechanism represent? Itcan
symbolize youruncanny abilityto understand yourclient'sneeds,
show how you're b0th onthesamewavelength,demonstrate your
knowledge ofthe marketplace,and dramati ze the powerofthe
media (vibrant images practicall
yIeap outofthe spectator's
headl),amongotherthings.
W hateveryourmessage,experimentwith ways ofusing this
mechanism to bring itto Iife.
T H E BO D Y M ETA PH O R

he Transform ation M echanism has two subsets: the

Body M etaphor and the Paper M etaphor.L ke m echa-
nism s,these subsets also use analogy to coax people's
m indsinto fresh perspective.The difference am ong the
three? The prop each usesto getresults.
ln aTransformationM echanism,thepropisanoddobject(an
origamilobster),aconventionalobjectin anodd context(akite
in aboardroom),or aconventionalobjectwith which you do
somethingodd(arockthatvanisheswhenyoutossitintheair).
ln a Body M etaphor,the prop is your body,orthe bodies of
the peopleyou're influencing.
ln a Paper M etaphor,the prop is a diagram or cartoon you
draw in frontofthe people you're influencing.
Youke learned about m echanism s.N ow you'll learn how to
perform Body M etaphors,and in the nextchapter,you'lldiscover
the insand outs ofPaperM etaphors.
 W HAT A BODY I
VIETAPH OR LO O KS LIKE

W H AT A BO D Y M ETA PH O R LO O K S LIK E
A s l said,the prim ary prop in a Body M etaphor is the hum an
body.You getothers to experience an idea by m aking yourbody
and theirs an allegoricalexpression ofthatidea.
Say you're a consultantand you're selling a com pany on your
softw are-based know ledge-sharing process. ln front of you sits
the head ofeach departm ent.Youke done everything you w ere
supposed to do.You opened your presentation w ith a zing,un-
covered and intensified the problem ,offered your product as a
solution,segued into its facts and benefits,and dem onstrated it.
Before heading into a close,youke asked forquestions.
T he departm ent heads like w hat you said,but each one of
theirquestionsseem s to take you furtherfrom finishing the deal.
You're losing them .M ostofthem are technocrats,and they seem
to be m ired in analyzing the individual features of yourproduct
ratherthan the overallresultitw illproduce.To break thisdow n-
w ard presentationalspiral,you decide to use a Body M etaphor.
''
T he questionsyou're asking are im portant/''you say.'But as
w e're talking about som e ofm y product' sfeatures,lw antyou to
keep onething inmind.ln fact,lwantyouto/lwhatl'
m about
to say.Everyone please stand.
''Putyour feettogether,yourhands together,interm esh your
fingers,stiffen yourlegs,stiffer,squeeze yourjowls,yourneck,
yourspinalcolum n.
''X ghten your body like a knot,like a tight,tight knot.G rit
yourteeth.G ritthem .Gritthem .H old it.H old the tension.A nd
now ...release.
''Feelthe tension leave yourbody? Do you feel the pressure
releasing?
''T hatrelease isw hatm y process doesforyour system .
''lt takes bottlenecked inform ation and allow s it to flow
throughoutthe organization,w here itcan be turned into services,
products,and capital.
 TI-IE BODY M ETAPI
-IOP-

''See,yourdetailquestionsare im portant,butlet'sneverforget
that m y process and product are aboutcreating a com pany that
can produce in dozens ofdifferentdirections atonce.
''M y process is about liberation. lt'
s about innovation. lt'
s
abouthelping yourcom pany do w hatitwasm eantto do when it
17erform s atits best.''
D oesyourBody M etaphorturn the situation around? M aybe.
W hatitdoesdo is break the departm entheads oftheirpreoccu-
pation w ith m inutiae and getthem back on track,so you can per-
suade them on the benefitsofthe big picture.
T his exam ple used squeezing and releasing as a m eans
dem onstrating whathappensw hen you rem ove aplug in the sys-
tem .H ow m ight a sim ilar dem onstration be used to influence
othersin yourow n life?

BO D Y M ETA PH O RS A N D YO U
Perhaps an em ployee ofyours is afraid ofm aking a m istake and
hercaution isgetting in the w ay ofherduties.You w ant to break
her of herperfectionism ,so you invite her into your office and
discuss the situation.D uring yourtalk,you lead herthrough the
squeezing and releasing,dem onstrating how w hen you're tense,
it'
s hard to focus on anything other than the tension.H ow ever,
w hen you release the tension,it'seasierto focuson everything in
frontofyou.
You could also flip the rationale behind the squeezing-and-
releasing exercise,and bring up the positive aspectoftension.
For instance, you ask a slack em ployee to tense up, and
draw attention to the pronounced m uscles in his forearm s.
T hen you ask him to relax,and show how those m usclesdisap-
pear.Yourpoint:W hen w e operate atfullcapacity,we do w hat
w e w ere m eantto do.O urbodiesgetstronger,ourabilitiesin-
crease.
You could also use the squeezing and releasing as a m eansof
show ing harm ony and balance.Tension w ithoutrelaxation causes
 BO DY M ETAPI-IOP.S Axo Yo u 43

burnout;relaxation withouttension resultsin a life withoutdirec-

tion.A yin-yang dem onstration.
O fcourse,squeezing and releasing isjustone Body M etaphor.
W ith som e thought,you can com e up w ith others to prove your
points.
O ne public speaker invites an audience m em ber to face him ,
grab his right hand,and intertwine right legs.Then the speaker
and his volunteerlean back as faras they can.Each alone w ould
fall.Butbecausethe/relocked togetherbyhandshakeandlegs,
they rem ain upright.The speaker draw s a parallel between the
exercise and w orking togetherproductively.
A notherpopularBody M etaphorisused by speakersto fire up
their crow ds.The speaker asks her audience to stand, extend
theirrightarm s and forefingers,and swivelasfar around asthey
can,withoutm oving their feet.After the crow d hasdone the ex-
ercise once,the speakerw alksthem through an inspiring visuali-
zation about their capacity to do m ore than they ever thought
possible.Then she asks them to repeat the exercise, only this
tim e they're to try swiveling m uch fartherthan before.
O n the second try,m ost people can im prove on their initial
perform ances dram atically.Som e actually double the distance on
the second go-round.The speaker draw s a parallelbetw een the
exerciseandthepowerofourminds.(By theway,ifyouwantto
try thisexercise ordo itto others,m ake sure no one involved has
abad back.Donewrong,itcanbepainful.)
Themetaphorsl'
vejustdescribed putthebody through phys-
icaltension.Butyou can do m etaphorsw ithout taxing the body
ata11.
Robert M iddleton,a m arketing consultant,uses an engaging
m etaphor to help audiences re-see a conventional rule of sales
and m arketing.Says M iddleton:''l w ant everyone to hold their
penson top oftheirheads,like yourpen is an antenna.''H e w aits
a few secondsso everyone can look and laugh,and continues:'A11
yourcustom ershave a radio antenna on theirhead,and they only
tune into one frequency,W IIFM ,which stands for ' W hat's in lt
44 TI-IE BODY M ETAPI
-IOP-

forM e'? lfyou w antyoursales m essage to getthrough to them ,

you have to m ake sure you're talking aboutw hat they w ant,not
w hatyou w ant.''
M iddleton takes the standard W IIFM concept and gives it
new life.Hisaudienceisnotjustentertained;they also givemore
seriousthoughtto a conceptthey m ay already have understood,
butneverapplied to theirbusinesses.
Som e Body M etaphors m ake their points through mystery.
M ore than 1OO years ago, a teenager nam ed Lulu H urst con-
vinced the world that she possessed a physical m agnetism that
robbed strong m en oftheirstrength and caused atleastoneearth-
quake.As bizarre as her claim s seem ,she w as a headline per-
form er and w as studied by leading scientists as som eone
possessing supernaturalpowers.
D uring her lifetim e, H urst'
s m ethods w ere never exposed.
H owever, she revealed som e of her secrets late in life, in the
pagesofherm em oir.M ostofthem had to do w ith leverage,and
m any can be m ade into potentBody M etaphors.
A n exam ple:H urstw ould stand tw o feetfrom aw alland hold
her hands flush against it,as if doing a standing push-up.Then
she'd have one m an stand behind her and puthis hands on her
shoulderblades.Behind him ,a dozen m en w ould then take their
places,one ata tim e,each w ith hishandson the shouldersofthe
m an in frontofhim .O n the countofthree,each would steadily
push w ith a11hism ight.W hathappened to H urst?
N othing.
A shard asthe m en pushed,H urstrem ained uprightand sm il-
ing.W as hersecretbased on m etaphysics? N o,it w as based on
plain,o1d schoolbook physics.
For the stunt to work,H urst had to be able to handle the
strength ofthe m an directly behind her;that' s it.The otherm en
on the line were w indow dressing.The effort of each w as ab-
sorbed by the m an in frontofhim .H urstcould have had a thou-
sand he-m en on the line,and as long asthe m an directly behind
herwas am ouse,she had no problem s.
 APPLYING TI
-IE BODY M ETAPI
-IOP-

C an you see how her dem onstration could be turned into a

rem arkable Body M etaphorforyou? lm agine thatyou're trying to
prove a point.Perhapsyou're a m em ber ofa charitable organiza-
tion,and the otherm em bers are down on yourgroup' s ability to
effectchange.
Youkegiventhem yourbestarguments,butthe/restillhang-
ing their heads.They think your com m unity' s problem s are too
big.N o one group can m ake a difference.You offerto give them a
demonstration ofjusthow powerfulone pelson,one organization,
can be.You stand facing aw alland line up agroup ofyourm ostro-
bustcolleaguesbehind you.They getred-faced from pushing,but
stillyou don'tbudge.W hen you' re finished,you go back to your
m ain ideas,now seen through the lensofyourdem onstration.
D o you think you'd have everyone' sattention? You bet!You'd
not only have their attention,but they'd be weighing your con-
ceptsmoreheavily.Youjustputapicturein theirminds,afeeling
in theirbodies,thatthey w on'
tsoon forget.

A PPLYIN G T H E BO D Y M ETA PH O R
Forstarters,think ofa persuasion situation thatcom esup repeat-
edly.W hatdo you norm ally say during it? W hatdo you norm ally
do? W hen you find a com pelling pointthatyou feelm ightneed
strengthening,extractthe conceptfrom it.
Perhaps you're an architect who specializes in building sky-
scrapers.W hen you presentto prospects,you have a laptop full
of tables and charts, showing how m uch stress a structure can
take.They seem to appreciate your facts and figures,but you
w ish there w as aw ay they could experience it.
Your concept:You w ant an allegory that dem onstrates that
you know w hat you're talking aboutwhen it com es to structural
strength.
W hatw ould fitthat?
You could use thatH urstpushing dem onstration.You' d m ake
your point with facts and figures,butyou'd also use the dem on-
 TH E BODY M ETAPH OR

stration to show thatthere are tricks to m aking structures hold,

and you know those tricks.
O r,you could m ake up yourow n m etaphor.
Perhapsyou could stand on yourchairand indicate the w eak
points in yourim prom ptu structure.You'd say:
''
W here the chairlegs touch the ground is a weak point,be-
cause the chaircould m ove.W here the chairseatis bolted to the
legsisaw eak point,because the boltscould loosen and drop out.
W here m y feetcontactthe chairis a weak point,because lcould
slip.Tallbuildings have weak points,too.Butjust as the weak
points between m e and the chair are apparent, so too are the
w eak pointsin a building.Letm e show you w hatlm ean through
this sim ulation on my com puter.''
U sing thatBody M etaphor,do you think the people listening
to you w ould have a betterunderstanding ofwhatyou're aboutto
show them on yourcom puter?
C om ing up with your own m etaphorrequires som e im agina-
tion,butit' s not rocket science.You take your high concept and
you m ake hum an bodies parallelthatconcept in a w ay thati11u-
m inatesit.

Y Backroom 'llpsIorCreating a BodyM etaphor

+ N ames like T'
rt
ggsforplt
- gtfog kklec/
gtggfsm and Boi
jy kklett
gll/gor are
m etaphors in and of them selves.They're attem pts to m ake
new ideas com prehendible through ideas you already know .
D on'tgethung up on the categoriesand w hetheryou' re using
one technique orthe other.
l m entioned M iddleton's pen-on-the-head exercise to a
colleague.H e said,'W ouldn'tthatbe aTransform ation M ech-
anism ,rather than a Body M etaphor? After all,a pen is in-
volved.''
H isfeedback w asw ellm eaning,but unnecessary.Chang-
ing the m om ent and influencing the other person are key.
H ow you getthere is im m aterial.Foryou sticklers,substitute
 APPLYING TI
-IE BODY M ETAPI
-IOP-

your index finger for the pen,and you have yourself a pure
Body M etaphor.
+ A Ley tot/ ?eJ-
fgrststggt:Theperson behind you mustpush evenly
(gg;tstea?ily with palms againstyourshoulders.lfthe person
pushes in stops and starts,your balance m ay be thrown off
and you m ay be knocked dow n.
H ow do you getthe person pushing evenly and steadily?
A sk. Rem em ber, the person doesn't know how the stunt
w orks.Asking to push evenly and steadily sounds like a natu-
ra1 condition for the test.T he person will accept it at face
value.
lfthe person doespush in stops and starts,reestablish the
condition youke set. Say that this is a dem onstration of
strength,notbalance.

A Transformation M echanism:
The Fressure FointLeg Lock
The Stene
The head engineerofyourcompany'scommercialdi vision isready to
end the meeting.It'sbeen going foran hour,and you/re no closerto
a resolution thanwhenyou began.
Heand the engineersseated around him wantyouto fireyour
assistantbecause she fumbled a sensitive information hand-offbe-
fweenyourdepartmentand theirs.That'show they see it,anyway.
You/re notso sure.
The evidence againstherappearsflimsy,yetthese engineers
won'tbudge.They/reclose-minded and unwilling to expl
ore the inci-
dentinanydepth./f/cou/diostopenup someJoubfintbeirminds,
youthink,tbenmaybe tbey'd give tbesitoation a fairerbearing.You
decide to Iauncha mechanism.
(continoed)
 TH E BODY I
VIETAPH OR

(Continoed)
The head engineerIooksexhausted,so youapproach him and
say,zIcan use pressure pointsto raise yourenergy in a flash.''He
eyesyoususpiciously.Youcontinue:zThe philosophy behind pressure
pointsisthe same asthe philosophy behind acupuncture.Youappl y
pressure to one partofthe body,and itaffectssomeotherpart.Vigor
originatesintheIegs.Don'taskmewhy,itiustdoes.Ifyouhitthe
properpoint,thewholebodygetsiuiced.Thewrong pointshutsyou
down.Letme demonstrate.'
Youask the engineerto stand with hisIegsslightlyapart.You
then I ean acrosshisbody and,using onefinger,pressa spotfwo
inchesabove hisIeftkneecap.zzl'm blocking yourenergy flow,'you
say.zTry Iifting yourIeftIeg.'
To everyone'sastonishment,theengineercannotIifthisIeg.zzAre
Youtryingk' 'youask.
Heassuresyouthathe' s notonl y trying,buthe'sstruggling to Iift
it.Aftera few secondsofeffort,the confused and impressed engineer
burstsoutin nervousIaughter.You release the pressure,and askhim
to IifthisI eg now.Instantl
y,itgoesup.
The whole room iscrowding around you.They wantto know if
the pressure pointtechnique willworkonthem .Canitrestoreen-
ergy?Cure headaches?Alleviate a bad back?
zzI'IIshow everyone how to do it,''youassure them,'butfirstI
mustmake a confession.W hatIdid had nothing to dowith pressure
points.I twasa humbug.A humbugwith a message.
zzYouwereaIIfocused on my fingertip.That,though,wasthe
trick'smisdirection.Ithad nothing to do withitsfunctionalmechan-
ics.''So saying,youshow the group how,asyou Ieaned acrossthe
engineer'sbody to touch hisknee,you pressed yourIeftfootto his
rightfoot,and Ieaned yourIeftshoulderinto hismidsection.These
innocent-looking actions,which the engineerdidn'teven notice,pre-
vented him from shifting hisweight.The result:HisIeg wasIocked in
PIace.
(continoed)
 APPLYING THE BODY I
VIETAPH OR 49

(Continoed)
''Idid thisstuntto show thatyoucan feelsure aboutan effect's
causeand stillbewrong.
''Now I'm notsaying thatyou/re wrong aboutmy assistant,butI
don'tthinkwe/ve used any rigorinsearching forotherpossible rea-
sonsforthefoul-up.Since hercareerisonthe Iinehere,Iiustwantus
to be certain ofourfacts.''
The roomfulofengineersIooksatoneanother.They/re stillcon-
vinced ofyourassistant'sguilt,buttheygrudgingly decide to reexam-
inethe situation.The experience hasopened a crackofdoubtintheir
m inds.

Behlnd the Stene

ThispotentTransformationM echanism isbased uponan oI d stuntthat
appearsin beginner'smagic and science books.In those books,you
perform itwithoutwindow dressing,onyoursel f.Ifyou try thatstunt
now,you/llhave a betterunderstanding ofhow to perform itasa
mechanism,on others.
Stand with eitheryourrightorIeftside againsta wall.Now try
IiftingyouroppositeIeg (theonenotcontactingthewall
).Youcan't
do it.AsIong asyou keep one sideofyourbody flushto the wall,
youropposite Ieg willstay stuck to theground.
The reason? Youcanonl y Iiftthatopposite I
eg ifyourbody ad-
iustsitsweightto helpyou,and becausethewallisactingasa
brace,movementis impossibl e.
The Transformation Mechanism version ofthistrick isbased upon
refinementsmade by theAmazing Kreskin,withfurthertouchesby
Mark Levy.I tdisguisesthe method throughthe use ofmisdirection-
the artofgetting the audience to Iookwhereyouwantitto Iook.
To perform the Fressure FointLeg Lock,have the participantface
the audience.Youdo the same,butstand close enoughto him that
the I
eftsideofyourbodyisalmosttouchinghisrightside (forexpla-
nationpurposes,I'm assumingyou/reonhisright).
(continoed)
 TH E BODY I
VIETAPH OR

(Continoed)
Asyoudiscusspressure points,reachacrosshisbody withyour
righthand,and bend fol w ard to touch hisIeftknee.In thatposition,
it'saneasy matterto slideyourIeftfootagainsttheside ofhisright
footand force yourIeftshoulderagainstthe side ofhismidsection.
Basicall
y,you/re the wall.He'IIfind itimpossible to IifthisIeftI
eg be-
causeyourbody iskeeping hisbodyata mechanicaldisadvantage.

Backroom 'Ilps Iorthe Pressure PointLeg Lock

+ You needn'ttackle the spectatorto getthis mechanism to work.
Firm yetsubtle pressure isaIIthat'sneeded.

+ IfyoufindthatyoursubiectcanIifthisI
eg,itprobabl
y meansthat
you're notsufficiently contacting his upperbody with yourshoul-
derand torso.Lean in.
+ print, these bracing movements appear artificial. In perfor-
mance,they are not.Ifyou practice the mechanism on a friend,
you'llsee how naturalitisforyourbody to contactyourfriend's
body asyoureach across.
+ You may wonderifthe secretistransparentto the person whose
Ieg you're Iocking.Notusuall y.Ifhe realizesyou/re Ieaning in,
he'llassume it's incidentaland won'tIikely make any connection
befween yourheftand hisown Ieg-lifting inability.Ifthe genuine
method dawns on him,don'tworry;this mechanism is stilla re-
markable thing to experience- and you were going to explain
how to do itanyway.
+ If the idea oftemporaril y fooling people unnel
-
ves you, use the
science-bookversion instead.Ask people to stand with theirsides
againsta wall,and show them how itmakesmovementimpossibl e.
Then draw a metaphoricalparallelbet w een thewalland a problem
theorgani zationfaces.
(continoed)
 APPLYING THE BODY I
VIETAPH OR

(Continoed)
+ W hy give away the secretto this mechanism? As Imentioned,
thisstunthasbeen described in booksavailable to the public for
decades.Still, ithas an astounding effecton those notin the
know.

+ Mechanisms Iike this one,in which you use the body's natural
physiology againstitsel f,are particularly valuable because they
canbe performed almostanywhere,infrontofanysi zegroup.AII
youneed do isdraw a metaphoricalparallelbetween the mecha-
nism and the pointyou/re making.Some othermechanismsfeatur-
ing the body:
Asksomeone seated ata desk to continooosl y trace a small
circle on the fl
oor,using the toesofeitherfoot.Asshe keepsher
footmotion going,hand herpen and paperand ask herto sign
hername in script.Asodd asitsounds,she willbe unable to ac-
complish the task.
Ask someone else to sitwith his feetplanted on the ground
and hisarmsfolded overhischest.Then pressyourindex fingerto
the middl e of his forehead,and ask him to stand.He can/t.As
Iong ashekeepshisfeetflatand hisarmsfolded,hewillneverget
sufficientbalance to rise.
Have anotherunsuspecting soulshuthereyelidsand turn her
eyeballsupward,asifshewere Iooking through a window in the
top ofherskull.Ifshe keepshereyesin thisposition,she/llbe un-
able to open herIids. In the medicalfiel d,this phenomenon is
known as Bell's Reflex,and is thoughtto have evol ved as the
body'sway ofprotecting the eyesfrom trauma.The technique is
used in phonydemonstrationsofhypnosis(zzcl
oseyoureyesand
imagine a I arge hole in the top ofyourhead.Through thathole
streams sunshine. Isn'tthatsunshine warm and calming? Keep
Iooking atitsglow,feeling itswarmth.Asyou continue staring up
atthatwonderfulglow,try opening youreyes.You try opening
(continoed)
 TH E BODY I
VIETAPH OR

(Continoed)
them,butyou can't.The Iidsare stucktightly together....'').If
youdiscoversomeonewho can open hereyes,itmeansthatshe
momentaril y Iooked down,perhapswithoutrealizing it.Don'tbe
critical.Instead,congratulate heron her unusualability and at-
temptthe mechanism withanotherperson.
T H E PA PER M ETA PH O R

he problem m any people face when learning how to

persuade is that they study tactics they can't possibly
use.M ostinfluence tactics arew in/lose affairs.They go
againstthe w ay w e think and behave.They don'ttake
into accountwho we are and w hatwe w antto offerthe world.
lfyouke evertried to adoptsuch a tactic and feltsoiled,lap-
plaud you.
Believe m e,l'm a11forgetting w hatlwantoutoflife.Butget-
ting w hat lwantincludes doing rightalong the w ay.That' s w hy
you'llsee that my strategies are based m ore on m aking m y posi-
tion clearand entertaining than on backing people into a corner.
T he PaperM etaphoris a perfectexam ple ofw hatlm ean:lt' s
a principled, often lighthearted, persuasion technique. lf w hat
you're offering is of m utual benefit to 170th parties,thatbenefit
becom es apparent through the m etaphor.lfw hatyou're offering
w orks, the other party can't help but see and agree w ith the
beauty ofitslogic.
 TH E PAPER I
VIETAPH O R

W H AT IS A PA PER M ETAPH O R?
A Paper M etaphor is a diagram ,sketch,or cartoon that brings
yourm ain idea to life.You draw itin frontofyour audience:on a
w hiteboard;on the back of a napkin;inside a m atchbook cover.
Your sketch m ay seem im prom ptu,but it' s not.Rather,it' s the
productofa1otofthinking youke done beforehand.
PartofaPaperM etaphor'scharm and pow eristhe roughnessof
yoursketch.lt' snotaboutartistic skill.You're notM ichelangelo.
W hatyou draw is a11about the strength ofyour idea.J'og're
Jfpflg your(ggkfeace(gcll
tggcetoexteriencef
.
pllt
gtyouketllfgêf'
l
g byyettiny
tlltwltouse(
g.
l
ïextrasense:sr/llt.'
rbeykeseef'
l
g intoyourrlfgt
l.You're also
telling them - through actions,notw ords- that the idea you're
draw ing isparticularly im portant,so they'd betterlean in because
they don'tw antto m iss it.
Letm e show you how luse a PaperM etaphor;then 1'11teach
yoLl13OW to ConstrtlctyotlrOW n.
Suppose l am having dinner w ith D on,the head of trade-
show developm entforalargecorporation.D on w antsto hire m e,
butbefore he does,he w ants to learn m ore particulars.
D uring ourcrab cocktails,lgrab three papernapkinsfrom the
bar and use those napkins as a m em orable structure forw hat l'm
going to say.
l tell Don that lcallm y trade-show procedure '' T he Build,
H old,M ove Process.'Thatis,lbuild the crow d,hold the crow d,
and m ove the crow d to action.''
ltake a napkin,m ark itw ith a bold '1,''and sketch a ham m er
on it.'T hisham m errepresents the Build Step/''lsay.''
Before any-
one at the show understands how rem arkable your products are,
they have to be presentin your1700th.You m ustbuild the crowd.''
lturn the napkin tow ard him and drop iton the table between
us.lstartto talk abouthow lcreate crowds.Lvery tfrleJttg//t( gllogt
buili
jinqt/
. ?ecrof
z'rtJta3t/?egtgll/tfgfortwlllllt
- gsfs.lalso referto theim age
on the napkin:''N otice l've draw n a ham m er.That'
s to sym bolize
that this is the Build Step.But what are the characteristics of a
 W HAT IS A PAPER I
VIETAPH OR?

ham m er? ltworksthrough force and m akesaheck ofa noise.The

characteristicsofaham m erare m y characteristics,too.To build a
crowd atamajortradeshow,you cannotbesubtle.You must...''
W hen l'm finished discussing the Build Step,lm ark the sec-
ond napkin '' 2''and draw a fistwith stick figuresextending outof
itstop and bottom .lthen slide thisnapkin between us,and lcon-
tinue:''Step 2 isthe H old Step.O nce youke builtthe crow d,you
m ust hold them .lf not,a11your work is for naught.This is the
step where you give them your product' s features and benefits,
butyou m ustdo so in a w ay thatm akeswhat' shappening atyour
1700th m ore im portant than w hat' s happening anyw here else on
the floor....''
W hen l'm finished w ith the H old Step,lm ark the third nap-
kin ''3,''and l draw a running m an, com plete with m otion lines
trailing behind him .ldrop thisnapkin nextto the others.
''
T he third step is the M ove Step.W ithout this part ofthe
process,youke w asted your m oney.Afterall,youke rented con-
vention floor space,constructed a 1700th,paid dozens ofstaffto
w ork it,and hired a perform er to build a crow d.Butunless that
crow d watches your productdem os and leaves their contact in-
form ation,youke failed.A11youke done ispay to entertain thou-
sands of people,with nothing to show for your m oney.That' s
w hy in this step it's im portant to get the crow d to m ove, and
m ove rapidly....''
D o m y cartoonspersuade Don to buy? lfl'vedone everything
else correctly, yes.A Paper M etaphor can' t close a dealon its
ow n.ltworks in tandem w ith everything else you're doing.
The example you justread centered around my three-step
trade-show process.Butitcould justaseasily have focused on a
single featurew ithin a step.H ow w ould thatlook?
W e're back in the restaurant, and D on has questioned m e
aboutthe M ove Step.H e w antsto know exactly how lgetpeople
tomoveintothe1700th sothe/llleavetheircontactinformation.
l answ er him on another napkin. O n it, l draw an overhead
schem atic ofhiscom pany'
s1700th.As ldo,lgetD on involved in
56 TI--
IE PAPEP-M ETAPI-IO P-

the sketch, asking him about the booth' s layout and w here the
staffw illbe positioned.
''lwillstand here/'lsay,draw ing an X atthe booth' sback wall.
''W ithin forty minutes,two hundred fifty people w illbe surround-
ing m e in aparabolic arc.''ldraw that,too.'' W hen lfeelthecrow d' s
interestis atitsheight,lwillgetthem to line up here.'lcircle the
spot.'' lwilldo thatby offering a sam ple ofyourproduct....''
W hen l' m finished,the napkin looks like a footballplay.O ra
battle plan.T he paperiscovered w ith X' s,O ' s,and directionalar-
row s.lt' s a m ess,but itm akes sense.lt's a schem atic ofw hatw ill
happen.
lhand Don the napkin.ltellhim to bring itback to hisoffice
and share itw ith histrade-show staff.Thatw ay,everyone willbe
on the sam e page.W hen l'm atthe show,there'llbe no confusion.
T he napkin acts as additionalproofthat lknow m y business
and willstand behind it.lt's a graphic depiction of m y claim s.
H aving it reassures Don, and m akes him m ore likely to go for-
w ard in hiring m e.
Paper M etaphors can be used to illustrate even the m ost ab-
stractofconcepts.Robert M iddleton,the m arketer w e m et last
chapter,uses a Paper M etaphor to substantiate whathe calls his
''Law ofL m ited ldeas.''
O n a flip chart,M iddleton draws a m an, and around that
m an' s head he sketches shapes:stars,squiggles, circles,squares.
''T hese shapes representthis m an' s ideas/''says M iddleton.''Let'
s
counthisideas.H e has one,tw o,three,four...ten ideas.H e' sa
1otlike a11ofus.W e only have a fixed num berofideas,that' sw hy
w e tend to think the sam e thoughtsoverand over.
''Suppose,though,the m an givesaw ay one ofhisideasto the
w orld,through a book he writes or a business he starts.''To illus-
trate the concept,M iddleton draws an arrow pointing away from
one ofthe shapes circling the m an' shead.
''You'd think he'd only have nine ideas now ,right? But lfind
that when you give aw ay an idea,the world alw ays gives you a
 K'I-I
AT Is A PAPEP-M ETAPI
-IOP.? 57

new idea to take its place.''AsM iddleton saysthis,he draw sin a

new shape to replace the o1d one.''The m an still only has ten
ideas,butifhestartsgiving them away,the/re alwaysreplaced
by fresh ones.''
O fcourse,M iddleton' sm odelis whim sical,and he knows it.
O urgood thoughtsm ay notbe fixed in num ber,butw e do tend
to recycle our favorites.M iddleton' s sketch hum orously tells us
thatifwe w antto expand ourhorizons,w e m ustcontribute to the
w orld.H ad M iddleton puthis lesson into words alone,he m ight
have seem ed to be lecturing his audience. ln cartoon form ,
though,histheory isengaging.
T he proper Paper M etaphor can stick w ith your audience a
long, long tim e. Rob Kaplan, a w riter and form er publishing
house editor in chief, told m e the story of a m etaphor that' s
stayed w ith him for20 years.
ln the early 198Os,Kaplan was attending a business confer-
ence w here he m et Shep Pollack,w ho atthe tim e w as president
of Philip M orris.The m en started talking, and eventually their
conversation turned to the conceptofpow er.
Kaplan said,''ln m y com pany,l' m a m iddle m anager,so ldon't
have m uch pow er.ln yourcom pany,you're atthe top ofthe orga-
nizationalpyram id,so you have the ultim ate powen''
Pollack laughed,grabbed a piece ofscratch paper,and drew a
pyram id.''Rob,you're here?''he asked,pointing halfway dow n
the pyram id.Kaplan agreed.
''A nd you think l' m here atthe top?''asked Pollack,pointing
to the pyram id'sapex.A gain,Kaplan agreed.
Pollack then did som ething so sim ple and pow erful that
Kaplan sm iles as he relates it today: the president of Philip
M orristurned the piece ofpaperend forend,so his draw ing w as
now upside down.
''ln reality/''he said,''l'm here atthe base with the responsibil-
ity for the w hole organization on m y shoulders.ldon' t have the
ultim ate pow er.lhave to answer to everyone.'
 TH E PAPER I
VIETAPH O R

H O W TO C REATE Y O U R O W N PA PER
M ETAPH O R
C reating a PaperM etaphor isno differentthan creating a Trans-
form ation M echanism ora Body M etaphor.You think aboutyour
m ain persuasion points and com e up with w ays to depict them
through diagram ,sketch,and analogy.
O f course,you don't w ant to draw for drawing' s sake.You
w antyoursketch to illum inate,notclutter.W ith thatin m ind,ask
yourself:

W hatare my m ostim portantpoints?

H ow do lexplain each pointnow ?
H ow doesm y explanation foreach go over?
W hich pointism ostcom pelling?
H ow m ightluse a PaperM etaphorto m akeitm ore com pelling?
W hich is my leastcom pelling point?
H ow m ight l use a Paper M etaphor to m ake it m ore com -
pelling?
W hatisthemostcommon objection lhear?
H ow can luse aPaperM etaphorto overcomethatobjection?

From youranswers,you should com e up with adozen possible

m etaphols.W i11a11ofthem be equally good? O fcourse not.Som e
w illbe weak.Som ew illbe strong.M ostlikely,you'llhave to force
them into conversations,atfirst,to understand which isw hich.
T he PaperM etaphorisa low -stressw ay foryou to changethe
m om entforthe peopleyou're pitching.ltonly requiresa pen and
a piece ofcrum pled paper picked up from the floor.W hen you
find the rightm etaphor,though,itsvalue isoutof a11proportion
to yourefforts.The m etaphorconverts asitentertains.

Y Backroom 'llps IorPaperM etaphors

+ lfyou're having trouble finding analogiesforyour persuasion
points,keep thisword in mind:like.Ask yourself:W hatismy
 H()W TO CREATE YO UR OW N PAPER I
VIETAPH OR 59

pointlike?W hatelse doesitremind meof?W hereelsehave l

seen thiskind ofidea?
H ere'
s an exam ple:Yourhouse has a two-car garage,but
you own fourcars.Tw o sitin the drivew ay and getbeatup by
the w eather.
You're convinced thatyou need aseparate two-bay garage
on yourproperty.H ow ever,yourhusband isn'tas sure asyou
are.Hedoesn'twantto partwith the$30,000 needed to erect
the new building.H ow to persuade him ?
N aturally,you'llneed to do a11yourhom ew ork.An invest-
m ent that size shouldn't be based on w him or sm oke.You
have to decide whether you need four cars, pin down the
price forconstructing a garage,and so forth.
lf youke done that and are still convinced,then it's the
tim e to extractyoursituation'shigh conceptand ask yourself,
''
W hatisthis like?.''
ln this exam ple, there are several concepts, depending
upon which point you w ant to address. You could take a
problem -oriented approach or asolution-oriented approach.

A bossibleIlrol'/t
wl(
gllllrotgc/?:'The elementswillrotthe cars
standing outside.'
A bossiblesolution (gllllrotgc/?:''An extra garage willraise our
Property value.'

W hich to choose? Before disregarding one,try to form an

analogy foreach to see w hich isstronger.For the sake ofthis
exam ple,let' ssay youke chosen the problem approach.W hat
doesitsconcept,'T he elem entswillrotthe carsstanding out-
side/''rem ind you of? W hat' sitlike?
lt's like an apple rotting on the ground:The elem ents get
to the fruit;the fruit decays and becom es uneatable.ln the
sam e w ay,the elem ents getto the cars,theirbodies rust and
theirgearsgetw et,and they becom e undrivable.
 TI-IE PAPEP-M ETAPI-IO P-

O r,it'
s like thatbattleship with the rotting hullyou saw on
vacation.At one tim e,that ship could do battle with enemy
ships and planes,but the weather and elem ents have aged it
badly.Samekind ofsituation with thecars.Justbecausetheyke
gone through the rigors ofbeing driven acrosscountry,doesn' t
m ean they can lastthrough sustained m istreatm ent.
T hose are tw o analogies.You could have com e up w ith
hundreds.O fthese two,though,which would be strongerfor
your husband? Probably the battleship analogy.The poorly
patched holes in the ship' s hullm ade quite an im pression on
him .H e didn' teven feelsafe being on board during the tour.
H ow would thatship analogy transferto a PaperM etaphor?
Sim ple.You could sityourhusband dow n,and show him the re-
search youke doneon building agarage.You'dwrite outtherea-
sons for and the reasons against.You' d tellhim how youke
w eighed 170th options,and thatbuilding the garage m akes the
m ostfinancialsense and w illsave w earand tearon the cars.
A syou' re speaking,you can flip over the paper and doo-
d1e the battleship on the back ofthe page.Rem ind your hus-
band ofthe ship,and its rotting hull.Pencilin a11the decay
you saw chewing aw ay atthe ship.D raw the parallelbetween
theship asjunk,and thecarsbecomingjunk.Youcan even do
another fast doodle of the ship sinking.And then, perhaps,
yourcars sinking.
Sound funny? lf so, that' s good. ln this case, ''funny''
means strikiny.''Funny''means rlt wlort
gô/e.''Funny'
'means it'11
find aplace in his m ind,even where yourm ore rationalargu-
m ents bounce off.
A gain,on its own,a rotting battleship analogy w on'tget
you far.Butcouple itw ith good argum entsand figures,and it
w illentertainingly drive hom e one ofyourkey points.

+ A PaperM etaphor acts as a m em ory hook,as a m nem onic.lf

there'
s a partofyour argum entyou particularly w antrem em -
bered,that'sw here you use the m etaphor.
 H OW TO CZEATE YOLIZ OW N PAPEZ M ETAPHO Z 61

A Transformation M echanism :
The Impossible O biect
The scene
The CEO hclscqlledyou clnd the restofthe executi vecommi ltee tcs
getherto discussthe 8 m rcentdip in new clientsyourorgclni zcltion
hclsexperienced overthe pclstfourmonths.she believesthe dip isthe
scll
esDivision'sfclult butyoufeeldifferendy.scllesistheobviousplcl ce
to poi
ntclfinger butinthiscclse the problem l x ginsfclrtherupstreclm .
Youtclke m ursecltclncl withoutclword ofexplclncltion tosscln
oddobi ectintothe middleoftheconferencetclble.TheCEO pi cksit
upclnclstudi
esit(Figure 5.1).''W hcltisitk''sheqsks.
''Ibroughti
tto mclke clpoint,''P u sqy.''Before Itellm uwhcltit
is,tellmewhcl tyouthink itis.''

Figure5.1 W hatis it?

 TH E PAPER I
VIETAPH O R

(Continoed)
''It'stwo blank index cards,folded and cutand somehow com-
bined togethen''
zzcombined together?W hatdo youmeank''
The CEO studiesit.'They/re separate index cards,butthey seem
to share thismiddl e piece.Idon'tunderstand how that'spossible,but
I'm I
ooking rightatit.Doesanyone else care to take a shotatthisk''
She passes itdownto othercommittee members,and they/re
Puzzl ed,too.zokay,''the CEO says,''we/re stum ped.Now,w hy are
Youshowing itto usk''
zzl-lere comesthe explanation,'yousay,asyoureach into your
briefcase,pulloutsmall
erversionsoftheobi
ect,andtossone infront
ofeachcommittee member.zzTakea Iook atthose.W hatdoyouseek'
Ratherthan being plain,white index cards,these 'impossible ob-
iects''aremadefrom businesscards.Eachmemberholdsa replica
constructed outoftwo ofhisorherown businesscards.
Youask,zNow,using these smallermodels,tellme how the ob-
iectwasconstructed.''
O ne by onetheexecutivessmile.Each isexperiencing an 'a-ha''
moment,asthey/re able to unfold and separate the cards,and put
them backtogetheragain.
zzW hywaseveryone now able to figure outthe cardsk' 'you ask.
zzThe printing onthese cardsiswhatdid it'saysthe CEO .''Fig-
uring outthefoldsand the cutson the blank index cardswasimpossi-
ble.W e had no reference pointsto follow.Buton these smaller
models,aIIwe had to do was unfold them untilwe restored ourbusi -
nesscardsto shape.Thatsol ved the puzzle.'
''Right,''you say,''so youfound outhow the puzzle operated by
working something only tangentiall y related to the puzzle.''
''Exactly.'
''Inthe sameway,IthinkI've 'solved'the puzzle ofournew-client
decline.M ostpeople thinkit'sa problem thatbegan in ourSalesDivi-
Butwhile Iwas studying something unrel ated to our sales, I
(continoed)
 HOW TO CPEATE YO LIZ O W N PAPEZ M ETAPHO Z 63

(Continved)
found clsilucltionthcltshedsIightonwhy we/re notsi gning up clients
clsquickly clswe were.ItseemsourM clnufcl cturing Division isoffon
itsproductionby three m rcent clnclthcltccluses ''
Theexecutivesputclsidetheirimm ssibl
eobiects.TheCEO even
bclllshersup clncltossesitinto thegclrbcl
ge.Butnow you hclvetheir
completeclltenti
on clnclthe/reheclringwhcl
tyou/re scl
ying incltcs
tclll
y cli
fferentwcl
y.
Behind 'he A ene
To mqkeqnimm ssibl
eobi
ectoutofone cqrd here'swhqtyoudo:

Grclb clblclnk index cclrd clnclclpclirofscissors.

Foldthecclrd inhcllfI
engthwise(Figure5.2).
stclrting in the m iddle ofoneofitsIong sides cutthe cclrd
untilyoureclchthefold (Figure5.3).
Turnthecclrdclround clndcutitinlwospol s(Fi
gure5.zt).
(continved)

@ hy
p

Figure 5.2 Fold card Iength- Figure 5.3 C utto center

w ise. fol
d.
 THE PAPEZ M ETAPH O Z

w
k
A<
;

/
'1..
; .>
Figure 5.: Turn card and Figure5.5 Twistbottom Ieft
cuttw ice more. third ofcard.

(Continved)
Gripthe Ieftmostpclrtofthe cclrd clncllw istittowcl
rd you
180 degrees(Figure5.5).
ThemiddlepieceofthecclrdIxlpserectlqswe sclw inFi
gure
5.1),clndyou/re done.
A lwcscqrd imm ssi
bleobiectisdonethesqmewqy onlyyou
stcl
rtwith lwo cclrdsnestledtogether.
To perform thismechqnism clsclescril
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 hy-
percard.
+ W hy use fwo cards nestled togetherinstead ofone? Two cards
makestheobiectsturdierand hardertofigureout.The peopleex-
amining 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 life-
changing 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 elevatorshuttlespeo-
p1e 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 re-
m 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 liv-
ing?.'
'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 contact-
inform ation at his booth? Youke never w itnessed such a per-
form 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 ad-

vertisem entthatexplains ...

+ W herelwork(tradeshows).
+ Forwhom lwork(corporations).
+ The experienceofwhatit' slike to see mework (1do ''mira-
cles''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 curi-
ousto 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 sky-
rocketor 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 open-
ing,w rite dow n answ ers to these focusing questions, the Per-
suasion 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 best-
selling 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. J-
fof
.
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 alltheirmeaningfulbusinessrela-
tionships?
5. J///?0areyourcomlletftors,(ggt
:
t/90f,
1
7are.'
y.
0gbetter?lfyou arenotsu-
perior 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.
J- foa?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.
Ctg.
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,amis-
take,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(gkkressyourtaryetrltgr/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 busi-

nesses to com m unicate on the lnternet in a w ay that
m akes crim inal third parties incapable of overhearing
theirsensitiveinformation.''(Declarative,foran informa-
tion 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 o-
m 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.''(Declara-
tive,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 experi-
m entw ith w ays to configure your Persuasion N ine inform ation.
Perhapsstartone pitch with ametaphor(question #9),and an-
otherwith 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 por-
tantyouradvice had been.
H ow m ight that be converted into an opening? H ow
about:''lstop people from bankrupting them selves/''or''Busi-
nesspeople 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/recertainlyin-
triguing.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 theQuickPitchopeningisthesameprinciplebe-
hind 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 single thing aboutit.Igetto know itso wellthatthe entire com-
pany 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,Istillunder-
stand 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 Eliza-
beth 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
caIIsout'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 Ire-
ally 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 previously 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,yoursecretas-
sistant,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 ishold-
ing 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 could 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 corre-
sponding card on itsceiling.
Now,Annemann's method wasn'tslick.Itdidn'tinvol ve ele.
gantsystems oryears ofsl eight-of-hand practice.Butwas iteffec-
ti
ve? Think about it. 8utyourselfin the spectator's place, and
imagine whatyour reaction would be.If i
t's Iess than iaw-
dropping,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 ac-
com 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 be-
ginsw 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 cock-
tail.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(
3lk 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
ijo( gllll/ft
stoyou.''
Tattoo thatsentence on yourm ind.lt' sgold.

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-and-

take.
+ You hear abouthersituation.
+ You learn aboutthe partsofhersituation thatinterestherm ost.
+ You understand w here her ''problem ''and your ''solution''co-
incide.

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 ex-
change 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 re-
lates 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 in-
form ation asyou'd like.That' sw hen you m ustdraw outinform a-
tion.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 lis-
tening.An attendee w alksinto a 1700th,the com pany representa-
tive greets him ,reads his nam e tag, sees he' s not from a big
organization,and losesinterest.Therepresentative m ay sm ile po-
litely, 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 :
ttlltgtberson ll
tgssometbiny toyiveyou.Perhaps the
transaction won' t involve m oney.ltm ay involve exchanging in-
sights,stories,orhigh spirits;those arevaluable transactions,too.
W hile you' re listening,it' s im portantthat the speaker under-
stand 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 lstud-
ied 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 thatthatlevelofinten-
sity 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 lis-
ten 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 anufactur-
ers.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,be-
cause 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 ex-
plain 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 put-
ting yourselfoutthere in aw ay that' s unnaturalforyou.N o m at-
ter 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 eo-
graphed 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 is-
ing,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, tran-
scription 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 e-
tim es,lhaveto do two to fourcold callsata given show .Butita1-
w 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
. . . Strike up aconversation w ith a strangerin a theater,asuper-
m 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 conversa-
tion flow from there.
lfyou w antto turn the conversation into apersuasion conver-
sation,you'llhave am ple tim e.O nce she startstalking,a few dif-
ferentscenarioswillpresentthem 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 com-
Pany'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 pow-
erfultool.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 clsyoubring m urhclncldown.Thisisprobqbly un.
necessqry,buti fyou/re surrounded by yourcrowd you
mi ghttry it.
3. You needn'tstickoutyourfingercltclll Insteqd you ccln
breclkthe m ncilwith the frontofyourfist.
* Actnclturcllclsyoucreclse the billclnclexclm ine ils shqrpness.The
billisordinclry clnclnoone knowswhcl tyou/re plclnning ondoi ng
so there's no reqson to overdo it In mqgi c there's clsqying
''Don'trun ifyou/re notE)eing chclsed.''It's(Jccd qdvice.
* You m cl
y E)e wondering how prclcticcllitisto stickoutyourfinger
clnclpullitbclck in the course ofclsingle kqrqte chop.It'ssurpris.
inglyeclsy clncldeceptive.
The key isto sti
ckycvrfingerotxœ ce yourhclnd hclsstclrted ils
descent.Ifm u stickycvrfingerouteqrlier 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 per-
centoftheirattentionon the penciland onthe reaction ofthe per-
son 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 itsig-
nifies 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- andthatconclu-
sion 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 thatinfor-
m 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 par-
ison 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.Re-
peating 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 con-
vince, 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 struc-
tured 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''
+ l-
lot
gst
-f
g/:''You won'thave competition because you willhave
annihilated them .''
+ Sel
j-re
hrential:''We're an American institution with interna-
tionalpenetration.''
+ T'oe
l
gge-fg-clleeê:''lhate to destroy thousandsofjobs,butwe're
justthatgood.'
+ Insbiriny:'Onevision!O nesolutionl''
+ Ptgfg-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 ca-
reers 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 yourbusinessbe-
com 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 prod-
uct'
sslogan:''
T he RealThing.'W hatdoesthatline do forthe Coca-
Cola Com pany? lt reinforces its im age as the creator of the soft
drink,while pushing the m essage thatany othercom pany can pro-
duce 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 con-
vince 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 at-
tend,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 fa-
vorite uncle.'
W i11he com e to the party? W ho knows? Butby using the slo-
gan 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?''Thatre-
quires anotherslogan.lfyou w antthem to voteyeson Propo-
sition 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 busi-
nesses.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-and-
sixty-pound m an' spants.'
O r,com pare the studentgrowth to som ething else every-
one 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,a1-
m ost40 people long? Afterpainting thatpicture foryour au-
dience,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 p-
ing 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 fa-
vorite 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 re-
phrase 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,youwaitex-
pectantly.A few peoplegiveyou constructive comments,butyou feel
they're holding back.
Ferhapsthey don'twantto sl am someonewho hasbeen hand-
picked 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? Ittruly 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'tblow yourcoolI

Youpulla stopwatchfrom youriacketpocketandsay,zYouhave

sixty secondsto solve the riddle ofthe paragraph.Go.'
Aftera minute you askforanswers.Feopl e take guesses,but
none hitsthe mark.
Finall
y,youtellthem :zThatparagraph is missing the mostcom-
mon 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 askforan-
swers.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 oqwhichap-
pearsthree 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 dol-
Iarsin 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 ective wis-
dom,and tellme how Ican improve it.Believe me,Idon'tIike to be
criticized any more than any ofyou does.Butthispitch istoo impor-
tantto 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 isreally 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,some-
thing 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 slowly,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 seven-
eighthsofaIIFrenchwords.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 ichaelJackson-
ushering 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 lat-
estCD 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 cartoon-
ing 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 per-
suaded,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 be-
hind 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 noth-
ing.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 par-
ents'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 it-
m 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-callrou-
tine,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 pitch-
ing- 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/ ?eJ-
fetgt
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.
Jmtglfgt
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 thathisdaugh-
ter'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 hour-
long 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 pro-
posal.
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 sup-
portthe 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 under-
stand 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 intro-
ductory 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 tooth-
paste 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 hiten-
ing 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 on-
lookers.A caricaturistm ay ask a passerby to sitfor a free por-
traitso 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 colleague 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 slide 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)
Finqlly,yougrclspthe rightclnclI eftsidesofthe billclnclsl
owly
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 Iotaboutthe 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,be-
causeyou/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 thisvariation:Fold the
billwidthwisefirst,thenIengthwise.Now,Iay the coinonthe apex
ofthe 9 and pullthe billtaut.The coin shoul d easily bal
ance be-
causeofthe bill'sincreased structuralstrength.
T H E PO W ER O F FREE

hen acom pany hiresm e,they expectfury,excite-

m 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 atu-
rally,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 hun-
dred-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 peti-
tor'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.Be-
cause 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 un-
used freebies.N otifthey're sm art.
'
.r'
/?eLeytousinyjreebies(gs(g.
l
ï(gttrt
gctfo.
l
ïi
jeviceistorlt
g/tesgrelrogr(gg-
?iencejully ggkerstt
ggkst/
?eptg/geo-ff.
pllt
gtyog'rebanijinytllt
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 noth-

ing 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 gentle-
m 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 re-
ports 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 re-
ceive 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 re-
port 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 wide-
planked 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-to-
replace 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
- tgtfo.
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 char-
ity 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.
ïorfttwlstobelbm.')rcase?l
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 impor-
tant 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 ben-
efitsextlicit.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 get-
together.
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 an-
ufacturer 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 asprospect-
ing;(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 eyourprob-
lem ,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.Forgetaboutpay-
m ent.1'11do thatbecause ldon'twantyou to have any hesi-
tation 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,''Peo-
p1e 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 demandsinstantgratifi-
cation.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,pa-
trons 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 im-
Possible.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 re-
turnto 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 Hou-
dinihad no idea w here the watchwent.Since then,magicianshave
used the same routine to vanishsaltshakers,shotglasses,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 hashap-
pened 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,mak-
ing sure the rock isthere.
Janice goesIast.She,too,reachesunder,stealsthe rock,with-
draws 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 yourIefthand,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'tvan-
ish 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'satIeastone othertrickthat'scommonl
y referred to as zl'he
TrickThatFooled 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 commu-
nify 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
placed 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.Thischap-
ter,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 Yid-
dish 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 af-
ternoon 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 gratisup-
grade.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 hun-
dred 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 appro-
priate.
A colleague ofm ine,D avid Stahl,w anted to thank an execu-
tive 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 apri-
vate 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 con-
ductan 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 in-
stead 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 abouthisproblem: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 ca-
pacify 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 in-
house.Outsourcing isneversomething he seriously considered.Time
fora mechanism.
Youpourthe Iastofthewine into hisglassand putthe empty bot-
tI
e and itscorkin frontofhim .Youaskhim ifhe/llplay a game:zsee
ifyou can fitthe corkinside the bottle.'
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
bottle,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
#
N*
1
.+/ '
v

' .

w
' (
C

Figure 11.1 Shake bottled Figure 11.2 W ithdraw nap-

cork onto napkin. kin 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
fIxssible in.
corrxxclte this prclgmcltism into yourpitch (''You were prclcti
ccll
enough to use the knife even though Iclidn'tmention the knife.
Thclt's gccd .M clny m ople set up blccks for themselves thclt
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 pullitthrough 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 suspi-
cions,you m ustdealw ith itoryou'llhave no chance ofpersuad-
ing 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 substantiat-
ing 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 is-
ney and lntel,he' sgood enough form e.''
C onsider dividing your list into client classifications.For in-
stance,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 busi-
ness.M y problem? 1couldn' tfind theproperbalancebetween mar-
keting 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 en-
tire 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 theen-
dorserto 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.Fi-
nallyrthoughr1relented.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 en-
dorsers tape audio orvideo testim onials.You can use either for-
m 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,be-
com 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/'' 'Sanc-
tioned by the W orld Anim alSociety/'''Praised by the League of
 sultvEàzItEsul--
lag

U nion W orkers.'Even when weke never heard ofthe organiza-

tion,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,considerjoin-
ing 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 gen-
eral says about your drug' s properties.lf you're pushing an er-
gonom 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 re-
liable survey,and use the data to supportyourpointofview.
 soLlo Plto oy

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 Av-
enues.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 llek-t
/of'
l
g toyetsometbiny 0gtoj
tllfsijeal,/?gtJcan'tjèure0gtf .
pllt
gt.Jtlog'
tf
.pt
ggttoijealf.
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 rea-
sons 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 asupe-
riorproduct.
''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 ig-
nored 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 fif-
teen,in term s ofSAT scores.''

T he obvious answ er:B.The language in B isspecific and tan-

gible.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 berofop-
tions.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 de-
liver 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 stag-
nantbusinessforfouryears.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 in-
creased revenue your product created for your client,while an-
other 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 over-
w 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.
 soLlo Plto oy

N aturally,you can also use photographs as a m eans ofper-

suading 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 peoplerde-
liveryourmain messagerand.com pelthe crowd to leavetheircon-
tact 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 ofguar-
antee.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 yourread-
ership 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 pas-
sages 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 anufac-
tured it,and he had a piece m ade that m im icked the parking-
m 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 sledge-
ham 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 offi-
cial,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 cus-
tom 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 youroffer-
ing.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 citi-
zen,thatyourofferisstrong and ethical,and thatyou're pro-
posing 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 tellthattheman-
agershave unrealistic expectations.
They/ve heard a Iotaboutyourmethodol ogy,and they thinkthat
once they Iearn it,the hard work isover- theirorganizationalprob-
Iemswillvanish 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 meth-
odol 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.
''
. . . and nothing happens.Youcanappl y ittwice ...''
Again,you push the needl e through the balloon.Again,no pop.
''
. . . and stillnothing happens.Yourproblemsdon'tseem to
change.Butit'sthe steady,continuousapplicationofthe method that
shows results.''
So saying,youtossthe balloon high in the airand allow itto de-
scend onto the pointofthe needle.Instantly,itbursts.
The managersIaugh and cl ap.They I ove yourtrick.M ore impor-
tant,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 clutomclti
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 clnclIeti
t
descendonto the needl e.Chclncescl re the needle'spointwillcome in
contcl
ctwith cln untclm clsectionofthe bcllloon cclusing irto burst
(continved)
 SOLID P2OOF

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.
* Ifyourneedle hclsclneyeletcltoneend you ccln clltclch clthi n col.
ored riblxm to i
t which clclclsvisi
bilily clnclcltouch ofclclssto the
m netrcltions.
* Ifm u onl y wclntto sti
ck the needle through once then you only
need clffixtwo piecesoftcllx to the bclll
oon.
* You ccln cllso m rform this mechqnism wi th one piece oftclpe.
Merely stclb the needle into the tcllx cl
nclw ithdrclw 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 gradu-
all
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 Iocate it.W henyou printover
the tape,the inkinyourmarkerwillhave a slightly 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 ostpersua-

sive 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 see-
ing 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 mat-
ter 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 say-

ing,''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 proba-
b1y 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 andde-
pressed.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 your-
selfand 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 your-
selfquestionsaboutcontributionsyou'd like to m ake,phenom ena
you'd like to experience,people you'd like to m eet,and then act-
ing 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 busi-

ness,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.lfany-
thing,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 de-
partm 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,a1-
m 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 hisan-
swers.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 any-

one,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 think-
ing 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 Revolu-
tion.Ofcourse,you know thatthe assignmentisessentialto further
theirunderstanding,so youdecide to have somefun with them.
''Iwillnotgive youhomeworkifyou can pass my specialfour-
questionquiz.Butifany ofyoumissesevenone question,thewhol e
classfails.Doyouwantto take the quizk'
The children 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 ofquiz.Ifsnotwri lten.And,
clctuclll
y it'snotorcllei
ther.You score itonyourhclncls.'The children
Iookmore concernedthclnbefore
''Iwclnteclchofm 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 Iiftyourrightthumb.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 Iifttheirthumbsan 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 Fhiladel-
phia.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 home-
work.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 fin-
ger,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 tane-
ously 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 mech-
anism .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 strat-
egy,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 ser-
vice.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 asyourprod-
uct'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 stan-
dard 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
 w n Y Plclt.
/tPosl-rlox? 161

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 failbe-
cause 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 wasin-
vited to review a book.
''
W hatkind ofbooksdo you review ?''the editorasked.
''
A ny kind/''said M ark.''lke worked in the book field forade-
cade,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? Be-
cause 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.
162 BE Dls-
rlx c'r

T hrough the m id to late 197Os,lw asa teenage cruise-ship m a-

gician.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 sledge-
ham 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'/
?ofzugtrletobetjonn( gtlurmftzptg/
gs.I
jacorllort
gtfogbiresrle,Jctgg
cbar yerloreplogeyrt/
'
.. gtggJct
ggcbaryejor(glurmftzptg/
?.
 w n Y Plclt.
/tPosl-rlox? 163

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 per-
form 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 hadjustre-
turned 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 collecttheircon-
tactinform 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
164 BE Dls-
rlx c'r

secondary. lt w as the ideas behind the tricks- what the tricks

stood for- thatseem ed to be getting and holding people' s atten-
tion.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 enter-
taining 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 label-
ing 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 'infotain-
m ent.'ltakeyourproductand com bine itw ith m y unique form of
persuasion- parthypnosisdem onstration,partm ind-controlpre-
sentation,partpitch.Five tim es a day,lwillhave your 1700th in-
undated 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 re-
fined 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 fast-
appearing crow ds.
W hen lcold-callon booths,lpush m y crowd association fur-
ther.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,orper-
hapsrepositioning,so you becom e m ore persuasive in your busi-
ness. 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 dis-
tort.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 re-
duced 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,'Posi-
tioning 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 han-
dlingjobsin homeslessthan two yearsold.
 K 'I-IAT Al
kE SOM E SLAN'
I'S 'ro Po sl-
rlox 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 servic-
ing 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 audi-
ence 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 Dls-
rlx 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 sev-
eral,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 at-
tribute 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 an-
other.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,theirtri-
um phs,their daily struggles.
A lso,study whatyourcom petitors are doing.W hatposi-
tions do they already own,ifany? Are those positionsw ork-
ing for them ? lfyou were them ,how m ight you alter their
positions to work better? D oes altering their positions sug-
gestanew position foryou?
+ O ften,you'llneed to alteryourbusinessso itfitsa strong po-
sition.Say you own a petshop,and a pet-supply superstore
opens a block aw ay.The superstore'
s prices are cheaperthan
 BE Dls-
rlx 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 per-
form 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 audi-
ence.O n a talk show,no one cares that ldraw crow ds and
furnish com paniesw ith sales leads.W hatthe talk-show audi-
ence 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 audi-
ence 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,Ex-
plosionl,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
(Fi
gure 1zt.1).
Youclskone rerxxterto
hold yourIeftclrm clnclcln.
otherto hold yourrightclrm
(Fi
gure 1:.2).Onthecountof
three,youclskthem t o Ii
ftm u
slrcli
ghtup inthe clirwhich
*
8K'>vx
. they do.Thereportershoist
k;t
.49
.
72
'..-' clndholdyouclfcotoffthe
ground.''Notice 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)

%
1'.

A,
. l ,.
.

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 step 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
kidswillhclve t o cclrry i
tin clwheelbqrrow to geti
thome.'The re.
portersclre Iclughing clsthey write downyourevery word.

Behind 'he A ene

Fk)w dtx sthismechqni sm
'
work?Ithqsto do wi ththe
t- wqyyouplqce ycvrqrms.
Fklldthem onewqy qnd
m u/reeqsyto Ii ft.Holdthem
/
qndherwqy qndyou/re
tough.The lx stpqrf 80lll
wqysIookneqrl y identicql.
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 pclrcllelto theflcor
(Fi
gure 1.
4.3).Yot/re i
nm si
.
Figure 1zt.3 ElbowsIocked ti
ontoE)eIi
fted.
againstsides. (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 yourrightclrm
(Fi
gure 1:.2).Onthecountof
three,youclskthem t o Ii
ftm u
slrcli
ghtup inthe clirwhich
*
8K'>vx
. they do.Thereportershoist
k;t
.49
.
72
'..-' clndholdyouclfcotoffthe
ground.''Notice 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)

v.x j
.
. à vv )
t'
/
'

)..
g .

. J

Figure 1:.2 Armsheld oneachside.

 IN A NUTSHELL

(Continoed)
+ A version ofthis mechanism once prevented a war.In 1856,AI-
geria threatened to splitofffrom France.Napoléon IIIcould have
responded wi
th force,butinstead he sentconiurorJean-Eugene
Robert-l
-loudinto 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 iI-
Iusion,the Lightand Heavy Chest.
The magician pl aced a smallwooden box on the stage and
challenged a powerfulaudience memberto Iiftit.A strong Al ge-
rianstepped 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
pulled 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 objec-
tionsyou're going to hear.They'llfallinto in two categories.O ne
isabouttheproductorserviceitself(''notenoughfunctions/'''in-
convenientdelivelx''''too expensive'').The otherisaboutthe
person's ability to dealwith the productorservice (''notinter-
ested''''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'sbe-
cause 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 answeringtheirques-
tions 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 strate-

gieslrely on when lm eetcontinued resistance:
Preten?.'
y.
0gtlog'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 con-
siderfalseobjections.
Asê/?erf
.
pllt
gtsbereally f
.ptggtstoêgofz?.W hen yourpersuadeeraises
whatsoundslike a phony objection,don'ttry overcoming it.ln-
stead,ask herto com e clean:''Look,lcan tellthat' snotwhat' s re-
ally 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 inJef-
frey J.Fox' sexcellentbook,. H'
of
.ptol- lecorle(
gRwfgrltgêer.Since then,
 SIDE APPROACH ES 179

l've used itdozensoftimes.The technique:You take the objec-

tion and make itinto a mutually agreed upon objective.Forex-
am 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 un-
coverthe realreason.
kklt
gêe/
?erobjection t/
?every reason toJ0(gllet
gt
:
tf.
pftllt/
?eijeal.Forthis
approach,youtakewhatthe objectorsaysand twistitinto aben-
efitstrongerthan 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( tretgfffr
ggt
: -- 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' sdif-
fer-
entfrom 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 stafferswillde-

scend upon him ,frightening him off.''
You can also becom e som ew hat belligerent with this tech-
nique,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 dol-
lars 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 de-
signed 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 on-
strating 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 intru-
sion.You are a gift.That' s how you m ustapproach yourper-
suasion 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 espeople.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 producerwher-
everhe' 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 alw 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 tselfish thcl
tdisruptive,the iIeffectofhis
being there IclstsIong clfterhe'sIeft.Tclke clI
(x)k.''
You hclnclshclron the m cltchlx 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 tsqfely.I
fyouhcl ve clny doubt skip this
mechclnism 'there clre others
inthe Exx)kwi thoutthe
downside.
To prepqre,find cl
mcltchlxokthclfsrelqti vely
full.Pickclmcl tch neclrthe
center clnclIeveri tup so it's
. stillcltcl
checlto the Exx)k but
'

stclndserect(Figure 15.1).
Teqrclnothermcl tchout
- ofthe Exxlk.Use itto Iight
the cltcl
checlmcltch.
Blow outthe torn
. mcltch thenthe clltclchecl
Figure 15.1 Erectmatch. (continved)
 O VEZCO ME ZESISTANCE

mcltch wcli tclfew m inutes

forthe cltcl
checlmcltchto
cool clnclpush i tbclck
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 W ithyourthumb,l
x ndthe
thumb. burned mcl
tchdownsoyour
thumbcoversit hiding i
t
from view (Figure 15.2).
Don't outofgui ltornerves try to prove thcltthe mcltchbook is
norm cll.It'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:Eitherpointto 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 itfrom her
Iightit clncldrop i tinto yourcup.
Relighting the burned mcltch isclfclke.out.Hold the Exx)ktowclrd
you,grip clfresh m cl tch nexlto the burned one clnclteclri tout.Light
it.Ifyou plcly yourpclrtnonchcllclntl y clnclyourmovementsclre relcl.
tively quick 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 match-
bookforyourgimmicked one.
T H E LO O K

his chaptercontainsthe book' sm ostim portantpersua-

sion lesson.But l w arn you,you m ay not like it.The
lesson? J-
fof
.
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 ani-
cured.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 agesbe-
fore 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 hisfash-
ion 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 unex-
pectedly 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 fu-
nerals.
'
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'tneces-
sary to be com m anding and persuasive.lam no m ovie star,but l
gettreated like one because llook and actlike a m an ofachieve-
m ent.Good clothing m akesanyone look better.
'
rbey'reajrai?ojstan?inyogt.M any peopleareterrifiedofstand-
ing outbecause they have an unrealistic idea aboutw hatitm eans
 TH E RLILES OF G O OD DRESS 189

tobehuman.Beinghumandoesn'
tmeanbeingperfect.Pet
hctionis
g0t(glJgrlt
gg olltfog.O nce they take thatidea to heart,itbecom es
easierforthem to putthem selvesoutthere in a way thatgetsoth-
ers looking at them .Anyone can com m and a room despite his
flaw s,insecurities,and w eaknesses,forthe sim ple reason thatev-
eryone 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-to-
repeat 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//tgc/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 hands-
the m ostexpressive partsofyourbody.You can wearthe com po-
nents of each suit interchangeably. Black and gray also m ake
people look slim .
190 THE LOO K

J'
t-
turlèbt-coloreilshfrts ani
l
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
Figure 16.1 Change yourtie, w ith a black/ gras blue/ or
changeyourIife.
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 shirt-
w 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.
lvlost off.the.rack suits w ere
L. ,'
f
m anufactured using glue and
o y . 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.
Figure 16.2 Reverse iacket Hireaconsultantorbejrieni
lastore
so Iining shows. 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.
W hen you travel/forgetthe hotel
iron and carry a powerful
I
'w
.. t
,4
r a- x
portable steam er instead.You can
pack your jacket and pants to
/ ...
#'
I m inim ize their creases. H ere's
how:Turn the jacket inside out
N't (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

Pants from creasing badly.
O uruniform stellpeople a 1ot
aboutw ho w e are.lfyour re a sci-
entist, you w ear a 1ab coat. lf
1 you're a construction w orker,you
wear work boots. lf your job
hinges on persuasion, your uni-
form should show that you think
thingsout and prepare.T he out-
fits l'vejustdescribed provethat.
G ood dress, then, is m ore than
K surface decoration. lt's an out-
Figure 16.: Fold pantsover w ard expression thatyourre aper-
iacket. son ofdetaila nd care.

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 ani-
cures,pedicures,and haircuts.lfyourteeth are yellow ed,be-
lieve m e,theyrre 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 lvlecha-
nism,educating people aboutwhatl'm wearing an1theprod-
uctl'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 alone,
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 hap-
pens,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 es-
tablish the conditionsthatthe pepperis underbefore the magic
happens.Ifyou performed thismechanism withoutIetting thespec-
tatortry 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'nor-
mal' 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 tooth-
pick,and stickyourfingerdirectly in thewater.Ofcourse,thisap-
proach 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 Iiq-
uid soap mightshine in the water.
# W hy notuse a barofsoap? Because soap scraped from a baris
difficultto transferfrom fingerto toothpick.Also,barsoap iseas-
ierto 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 orpitch-

wom 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 environ-
m ent,fullofpulsing m usic,flashing lights,and scantily clad m od-
els.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 alk-
ing 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 dol-
larsm ade him a rich m an.
 TI--
IE BLIIL,
D S'
T'
EP 199

''
M y grandfatherAlbertcarried afifty-dollarbillwith him ,be-
cause 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.Some-
tim 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 allaudi-
ence 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.ltwasen-
tertainm 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't1etthathap-
pen.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 ex-
plaining itthrough the lensofm etaphor.You create a m echanism
by taking a key pointfrom yourspeech,com bining itw ith a tal-
entorstunt,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 beingenjoy-
able 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.ltsdown-
side: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 ,be-
cause 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 red-
w 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 ev-
erything theyke suffered- only l' ve identified w hatw asn'tw ork-
ing 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 p-
tion.''lam notyourfriend 'lsay.'lam abusinessperson present-
ing 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 solu-
tion,orifyoursolution stinks.lfthat' sthe case,don'teven getup
to speak.
You don'thave to foam atthe m outh to getpeople to experi-
ence 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 solu-
tion.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 Real-
tors should callthe buyers and advise them to cancelthe expen-
sive 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 contin-
ued 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 ercialsitu-
ations. 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 u-
nity spirit.M ake itsafe forfam iliesto picnic,children to run,and
dogsto rom p.That' s building value.You say it,and you getpeo-
p1e 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 val-
ues,show the audience how high and w here you gotthat infor-
m 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 leftwithouttak-
ing 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 par-
ticularly w ell,harp on it.lfanother partisslow,cutit.
+ lnvolve your audience,butdon't1etthem take over.lask peo-
p1e 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 easy-
to-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.Speak-

ing,in and ofitself,isn'tinherently stressful.lfyou're exces-
sively 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-threat-
ening 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 enthusiastically.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'scam-
paignlSo,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

) .'
e' '
j(., ..

1
. I
.u L

Figure 1Z.1 Ropes behind the back.

(Continved)
Inyourhclnd m u hold two rom s eclch cll
xlutfi
vefeetIong.You
hclve Emmq clndSclrclh stclndonei
thersideofN i ckclsthey grip the
rom s(Figure 17.1).Youencircl
eN i ck'swqistwiththeoneoftherom s
clnclti
eitstwoendstcxgetherthusstrclpping 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 slice
rightthroughN 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 clnclclskpeople how they might
(continved)
 THE M O VE STEP 209

r
'
r $t
/ t
1 : :

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.

< x - -

-.s
/ .
;

Figure 17.4 Rope gimmickbehind the back.

 THE I
VIOVE STEP

(Continoed)
Have fwo more volunteersstand on opposite sides,and make
surethey'rea footorsoclosertotheaudiencethanheis(
otherwise
they'llseebehind him).
O nthe countofthree,have them tug forward ontheirrope-ends.
W henthey do,the white thread willsnap,fallunnoticed to the fl
oor,
and the ropesthemselveswillstraighten outin the volunteers'hands.
The illusion isperfect.

Backroom 'llps IorCutting a Person in H all

with Ropes
+ The thread should snap easily, butnotearly.Depending on its
strength,considerwrapping itaround theropestwo orthreetimes
beforetying itoff.
+ Ifyoudon'thave thread handy,you can usea thin rubberband.A
warning,though:W hen the rubberband shootsoffthe ropesdur-
ing the zzsawing,''people sitting close may notice it.Ifyou use the
rubberband,you wantyouraudience no closerthan 20 feetfrom
the action.
+ Ifyou use a rubberband,willthe spectatorsassisting you notice
it? No.Being in frontofan audience isan uncomfortable experi-
ence for mostpeople, particularly ifyou/re asking them to do
something unusual.Yourhelperswillbe too busy pulling to notice
the flying rubberband.
+ This rope trick obviousl
y hasparallelsto the famed stage illusion
Sawing aW omanin Half.I fyoustudy the manyversionsof'Saw-
ing'' performed through the years,you can geta vivid under-
standing ofthe many waysa single idea can be presented.
Sawing has been staged in a straightfol w ard way: The
womanslipsinto the box;the magician sawsthebox in* 0, .the

(continoed)
TH E PLATFO RNIPITCH

(Continoed)
halvesare pulled apartand putbacktogether;the woman Ieaves
the box unharmed.
Sawing hasal so been played forcomedy:Thewoman'sbare
feetprotrude from the box,and the magician ticklesthem,even
aftershe'sbeensliced infwo.
Sawing has been performed with greatathl eticism:For in-
stance,the contemporary performers known as the Fendragons
Ieap and dance around a slim,clearbox ina display ofelegance
and power.
It'salso been performed asa demonstration ofthe macabre:
Anyone who eversaw the illusioni st Richiardiperform itin the
1960sand 1970swillknow whatImean.
Richiardiwould come outin a Iab coat,and his teenaged
daughterwoul d follow him outina patient'sgown.She would Iie
across a slab,and an oversized buz. z saw woul d descend upon
her,apparentl y cutting through hermidsection.Bloodwould spray
out of the girl, and severalof her organs woul d tumble out.
Richiardithen asked the audience to file up on stage one ata
time,so they coul d geta cl ose-up Iookatthe carnage.W hen the
Iastaudience member Ieftthe stage, Richiardiwould then 're-
store' ' his daughter- or Ieave hermutilated,depending on his
artistic mood.
One trick:fourtotall y di
fferentsfyles.W hich isrightand which
iswrong?W e can draw no suchdistinction.AIIwe can say isthat
one sfyle mightwork betterorworse fora performer,given the in-
dividual'spersona,the show,and thecomposition ofthe audience.
RememberthatI esson as you persuade:How you chose to
presentan idea has a I otto do with who you are,whatpeople
haveseen from you,and who you/re trying to persuade.The same
pointcan be made straightforward,aswellasthrough funny,dra-
matic,oreven di sturbing means.Try aIIapproaches.Use what
works.
T H E M EC H A N ISM
EM ERG EN C Y K lT

he Transform ation M echanism is a rem arkable tool.

The rightm echanism putsasm ile on people'sfaces and
openstheir m indsto yourproposal.

lfyouke tried the m echanism s atthe end ofeach chapter,you

now have an im pressive arsenalofw aysto change the m om ent.lf
youke also taken yourow n entertainm entinventory,as lrecom -
m end in C hapter 3,you have additionalm echanism s that reflect
yourunique talents.
T he search forbetterm echanism sis alifelong search.lm yself
w illspend alm ost any sum and take any route to find new ones.
Recently,lflew to G erm any to learn a m echanism called 'contact
m ind-reading.'
Contactm ind-reading isasclose to extrasensory perception as
anything that's everbeen studied,yetthere' snothing supernatural
aboutit.W hathappens? The perform er leaves the auditorium so
he can'tsee or hearw hat' s aboutto take place.Severalaudience
m em bersaccom pany him to ensure thathe doesn' tcheat.
 TI-IE M ECI-IAN ISM EM EP-GEN CY itI'I-

lnside the auditorium ,a volunteer hides a freely chosen ob-

jectanywhere shewants.Say shechoosesanecklace.Shem ight
hide itin an audience m em ber'
sshoe,orundera toupee,orinside
a piano.
O nce the object is outof sight,the performer returns.H e
cautions the audience notto say a w ord or give hints aboutthe
object'
shiding place.
H e asksthe volunteerto take him by the w rist.The perform er
startsm oving around the auditorium ,with the volunteerfollow ing
in tow .She isw arned notto m ake any physicaleffortto guide him
toward theobject.Theonly instruction she'
sgiven is:''lfl'm draw -
ing closerto theobject,thinkyes.lfl'm moving away,think no.''
T he ensuing scene is an odd one.ln the end,the outcom e is
astonishing:The performerlocatesthe hidden objectwithouta
w ord being spoken.
D oesitw ork through m ind-reading? A ctually,the perform er
''
reads''the volunteer,but it's not her m ind he's reading.lt'
s her
body' sresponsesto herthoughts.
W hen she thinks yes, her body reacts in distinct, telltale
w ays.W hen she thinks no,her body reacts w ith equally distinct
yet opposite tells.She doesn' t consciously tip offthe perform er;
it's a11involuntary.H erm uscles,blood flow,and fluctuating skin
colorclue theperformerasto wheretheobjectishidden.
A good contactm ind-readercan find a single pin hidden in a
spraw ling city.
W hen lw as in G erm any,lstudied w ith one ofthe legendary
readers.H e ran m e through a series oftests:lfound a banknote
undera telephone,and lpicked outthe photograph hew asthink-
ing of as he held m y w rist and lw aved my hand over 10 photo-
graphs.
A m lready to find a pin in a city? N otyet.But l'm w orking
on it.
Forthose ofyou w ho don' thave the tim e orinclination to f1y
to G erm any and learn contact m ind-reading, l've included four
m ore m echanism sin thischapter,as a gift.
D o yourselfa favor:Practice and use them .
 TH E I
VIECHAN ISI
VIS

T H E M EC H AN ISM S

A Transformation M echanism:The W ork-Flow Knot

The stene
You're the head ofoperationsfora manufacturer,and Dan,the man
inchargeoftheshippingdepartment,isn'tdoing hisiobproperl
y.
He'stried to streamline the shipping process,butmostofhisefforts
have only caused delays.Youcould fire him,butyou decide to give
him anotherchance.
zzDan,'youask,zzwhy do you feelitnecessary to tinkerwithyour
department'swork-flow processk' '
zzW henIsigned onhere,thatwasoneofmymainobiectives.
JustbecausewhatI've done hasn'tworked yet,thatdoesn'tmean I
can'tgetitto work.I've gotto make some corrections,that'saII.'
zzButyou obviously do thingstoo fast.You cutoutpartsofthe pro.
cessthatbite you Iater.Youend up redoing eightpercentofyour
work.That' stotally unacceptable.'
zzIknow that'sa pooraverage,butit'snotaIIme.IfIgotthe mer-
chandise earlierfrom the otherdepartments,Iwouldn'thave to try
getting itoutthe dooratbreakneck speed.''
Yourealize he'sgrasping atstraws.Youdecide to Iauncha
mechanism.
Ashe talks,youunthread yourshoel acefrom yourshoe.He asks
whatyou/re doing.
Youhol d up the Iace,Iike a fisherholding up a catch.Ithangs
down from thetipsofyourrightfingers.zzDan,thisshoelace isthe
company'sworkprocess.Here'sSales.Here'sResearch.Here'sM an-
ufacturing.Here'sAccounting.Here' sShipping.''Asyou name each
division,you pointto a differentpartofthe Iace.
Youcontinue,talking abouteach department'sdeadlinesand
how efficientthe handoffsare among them .Youtalkfacts,figures,
and quanti fiable evidence.Youthen getto Shipping.
(continoed)
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

(Continoed)
''Dan,here'swhatIsee happening fartoo oftenwhenthe pro.
cesshitsyourdepartment.''
W ithyourIefthand,you pick upthe Iow end ofthe shoelace and
place itinyourrightfingertips.Almostinstantly,yousnap yourwrist
and drop the end ofthe Iace again.Thistime,though,the I ace isno
Iongersm00th.Instead,there'sa knotinit.You/ve apparentl y knotted
yourshoelace with one hand,in Iessthan a second.
W hile the knotdangles,you pointto itand talkaboutShipping' s
processing times,and whatthe departmentneedstoachieve.'Any-
thing Iess,''you say,asyouworkthe tightknotoutwithyourteeth,'is
totally unacceptable.Do you understand whatImeank' '
Dan sayshe does.
''Good ''yousay,.1/11bedocumenting whatwe/ ve talked about.
Iwantyouto succeed.Believe me,the entire company does.That's
why we had thismeeting.1/11check backwithyouinfive daysand
see how thingsare progressing.''
Behlnd the Stene
To prepare,remove one ofyourshoel aces,and make a knotnearthe
end.I fthe Iace isthinand the knotsmall,considermaking a double
ortriple knot,so itIooksmore impressive.Now,rethread the Iace
backintoyourshoe.You/re set.
W henyou/re ready to perform thismechanism,unthread your
Iace and hold itup.Be carefulto hide the knotbehind yourfingers
(Figure 18.1).
Bring up the bottom partofthe I
aceand hold itnextto the knot-
ted section (Figure 18.2).
W henyousnapyourwrist,rel ease theknotted halfand Ietitdangle.
To the spectator,itIooksasthougha knothasappeared in a nor-
maIshoelace.W hatyou did,though,wasexchangeone end forthe
other.You placed the unknotted end behind yourrightfingersand
dropped the knotted one in itsstead.
(continoed)
 THE M ECHANISM S

Figure 18.1 Concealknot Figure 18.2 Bring endsto-

behind fingers. gether.

(Conti
nued)
h@ Backroom 'llps forthe W ork-Flow Knot
* W illpeopl e notice thcltyou/re wcllking clround w i
th clpreknol
ted
shtx lcl
ce? Ifspossible butunlikely.Ifsomeone m ints i tout sim.
pIy skip thismechclnism clnclgo onto clnother
* Obviously youcclndo thismechqni
sm with obiectsotherthcln cl
shtx lclce.Useclrope clpieceoflwine clI engthofcol oredyclrn or
whclteverfclllsto hclnd.A shtx lcl
ce iseffecti
ve l
x ccluse ithei
ghtens
the i
m cl ge thcl
tyou/re perform ing thisonthe spurofthe moment
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

A Transformation M echanism :Sticking YourHead

through a BusinessCard
Tlw stene
Thirfy yearsago,yourcompany wasthe numberonesoap manu-
facturerin the country.Itproduced barsofsoap,and thatwasit.
Butsuccesswentto itshead.Itwanted to grow itsmarketand push
into new ones.
The company began producing I aundry detergent.Then itex-
panded into bathroom cleanser.Then a second bathroom cleanserto
compete with the oI
d one.
AIIthese productsmade money atfirst,butthey weakened the
company'sinfrastructureand focus.Employeeswere spread thin.
Managementwasn'tcertainwhatto make a priority.
The customerswere even more confused.They associated your
companywith soap,butnow theywere seeing itsname behind aII
mannerofitems,including a four-bl
aded razorand five kindsofdis-
posable airfresheners.
Lastyearyou took overasthe head ofcompanywide market-
ing,and you knew yourworkwascutoutforyou.Butyoudidn't
know itwasthis bad.You hadn'tseenthe company's mostpri vate
revenue reports.
You/ve call
ed a meeting withtheCEO because you/ve decided
to takeastand- evenifitcostsyouyouriob.Youfigureyou'd rather
Ieave now ofyourownvolition,ratherthanwaita year,while market
conditionsmake yourdecision foryou.
You/re in theCEO 'soffice,and you/ve madeyourrecommenda-
tions.You/ve told herthatunlessthecompany getsback to the thing
it'sknown for- making soap- itprobabl y won'tIastmore thanfive
years.
(continoed)
 THE M ECHANISM S 219

(Continved)
Tomclkeyourpointm u/ve useclspreqdsheelsclndct
xnputerproi
ec.
tions.Now you/regoi ng inforthe kill.Ycv clsktheCEO ftx oneofher
businesscclrds.she hclndsi ttoycv clnclm utclke outclpclirJ scissors
''Thiscclrd isIikeourcompqnylwenly yeclrsclgo/''you scl y
''smclll butfocused.Firstwe clclclecldetergentto ourproductm ix
then we clclcleclcl eqnser ''Forecl ch Iine extensi
onyouci te you
mclke clcutin the ccl rd
Aftercllxlut25 culs you putthe scissorsdown.Youtellthe CEO
thcltcl 11those cuts cl11those expqnsions weclken the compqny'siden.
tily.''W henyou tryto pl eclseevery mclrket,''you scly,''youend up
being clcompqnywith no middl e'one thcltpleqsesno mclrkels ''As
you scly these Iines you pullom n the cclrd clncli texpclndsoulwclrd
into clcircleclfcotwide.Youslipitoveryourhecl
cl(Fi
gure 18.3).
''Im cly hclve mclcl
e clncose formyself,''you scly clsyou tug on
the cclrd ''butIwclntedto
mclke my pointin clwcl y thclt
sclid more thclnthe computer
e printoutsd0.
''bble've expcl
ndedw i th
'. the l x stintentions butnow
it'stime to consoli dqte clncl
u-a getstrong clgclin.A compqny
'z
wi th clstrong'shclrpfocusis
k'.'x clcompqnyIccln push i n the
mclrketplclce.One thcl thclscl
'
footintwo dozen virtuclll y
unrelclted mclrketsisn'tone I
A
ccln mclke fly.''
Figure 18.3 Ta-da1
(continved)
 TH E M ECH ANISM EM EZGENCY KIT

Figure 18.: Fold card Figure 18.5 M ake cuts

Iengthw ise. across card.

(Continved)
The CEO isclbi ttclken clbclck byyourtheqtrics butshe qppreci.
cltesyourcclndor.she isgoing to ccllclmeeting ofthe executive
boclrd clnclshe wclnlsyou to presentm urideclsto them
Behind 'he A ene
To mqke q businesscqrdyoucqn putyourheqd through do thefol.
Iowing:
FoldthecclrdIengthwise (Figure 18.:).
Use clscissorsto mcl ke clseri
esofcutsthcltgo through the dou.
bl
ed-overcclrd M clke clsmclny cutsclsyoucclndownthe Iengthofthe
cclrd (Figure 18.5).Yourcutsshould stclrtcltthe bcl
seofthefold clncl
runupthecclrd untilyougetto clbout1/1&hofclninchfrom thetop.
Now lurnthecclrd end forend clnclclclclnew cutsinbetween tbe
cvtsyov'veakeadymade(Figure 18.6).
(continved)
 THE M ECHANISM S

gxyc
(
s
n
C
u
e
t
i
o
p
P
d
n
l
r
v
y
s
e
w
t
c
h
(
b
F
)
i
g
o
f
e
u
m
l
r
sd
n
i
1
t
8
h
p
e
.
l
7
c
I
)
u
w
s
r
t
i
d
b
o
c
v
n
l
.
Figure 18.6 Turn card end
forendandmakecuts. N

' %
. x .e

Figure 18.Z Cutdown the

middle,Ieaving top and bot-
tom borders intact.
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

(Continoed)
Y Backroom 'IlpsIorStickingYourHead through
a Business Card
+ A business card willfitoveryour head,foot,orhands.Larger
cardsfitoverIargerobiects.Forinstance,an81
,
4-by-1l-inchpiece
ofpaperwillfitaround many people'swaists.
+ Youcan firstcutaIIthe slitsdown one side ofthe card,so itIooks
Iike a comb,and thenflip thecard end forend and make the new
cutsbefweenthe oId cuts,oryou can alternate making cutsin the
card.In otherwords,you make the firstcutstarting atthe base,
flip the card,make anothercut,flip the card,make a cut,flip the
card,and so forth.Fractice b0thmethods,and see whichappeals
to you most.
+ Youwillwantto practice thismechanism a numberoftimesbefore
trying itoutin public,because almosteveryone cuts through the
entire card atfirst.Ifyou cutcompletely through the card,you/ll
end up with a Iong dangling card,ratherthan a necklace.
# Asyou know,Transformation M echanisms are metaphors made
physicaland Iively.AsIong asthe mechanism youchoose fi
tsthe
pointyouw antto stress use it.
In the preceding scenario, Ihad you use the business-card
necklace asa symbolforan unfocused companyand asa noose.
Those are pretfy heavy, negative concepts.Butthe mechanism
could iustaseasil
y beused tosymboli
zeagrand happening.For
instance,how a Iimited understanding can turn into an expansi
ve
one,or,more concretel y,how a smallroom can turn into a big,
gloriousone,ifyou know whatyou're doing.
 TH E I
VIECHAN ISI
VIS

A Transformation M echanism:Allowance M oney

The stene
Your1z-year-ol d daughterasksyou to raise herweekl
y allowance.
''W hatdo you do with aIIthe money Igive youk''you ask.
''IE)tlY:;ttlff.'
zzIknow you buy stuff.Yourstuffistaking overthe house.You/ve
gotCDs,clothes,and videoseverywhere.You don'tneed more
money.Youneed to understand how to handlethe al lowance you/re
getting now .''
zzM om,youhave no idea whatitcoststo be a kid today.This
isn'tthe nineteen seventies.'
Yougetan idea:zzLook,Iwantto giveyou a very simple money-
handling test.It'sone question.Ifyou pass,1/11giveyouan extra
fwenfydoll arsa week.Ifnot,Igetto giveyou a fwenfpminute I esson
on how to spend yourmoney,so itgoesfurtherand makesyou hap-
pier.W illing to take the testk''Yourdaughteragrees.
zzDo youhaveany pocketchangek''youask.
Yourdaughterdi gsinto herpocket,and removesa handfulof
change.YouIookoverwhatshe'sdug out,and ask herto hand you a
penny and a dime.
zzo kay,'yousay,'o penny and a dime.Thinkyouknow the dif-
ference between the twok' '
zzDuhIIthinksoI'
zzLet'
ssee,''you say.80th coinsare in yourIefthand,which dis-
appearsbel ow the tabletop.Youaskforyourdaughter'shand under
the table,and youdropthe fwo coinsinto it.
zzl
-lere'
sthe test:Keeping yourhand underthe tabl e,feelthe
coinsand hand me the penny.'
(continoed)
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

(Continoed)
''And forthatIgetan extra fwenfy dollarsk''
zzYoubet''
YourdaughterIaughsand dropsthecoinshe krlow' sto bethe penny
inyourhand.Youbring yourhand,now closed into a fist,intoview.
''Lastchance to changeyourmind,''yousay.'You've handed me
the penny and you're hol ding the dime,rightk''
Justto make sure,yourdaughterrubsthe unseen coinone I asttime.
''Yes,I'm certain.Ihanded youthe penny,and I'm holding thedime.''
Yousmileand open yourhand.There,sitting inthe middl e of
yourpalm,isthe dime.
Yourdaughterpullsherhand from underthe table,and opens
herfist.Theresitsthe penny.
''How did you make the coinschange pl acesk'
'she asks.
''Itricked you.'
''Iknew itI'
''Look,Ididn'twin and you didn'twin.It'sIike yourbuying
sprees.Believe me,we're b0th I osing.Tellyou what,1/11raiseyour
weekl y allowance ten dollarsifyouIisten to my fwenfy-minute
happiness-through-money-managementspeech.''
''DeaII''
''Butyou have to really Iisten to whatIsay,and thinkabouthow
youcan appl y whatItellyouto yoursituation.Fromisek' '
''Fromise ''
That'saIIyou coul
d hope for.
Behlnd the Stene
Thismechanism wasinvented inthe 1960sby a magician named
Johnny Benzais.To make itwork,youneed a secretcoin.Here' sthe in-
triguing part:The secretcoin isneithera penny ora dime.I
t'sa nickel.
(Beforeyouperform thismechanism,you'llneedtobeseated,
andyou'llneed togetthe nickelonto yourthighwithoutanyone'
s

(continoed)
 THE M ECHANISM S

(Continved)
susm cting.Youccln qccomplish thisin one ofl w o wclys:Eitherbcll.
clnce the nickelthere clheclcloftime orclqndestinely sli p the ni
ckel
onto m urIeg whenyouclnclthe spectcl torclrechecking forrxxiket
chclnge.You/re recldy to perform.
Askto lxvrow clpenny clnclcldime.Displqy the lwo coinsinthe
turnecl.up pcllm ofyourhclnd.W hile you/re sm clking posi ti
onthe
coi nsclsyousee them i n Figure 18.8 wi th the dime cltthe bqseof
yourfingersclnclthe penny setbclck inyourpcllm .
Askthe spectcltorto extend herrighthclnclunderthe tclble.As
she com plies close yourhclnclIoosel y clncldrop yourfistL low the
tclbletop.
The momentyourhclnd isoutofsi ght pi ck upthe nickelwith
yourthumb clnclindexfinger(Fi
gure 18.9)withcl
sIil
tl
e hesi
tqtioncls
possible clnclmove yourhclnclclbove hers
(continved)

. s #
.
Rl .77 .
. g. !1 . ,
ï ' . x' .'
'

1# t ''e'
y..

; k.'
,
t.
* ';x'

Figure 18.8 Display coins. Figure 18.9 Hand secretly

grabs nickelfrom Iap.
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

(Continoed)
Drop the pennyand thenickelinto herhand.Keep hol d ofthedime.
Now,the fun begins.
Askherto hand youthe penny.She/llhand you the biggestcoin
she holds,thinking it'
sthe penny.Actuall
y,it'sthe nickel.
Take the nickelinyourfingertips,and bring yourhand backto-
ward yourIap.Leavethe nickelthere,and bring yourfistinto view.
Younow hold thedime,althoughshe beli evesyouhold the penny.
She holdsthe penny,thinking it'
sthe dime.
Finish.

Backroom 'Ilps IorAllowance M oney

+ Allowance M oney isn't difficult, but if you don't execute it
smoothl y,itwillbe painfully obvious thatsomething's up.There
are four hairy points to rehearse: getting the nickelonto your
thigh,holding the coinsproperly,picking up the nickel,and ditch-
ing the nickel.Fractice.
+ Ifthe money-switching sequence seems confusing,rememberthis
dominant principle:The dime never I eaves your hand. I
t's the
penny and the nickelthatdo aIIthe moving.
# The allowance scenario raisesa moralquestion:Shoul d youadmit
thata mechanism i sa trick?That'ssticky.
Speaking formyself,attrade shows, I'm hired as an enter-
tainer and a prospectmagnet.As Iong as Idon'tmake fal se
claimsaboutproducts,Idon'tfeelitnecessary to prefacewhatI'm
doing with 'thisisreaI'and 'thisisfalse.'
Afterall,when Igo to the movies,Idon'texpectRobertDe Niro
to comeoutofcharacterand admithe'sacting.W hen Ireada novel,
Idon'
texpectStephenKingto reassuremethatit'siustast
ol
y
In instances where you/re obviously entertaining,don'tsay
anything.In more real-life instances,though,I'd tellthe audience
you/re using a mechanism to make a point.
 TH E I
VIECHAN ISI
VIS

A Transformation M echanism:
The Corporate Butterfly
The Stene
Lynn,who isconsulting to a utilifycompany,isina meeting with a
dozen managers,debating resource allocation foreach divisi on.
During a stalemate in the talks,he attractsattention by pulling a
5-by-5-inchsquareofpaperfrom hi
siacketpocket.
zzM ay Ishow everyone something intriguingk''he asks.'Itinvolves
this paperscrap.Butyouknow what?By the time I'm finished with my
presentation,thisscrap may become the mostimportantbusinessdocu-
mentinthecompany.''The curiousmanagersgi ve him the floor.
zzFirst,'saysLynn,zwe know companiesare in businessto make
a profit,and profitsare calculated during the fiscalyear'sfourquar-
ters.''So saying,he foldsthe paperinto fourths.
zzsecond,inorderto make a profit,companiesoften resortto
cost-cutting,trimming marketing,distribution,support,and qualify ini-
tiati
ves.''W itheach sel -vice named,Lynn foldsbacka differentcorner
ofthe paper,making itinto anel ongated diamond.
zzThird,once companieshave cutcosts,they thinkthemselves
sharp,cutting-edge.'As he deliversthe Iine,Lynn foldsthe paperin
half,turning the diamond into a thin rectangl e withpoinfy ends,and
usesitto playfullyiabathisfingers.
zzThose are importantreali
tiesofbusiness.Butonething we
shoul d neverforget...'hesays,sticking hisforefingerin the airto
emphasize the numberone,and wrapping the paperaround it.
''
. . .i
sthatfora company to thrive,itmustsupportitsemploy-
ees.Only by doing thatwillproductivity soarl'During thisIastIine,
Lynn removeshisforefingerfrom the paper,causing itszzwings'to
snap into view.He then grabsthe underside ofthe paperbefween his
thumb and middlefingerand usesa pinching motion thatcausesthe
wingsto flap,bringing hiswhimsical,paperbutterfly to Iife.
(continoed)
 TH E I
VIECH AN ISI
VIEI
VIERGEN CY KIT

(Continoed)
The othermanagers,atfirstuncertainofwhatthey were watch-
ing and how to react,are now delighted.In fact,they demand that
Lynn teachthem the butterfl
y fold,complete with story.Lynn gladl
y
obliges.
Hismessage- thatemployeesmustcome first,no matterthe eco-
nomicclimate- isnow repeated throughoutthe corporation'shalls
and meeting rooms.

Behlnd the Stene

The Corporate Butterfly fold wascreated by origamiartistDeg Far-
relli,and the storyyou read isreal.ConsultantLynn Hodgesdevel -
oped thatpatterduring one ofhisassignmentsata multibillion-dollar
utility,and the hard-nosed managershewaspitching Ioved it.Ibring
thisup in case you thinkfolding paperbutterfliesistoo gentle a mech-
anism to workin therealworld.
To create the butterfly:
Take a square piece ofpaper,fol
d itdown the middl
e,and
unfold it(Figure 18.10).
Fold in the sidesofthe paperuntilthey meetatthe perpendi
-
cularcreaserunningdownthecenter(Figure 18.11).In
essence,you/ve made the paperinto a setofdouble
doors,with the rightdoorhinged on itsrightside,and
the I
eftdoorhinged on itsIeftside.
Fold down the fourcornersso the top and bottom endsof
yourpaperarepointyandthesidesarestraight.(Figure
18.12).
Fold the paperin half,so the cornerfoldsrestinsidethe
bodyofthepaper(Figure 18.13).
Turn the entire paperupsidedown,so itIooksIike a row boat
(Figure 18.1.
t.).
(continoed)
 THE M ECHANISM S

'% .
R o
/.

' j

Figure 18.10 Fold paperin Figure 18.11 Fold Iong

half. sidesto center.

+
.
. *
'.
.

$.

;.
.

- <
.. e

Figure 18.12 Fold fourcor- Figure 18.13 Fold in half.

nersinward.
 THE M ECHANISM EM EZGENCY KIT

(Continved)
Fold the bocltin hcll
f
horizontqll y.However don't
+
creclse the fullI
engthofthe
p bclse.Pinch itinthe center
only,clnclpi
nch i
thclrcl(Fi
g.
ure 18.15).
Reopenthe pqperto ils
l
ax tshclpe.
Scissorthe pclrx)rw i
th
yourri
ghtfingers,(Fi
gure
X. 18.16)clndwrqp ittclut
clround yourI
eftindex fin.
ger(Fi
gure 18.17).
Figure 18.1zt Display ''row-
boat.''

+ #

v '
, . #
w
Figure 18.15 Fold horizon- Fi@ure18.16 Scissorcenter
tall
y and pinchclosed. w lth fingers.
 THE M ECHANISM S

ure 18.18).

ii
Pinchthe pclm r'sbclse
L lween yourIeftthumb clncl
i
ndexfinger(Figure 18.19).
Letgo ofthe pclrx)rw i th
yourri ghthclnclclnclclllow
yourIefthclnclt o conlrolthe
flclpping ofthe ''wings''through
smclllcontinuoussqueezes
(Fi
gure 18.20).
Figure 18.17 ?uIItaut
around finger.

Figure 18.18 Bevelatbase. Figure 18.19 Finch base.

 THE M ECHANISM EM EZGENCY KIT

(Continved)
From stclrtto finish the but.
terfl
y should tqke youonly cl
m inute to perform including the
foldsclnclyourdicllogue.By
F using clpiece ofpclperclnclcl
bclre.bonesstory,youccln E)e.
come the centerofcltenti on
give m opl e theviscercllexm ri.
ence ofm uridecl clnclgetthem
receptive to youri decls
Nx
w..

Figure 18.2O Squeeze ''but-

terfly'sbody''w ith fingertips.

Y Backroom 'llps forthe Corporate Butterfly

* In the versi
on you iustreqd Hodgesused the theme ql
xlutem.
ployeescom i
ng firstbeccluse i
tfitthe m issionofthe orgclni
zcltion
he wclsworking with.Nclturclly the theme ofthe Corrxxcl te But.
terflycclneqsil
ybecll
teredto fitdifferentmessclges:clproiectthcl
t
tclkesoff'cln ideclwhose time hclscome'the whol
eis more thcln
the sum ofitspqrts.
* Foryournextcri ti
cqlpresentqtion I eqve the Powerpointclthome
cl
nclbring clsheetof5.by.5.inch pclm rinstecld.

Acci
clcntal(Qgff/s,153
Active listening,81
Annemann,76
Appearance
dressbetterthan anyone else,
189
dressing wellmakes
persuasion easier 187
4/4/4/Principler187
hire aconsultantr191
look good outofyour
luggager191-192
make off-the-rack seem
hanctmacter191
M alinilooked like heshould
perform before
royaltyr187
reasonsbusinesspeople don' t
dresswellr188-189
rulesofgood ctressr189
tw othousand dollarsmakes
you sharp enough for
prim e tim e 189
wearblack and.gray,189
weardark tiesand.ascots,19O
p*,.1
IN D EX
weardifferenttexturesand.
hues,190
wearlight-colored shirtsand.
blouses,19O
wearthe finestshoesyoucan
afford 19O
your accessories 190-19 1
yourlook spellsthe
difference,186
Astt/x Hcaclbuntcr,104
A P'
I/J 100
BauerrJoel
aboard cruise shipsr82J162
asthe Human Puppy D og
Closer103-104
changing focusr83-84/162
creating pandem onium r11
grandfatherAlbertr199
grandfatherDuffyr12OJ
187- 188
infotainerand.perceptionistr
17O- 171
professionr10
targeting corporations 164
 INDEX
BauerrJoel(continuccl)
why he'
sa successfultrad.
e being clearthrough written
show performerr
150- 15 1
BeckrJohnr17
BeckerrLarly 99
Beerindustly 5
Bell'
slkeflexr51
BenzaisrJohnnyr224
Bod.
y M etaphor
definition ofJ41
examples of
HurstPushing
Dem onstrationr
44-45/47
intertwrinedlegsr43
pointing fingerr43
squeezing and.releasingr
4 1-4 3
standing on achair,46
Bottled waterindustry,4-5
Changethe M oment
doing something outofthe
norm r20
em otionaland.personalized
m essagesr 17- 18
extrem e situations 20
pastand.future questionsr19
peoplewalk around in their
problemsr14
the rightthing to dor21
seeing an energeticfuturer14
through languager14-17
using favored im ageryr19
youreffecton peopler13
yourim portance 18
Clarity
ctetailr151-154
everyone wantsto beled. r151
life isaboutactionr155
picturesastem platesr150
questionsto help clarifyr
Dangerfieldvlkodney,93
Dark arts,1
Davenport,Thomas,17
D iamond.,Paul,83
Drcupl
sJgttlAction,151
D'Sotlza,Sean,135
ElbowrPeterr70
Entertainm entinventom 28
'Eyelevelisbuy level''92
fJstCotttèany,11
Fifty dollarbillstoly 199
52 restaurants 76
Force,37-38
Fox,Jeffreyl.,178
Freebies
bold buildsr119
building thevalue ofJ113-115J
118-120
creating obligationr117
 IND EX

questionsto ask yourself lssuing a challenge,158/20 1

about,115 JtTutcs(Q ts,Duplplft/,83
subtlebuilds,118 Jackson,M ichael,101
using the questions,116-117 Jackson,SamuelL.,101
FrightChallenge,2-3/6,201 Jaye,Aye,125-126
G ifts Kaplanrlkobr57
applying the principles,129 KatselasrM iltonr151-152
''
chatch''kit 126 Keep goingr149
definition ofJ125
personalizingr128-129
tw orulesofgiftgivingr126
'G iftsand.prizessecure
attention '92
G oldberg,W hoopi,101 M adame Tussaud'sW ax
ColâcnRulcofS'
.côplt
ltlzf
gg,125 M useum r101-1O2J
G oneW ith the W ind. ,73 1O4J106
Greenspan,Alan,153 M agic magaziner124
Grove,Andy,69 M alinirM axr186-187
Guttraining,82-85 M etaphorsr22-23/70
M ictctletonrlkobertr43-44/46
HarvarâBusincssRcvicw,17 M iscall 37
'H e who isloudestwins,'92 Nloney,112-113
H igh concept,3-4
H odges,Lynn,227-228 Naming thingsmakesthem real,2
Houdin,Jean-Eugene,lkobert, N apoleon 111,175
175 bkw Ytlrt '
Jlplcs,161
H oudini,H arry,121-124 'N ightingales'4
H'
.tlu7ttll?cct
lpzaJt.f
zf
l/plf
ztcr,178 'N urses in wett-shirts'4
H um mer,112
H urst,Lulu,44 PaperM etaphor
Hypercard. ,65 battleship analogyr60
Hypnotiststare,80-81 create yourow n 58-60
definition ofJ54
'1don'tgetno respect!''93 exam plesof
lnfluence questionsto ponderr BuildvH old.rM ove Processr
76-77 54-56
 IND EX
PaperMetaphor(continuccl)
1aw of1im ited icteasr56-57
organizationalpyram id.r57
to illustrate afeaturer
55-56
to illustrate aprocessr
54-56
problem approachr59
solution approachr59
PerecrGeorgesr1OO
'PerfectPitch '4
Persuasion m odel 1-2
Persuasion N iner68-70
Platform Pitch
the audiencer198
building m assw ith a
challenger201
building m assw ith a
mechanism r
200-20 1
the BuilctStepr198
creating painr202-203
the dosand.cton'
tsofslidesr
206-207
expand and.contractyour
presentation 2O6
hold stepr201-204
involve youraudiencer2O6
m ove stepr205-206
offering a solutionr203-204
PcrfOrmance a. Stransaction,
2OO
public speakingr2O7
selling yoursolutionr2O4
the structurer198
PollackrShepr57
Positioning
based on public perceptionr
160
basing image on a positionr
164-165
itcan besim pler160
differentpositionsfor
differentaudiencesr
170-171
discovering whatyour
audiencevalues,169
in a nutshell,168
slantsto positionby,166-168
term coinedby l kiesand.
Trout,160
why positioning works,166
yourself 169
Processing w ords,81
Proof
admitting a deficit,145
bestforms of
association and.
organization
membershipsr
136- 137
casestudiesr14O
celebrihrendorsementsr136
clientlistsr134
clienttestimonialsr134-136
expert opinion 137
guaranteesr70 142-143
photographsr141-142
propsr85J143-145/
198-199
realreason whyr138
specificityr139
survey resultsr137-138
Pub '
-flkir120

QuickPitch
advantagesofJ79
bod.y sentencer78-79
conversationalassum ptionr80
conversationalkeysr80-82
declarative formatr67,71
definition ofJ66
generative stage 71
hypotheticalelem entsin
questions 82
listening,80-81
practicingtheQuick Pitch
82J84-85
question-based form atr
67-68/7 1
raising eyebrowsr72
rephrase yourquestionsr82
sampleopeningsr71
storiesasm aterial 72
aszo-seconctcom ing
attractions 68
hring questionsto thepastr82
usesforr66-67
'T he lkealThingr''94
lkesistance
alternate waysofdealing
withr180-181
G ift-shiftM indsetr181
handing objectionsas
requests 176
objectionsarejustopinionsr
176
Sid.
e Approaches
IND EX
agreewith the objectionr
and.reaffirm your
main benefitsr179
ask whatshereally wants
toknowr178
getherto seethe
consequencesofnot
using your services
179- 180
make herobjection the
very reason forgoing
ahead 179
make the objection into an
objectiver178-178
pretendyou don' t
understand the
objectionr178
refertoa clientwho had.the
same objectionr178
Straightforward Approachr
177
strengthenyourpresentation
to forestallresistancer
181
lkevealing secretsr38J51,226
lkichiardir212-213
lkogersrCarl 81
lkolex ofpastries,126
Sam ples
creating a sam pler106-1O7
definition ofJ6
d.
o thejob in the interviewr
104
functionsof 1O2
H uman Puppy Dog Closer
103-104
 IND EX
Samples(continuccl)
im pressing onlookers,1O8
physicaland.time lim its,107
positioning of,1O8
simulatedbaby,1O5
Sawing awom an in half
211-212
Schlitz 69
'Seeing herdilemm aanew '8
Seinfeld.
rJerly 117
Slogan Pitch
definition ofJ91
distorted imagely 95
examplesof
m nem onics in 93
repetition cturingr92
signature linesr93
trade-show presentationr
92
'WC OWn the factoriesJ''
9 1-92
within aconversationr
94
parallelconstructionr95-96
slogan characteristicsr92-93
Society'sdem and forbrevihrr
90-9 1
SpellingrAaronr4
StahlrDavid.r127
TheatricalPersuasion M odel,2
Tiffany,126
Trad.e Show
etiquetteviolationr79
pressuresr 10
processr54-56
Transformation M echanism s
in the BuilctStep,200-201
build yourow n,29-33
connecting unrelatectobjects
as practice 33
to create m ass 199
definition ofJ6-7/22
during the H old Stepr2O3
exam plesof
AllowanceM oneyr223-227
Balancing a Coin O n a
D ollarBillr108-111
can'topen eyesr 5 1
can'twrite nam e 5 1
can'tstand 51
The Cork in the Bottler
13O- 132
Cutting a Person in H alf
w ith l
kopesr207-212
The Corporate Butterflyr
227-232
Frisbeer29-30
gray elephantin D enmarkr
25-27
The lmm ovableFingerr
155-158
The lm possible Objectr
6 1-65
knivesr31-32
The Lightand.H ea'or
Personr171-175
The M agazineTestr34-39
The M igrating Pepperr
193-196
M issing the Obviousr
96- 100
The Needle Through
Balloonr145-149
 IND EX 239

Predicting Fingers,73-77 job ofJ39

The Pressure PointLeg making the shifttoJ24-25
Lock 47-52 properties of 40
The lkeappearing M atchr TwainrM arkr150
182- 185
rubberband.r7-9 VernonrDair124
stam psr31
Sticking YourH ead TheW allStreetJournalOnliner
Through a Business 1O
Card.r218-222
TheTrick ThatFooled
H oudinir121-124
TheW ork-Flow Knotr
2 15-2 17
 p*,.1
A BO U T TH E A U TH O RS

JoelBaueris,accordingtotheJ'
$Q//Street7'
ogrgt
g/Online,''undoubt-
edly the chairm an of the board''of corporate trade-show rain-
m aking.Llsing a com pelling synthesis ofm agic,hypnosis,sales
persuasion,and revival-show fury,Joelbuildscrowdsfrom trade-
show passersby and converts them into willing prospects forhis
clients.On witnessing thismiraculous,Joel-engineered conver-
sion process,a J//fret
:
tmagazine reportercalled it 'an incredible
featofm assobedience thatm ustbe seen to be believed.''
Twenty million people have experienced Joel'
s traffic-stop-
ping presentationsfororganizationssuch as 3M ,Canon,G eneral
M otors,IBM ,lntel,M itsubishi,M otorola,Panasonic,and Philips.
M illions m ore have seen him perform on television fornetw orks
such asABC ,CBS,N BC ,C N BC,C N N ,and Fox.
Although Joelcontinues to entertain and persuade attrade
show s,he now works prim arily as a speaker,teaching audiences
the secretsofpersuasion,sales,and personalproductivity.
H e lives in C alifornia with his w ife, Cherie, and children,
C hanelle,Briana,and Sterling.
VisitJoelon theweb atwwm infotainencom .

M ark Levy is the founder of Levy lnnovation, a marketing-

strategy firm thatm akespeople and com panies com pelling.D ue
in partto M ark'sefforts,hisclientshavebeen featured in T'
/
?etiew
 ABo u'
r TI-IE Au-rl-lolts

J'or/t'
Fv es,the lhnancial' Jlmes,and the Lo. l
ï;to'
l
ï'Jlrles and on AI?C
Netvs,CBSfveniny lWf z's,kkltgrt/?t
gStewartLive,and - .
r'
/?:T'
orb'
.
)rSbow.
H e has also w ritten or co-created four books, including
Accfkegttg/Cenius:RevolutionizeJ'ogr T'
llfgêf'
l
g tllrogf
?llPrivate J/rftf'
-
l
g
(Berrett-Koehler,2000),which hasbeen translated intofivelan-
guages.
H elivesin New Jersey with hiswife,Stella.
VisitM ark on the w eb atwwm levyinnovation.com .