Saturday, March 14, 2009

Don't Think of a Pink Elephant

By Louis R Burns

I've noticed several people do this in the past month so I thought I'd mention it.

Whenever you tell people not to do or think something, they have to go inside their head and make a representation of it before they can negate it. Even if they decide not to do it as you recommend, they'll still have experienced whatever it was like to make that picture, sound, feeling, etc.

You may have heard some people say that the subconscious doens't process the negative part of messages. It goes about bringing into existance whatever you focus on even if you're trying not to think about it.

If you notice you're telling people not to do something, hold off. Ask yourself what you do want and say that. It will have the same meaning and only give them the picture you want.

People don't often consider the images they're putting into other people's heads. A friend was melting some wax on the stove and jokingly said not to eat it. I usually respond to comments like that with, "I was just about to, I'm glad you said not to." They see the picture they just gave me and often realize how silly their statement was.

A problem/solution approach to persuasion works too. You'll have to test each method to know which converts better for your particular situation.

When you're fine tuning your message, make sure to look for negations. See if there's something else you really want your reader to be thinking about.

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