Embedded Commands

An embedded command is a technique used to communicate to the conscious mind while also sending a message to the subconscious mind. The idea is to actually bypass the conscious mind and communicate directly to the subconscious mind. Embedded commands are commonly used in marketing and advertising. Embedded commands are hidden suggestions within written or spoken language. The conscious mind is unaware of their existence. Embedded commands create expectations without creating inner resistance. For example, Pepsi used to have the slogan ‘‘Have a Pepsi Day.’’ The embedded command was ‘‘Have a Pepsi.’’

The most effective embedded commands are short and concise; they should be no longer than two to four words. It is much easier to use these commands in persuasive writing because you can visually highlight the command. When using this technique, first determine what exactly you are trying to say to your audience. Then, create the sentences where the embedded words and phrase will logically and contextually fit. Finally, set the embedded commands apart in some visual way: italicize, bold, underline, highlight, or use a different color.

Embedded commands are also a powerful tool in speaking. Certain phrases have specific command forms that follow the ‘‘two to four words’’ rule. Phrases can include word associations, cause and effect statements, presuppositions, questions, hidden suggestions, or analogies. Essentially, we are looking for phrases that jump out at us. Consider the following examples:

	Become wealthy		Buy now		Use this material
	How good it feels		Going to happen		Read each word
	Feel good		Follow my lead		Act now
	Change your life		Become really interested Y		ou will understand
	Use this process		Learn quickly		Enjoy life
	Use this skill		Learn how		Improve your results

Studies show that embedded commands can actually change our attitudes or beliefs, even if we are totally unaware that this has happened.[10] It is in this way that the embedded commands are effective: The conscious mind has no opportunity to analyze or evaluate the material. We then can create expectations of behavioral changes with embedded commands as well as with and direct and indirect suggestions. The subconscious mind will create an internal reality to match the commands.[11]

[10]Milton Erickson, Ernest Rossi, and Sheila Rossi, Hypnotic Realities (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1976).

[11]Milton Erickson and Ernest Rossi, Hypnotherapy: An Exploratory Casebook (New York: Irvington Publishers, 1979).

Goal Setting: Creating Personal Expectations

Many people don’t like the idea of goal setting; in fact, just the mere mention of the words makes them cringe. However, there is no doubt that goal setting works. The problem is that most people aren’t doing it the right way. I am not going to spend time talking about the many aspects of goal setting—the bottom line is that goal setting works and is an important aspect of the Law of Expectations. If you can help others make goals, it increases their future expectations for themselves. Visualizing themselves reaching their goals also makes achievement of those goals more tangible.

Goals must have the power to stretch and inspire, and they must be realistic in the mind of the person being persuaded. Research shows that goals dictate future performance. Conscious goals influence our overall performance. In one study, there was a large difference in the performance between asking someone to do their best and helping them set their goals or standard for their performance.[12]

It is a general rule of thumb that greater or more difficult goals actually increase performance. The reason for this is that lofty goals set a higher expectation, and, as discussed already, expectations strongly influence behavior. In a production plant, workers with little experience were divided into two groups. One group was told to simply observe the experienced workers and try to be able to perform at a skilled level themselves within twelve weeks. The second group received specific weekly goals that were progressively more and more demanding. Needless to say, the second group fared much better.[13]

[12]C. A. Mace, Incentives: Some Experimental Studies (London: Industrial Health Research Board, Report No. 72, 1935).

[13]Mortimer R. Feinberg, Effective Psychology for Managers (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1986).

Environment

Your environment and the expectations of that environment should be persuasive. In a theory they call the Broken Window Theory, criminologists James Wilson and George Kelling suggest that a building full of broken windows will cause people to assume that no one cares for the building or its appearance. This in turn will spur more vandalism. In other words, the environment’s condition gives suggestions that lead people to hold certain assumptions, and people then act on those assumptions. The broken window invites greater vandalism and crime.[14]

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell uses an example of the Broken Window Theory as he explains the New York City subway clean-up. The subway system was in dire need of rebuilding—a multibillion-dollar endeavor. With the system about to collapse, the focus was understandably on issues like reducing crime and improving subway reliability. As a consultant hired by the New York Transit Authority, George Kelling urged officials to utilize his Broken Window Theory. Hired to clean up the subways, David Gunn immediately assigned people to start cleaning up all the graffiti. Removing the graffiti seemed to be of such little consequence compared to everything else there was to worry about, but Gunn was insistent. In his own words:

The graffiti was symbolic of the collapse of the system. When you looked at the process of rebuilding the organization and morale, you had to win the battle against graffiti. Without winning that battle, all the management reforms and physical changes just weren’t going to happen. We were about to put out new trains that were worth about ten million bucks apiece, and unless we did something to protect them, we knew just what would happen. They would last one day and then they would be vandalized.[15]

Gunn set up specific goals, timetables, and even cleaning stations. If any train came back with graffiti, it had to be cleaned immediately before it could go out again. For the vandals who had spent their nights, toiling into the wee morning hours painting their murals, it sent a strong message. Seeing their masterpieces already painted over again by the cracking of the next morning’s light told them they were wasting their time. The entire anti-graffiti campaign took years, but finally, the incidence of graffiti subsided.

The hope and expectations you can create in your persuasive environment will forecast your ability to persuade. One experiment was conducted on the influence of light. Lab rats were placed in jars of water to see how long they would keep trying to swim before giving up. Some of the jars were placed in complete darkness, while others had light shining into them. The results were dramatic! The rats in the dark swam for about three minutes before succumbing. The rats with the light swam up to thirty-six hours— more than 700 times longer than the rats in the dark![16]

In another study, volunteers were asked to participate in an experiment on prison environments. Half of the volunteers posed as prison workers, while the other half posed as prison inmates. The results were astounding. Previously tested to be psychologically sound people, the participants rapidly became more and more hostile, crude, rebellious, and abusive—both those acting as inmates and as guards! One ‘‘prisoner’’ became so hysterical and emotionally distressed that he had to be released. The study was supposed to last two weeks but was called off after only six days![17]

[14]George Kelling and Catherine Coles, Fixing Broken Windows (New York: Touchstone, 1996).

[15]Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (New York: Little Brown, 2000), p. 142.

[16]Maxwell and Dornan, Becoming a Person of Influence, pp. 71–72.

[17]P. Zimbardo, C. Banks, and C. Haney, ‘‘Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison,’’ International Journal of Criminology and Penology (1973): 73.

Pacing and Leading

Another application of the Law of Expectations is the concept of pacing and leading. This is part of NLP, or ‘‘neurolinguistic programming.’’ Pacing involves establishing rapport and making persuasive communication easier; leading involves steering your prospect toward your point of view. Pacing and leading will enable you to direct a person’s thoughts so they tend to move in your direction.

When you pace, you validate your prospects either verbally or nonverbally; that is, you are in agreement or rapport with your prospects. As a result, they feel comfortable and congruent with you. Pacing entails using statements everyone accepts as true. By doing so, you eliminate disagreement and get others to agree with what you are saying. The topic either can be proven true or is commonly accepted as true.

An example of a pacing question (obviously true):

Most people would love to be financially free and end their money worries forever.

Once you have established rapport and harmony with your prospect, you can create expectation of agreement. You must have general agreement before you can lead your prospect to your point of view. You then begin to use statements that you want your prospect to agree with, even though they haven’t consciously and/or publicly acknowledged that they do.

An example of a leading question (you want your prospect to accept):

The answer to your financial problem is providing the right training at the right time by the right person.

So to put pacing and leading in a nutshell, pacing statements are obviously true, so the prospect has to accept their validity. Leading statements can’t necessarily be proven true, but they represent what you want your prospect to believe.

Chapter 11: The Law of

Involvement--Create and Awaken

Curiosity

Overview

Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.

—STEPHEN COVEY

The law of involvement suggests that the more you engage someone’s five senses, involve them mentally and physically, and create the right atmosphere for persuasion, the more effective and persuasive you’ll be. Listening can be a very passive act; you can listen to an entire speech and not feel or do a thing. As a persuader, you need to help your audience be one step closer to taking action. As a Master Persuader, your goal is to decrease the distance someone has to go to reach your objective.

When you get a prospect to start something, it is most likely they will follow through and complete your desired outcome. The more involved they become, the less psychological distance between the start and the finish. The desired outcome becomes more and more realistic instead of just an idea you are proposing. If you put on your shoes to go to the store, you are more likely to continue in that direction. If you sit down and turn on the TV, your goal of going to the store is less likely to be reached.

There are many ways to use involvement. We are going to focus on the following:

1.

Increasing Participation

2.

Creating Atmosphere

3.

Maintaining Attention

4.

Using the Art of Questioning

5.

Telling Mesmerizing Stories

6.

Repeating and Repackaging

7.

Building Suspense and Distraction

8.

Generating Competition

9.

Engaging the Five Senses