12. pe.1
C O N T EN TS
ACKNOW LEDGMENTS
Dluw Ix TI-IELlsvfExEk
CI-IANGETI-IEM OMENT
THETpakhlsyoltlvlzkTlox M ECI-IANISM
THEBODYM ETAPI-IOR
THEPAPERM ETAPI-IOR
THEQulcltPITCHOPENING
THEQulcltPITCHBODY
THESLOGAN PITCI-I
CotkvlxcEwl7'l-ISAMPLES
THEPowEkoyFItEE
11 THEPowEkOFGIFTS
12 SOLID Pkooy
13 DYNAMIC CI-ARlTY
BEDls-rlxc'r
O vEkcolvlEREsls-r/txcE
16 THELOOK
17 THEPLATFOR&1PITCH
18 THEV ECHANISIVIEMERGENCYKIT
INDEX
ABO UTTHEAUTHOZS
1
13
22
40
53
66
78
90
1O1
112
125
133
15O
159
176
186
197
213
13.
14. p-..1
A C K N O W LED G M EN TS
'd like to thank my wife,Cherie,who knew lhad potential
when itwaswellhidden;my am azing children,Chanelle,
Briana,and Sterling,who everydayteachm ewhatlifeisre-
ally about;my mother,CarolBauer,and my father,Stephen
Shoyer;my adoringgrandfathers,AlbertandDuf-fy;andmyclos-
estfriends,Bi11Bakoyni,LarryBecker,DavidBorys,GaryLamers,
Eric M aurin,Dale Penn,Jason Randal,David Stahl,and Jon
Stetson.W ithouttheirongoingsupport,thejourneytowardget-
ting whatl'vealwayswantedwould havebeen lonely.l'd liketo
thankmylifeteachers,JackChanin,PaulDiamond,JoeDeLjon,
G ary Hunter,H idy Ochiai,Ron Praver,Benny Ray,and Gregg
W ebb;theKeninCoin& Stamp Shop M agicDepartmentwhen l
waseleven;thestaffofCarnivalCruiseLneswhenlwasthirteen;
andmy publicist,PhilLobel,who hasworkedbrilliantlywiththe
mediatogetthewordoutaboutme.
l'd also liketothankmy co-author,M arkLevy,whoisawrit-
ing god.W orkingwithM arkistheonly way my techniquesand
philosophy could have everbeen transferred so expertly to the
page.Heclim bedinsidemyworld,andbecameafriendaswell.
L fe hasdealtmeagreathand,and thecardswillrem ain in
play untilmylastbreath.
-
J.B.
15. ACKNOW LEDGM ENTS
'd liketo thank mywife,Stella,whose loveand supporthas
keptmegoing;my mom ,Rhoda;my brother,Paul;mysister,
Joyce;and,a11myotheramazingrelatives,likeGi1,lrwin,and
Joan.lthankmyfriendswhosewisdom helpedJoeland me
write this book:Dick ''The Guru''Axelrod,Renee Babiewich,
LarryBecker(forintroducingmetoJoel),Steve''There'sapeculi-
arityinmy shoe''Cohen,PattiDanos,Kevin Daum (foratwo-
hourconversationthatmadeita11clear),ChristopherDiltsand
his hair,Jack Foster,Bob 'The Happy Skeptic''Friedhoffer,
M ichael''Leonardo''Gelb,N athan Gold,David ''FerrisBuehler''
Goldsmith,M ichelle Herman,PaulH arris,Robert''ShortSen-
tences''Jacobs,M ac ''Vegas,babyl''L ng,PaulLemberg,Steve
''How did itwalk?''Sanderson,RichSchefren,Adam Snukal,Ken
Swezey (whowasexcited by ourbook conceptbeforeanyone
else, whose the ''Pitchh/lind''rocketa liftand enthusiasm gave
into orbit),and KarlWeber.Also,thankstoourliterary agent,
M urielNellis,and herassistant,Jane Roberts,to everyone at
W iley,with a big shoutoutto M att''The N urturer''Holtand
Tamara''The Transylvanian''H ummel,and to Claire Huism ann
andthekillerstaffatlmpressionsBookandJournalServices.Also
also,l'd liketothankmypets.W henyou'rewritingelevenhours
adaywithnohum ansinsight,abark,ameow,oratweetcanbe
awfully comforting.Blessyou Kuma,Jofu (''Fuzio''),Xger,and
Betsy.
Finally,lwouldliketothankthemanhimself,JoelBauer.Joel
isamasterfulbusinessperson,performer,and friend.lfyou ever
getthechanceto seehim in action,takeit!
M
16. p-..1 1
D RAW IN T H E LISTEN ER
hatyou'reabouttoreadisabitfrightening.Some-
timesseminarattendeeswalkouton me aslde-
liverthismaterialbecausethe/re disturbed by
whatthey hear.These are sm artpeoplewalking
out.ldon'tblamethem forleaving.Thisisthestuffofnightmares.
Asyoucontinuereading,you'regoingtolearntopersuadein
awayyouneverim aginedpossible.Notin aDaleCarnegieway.
Notby smiling and tossing in people'sfirstnamesasyouspeak
with them.Thisis aboutgetting people to do whatyouwant.
Particularly strangers.(W hena J//fre;treportersaw hundredsof
strangersfollow mycomm andsinunison,hecalledthedisplay''a
featofmassobediencethatmustbeseentobebelieved.'')
M y persuasionm odelisunusual,butdeadlyeffective.ldidn't
readaboutitinamagazineordevelopitwith ateam ofuniversity
scholars.lnstead,itcomesfrom my 37years'experiencein front
ofaudiencesand from my study ofthose true mastersofinflu-
ence,show folk;mostlyshow folkinthe''darkarts.''
Yes,a11lknow aboutpersuasion l've learned from carnies,
fakirs,hypnotists,magicians,mentalists,spiritualists,and,partic-
17. a Dlt/tw Ix TI-IE Lls-fExElt
ularly,pitchmen.N aturally,l'm taking libertieshere with who l
callshow folk,butlet'snotsplithairs.Theirmethodsaretheim -
portantthing,notthetaxonomy.
Thesementorsofmine,whom you'lllearn aboutthroughout
thebook,shareseveraltraits:lfthey don'tpersuade,they starve;
theirstrategiesmayinvolveoutrightdeception;andthey use,for
themostpart,entertainmentasameansofchanging minds.For
wantofabetterterm ,let'scalltheirways''theatrical/''and my
modelthe''TheatricalPersuasion M odel.''(Thingsalwaysseem
morerealwhenyounamethem;there'syourfirstlesson.)
So ifyou'reready foranundergroundeducation ininfluence,
read on.lfyou're anxiousto learn whatmagiciansdub ''the real
work/''thisisthe only place to find it.lt'sa11very doable,and
you'llbe abletousethemodelno matterwhatyoursituation-
thatis,ifyoudon't1etyourfearsgetthebestofyou.
Reader,ljusthityouwithaninfluencetechnique:theFright
Challenge.Lkenittothecarnivalbarker'sballyhoousedtosnare
peoplestrollingthemidway:''Ladiesandgentlem en,canyoubear
it?Sho-cking!H orr-i-fy-ing!A living,breathing nightmare!The
mostintelligentamongyouwillwanttokeepwalkingl''Themore
thecarnyprotests,thelargerthecrowd grows.
lflwassuccessfulwith my pitch,you didn'tnoticeyouwere
beinginfluenced.Or,ifyourealizedit,youwereatleastintrigued
enoughtoreadthisfar.W hateveryourreaction,lnow haveyour
attention,andlintend to keepit.
You can rely upon theFrightChallengewhateveryouraudi-
ence'ssizeandintellectualmakeup.Everyone- andlmeanevery-
one- respondstothissimpletactic.
lusedalengthychallengetoopenthischapterbecauseyoucan
build slowly onpaper.Readersliketofeelthetimbreofawriter's
voiceandseehow heorshegoesaboutdevelopinganargument.ln
person,though,it'sadifferentstory;ifyoutaketoolongsettingthe
challenge,youcrossthelinefrom provocateurtomenace.
W hen thepeoplel'm trying to influence are standing before
meandwanttoknow how learnaliving,myFrightChallengeisto
18. ovEltv lEw
thepoint:''Areyousureyouwanttoknow?lt'salittlefrightening.
M ostpeoplecan'thandleit.''W hen theysayyes,andthey always
do,lconspiratorially add:''M ovein closer.ldon'twanteveryone
hearing this.''Suddenly,lhavetheirattentionin away thatmakes
them hungryformywords.The/remineforthemoment.
Reading J-foa?toPersgtgkePeobleJ///?0D0g1J//tggttoBePersgtgtle;t
willbeanexperienceforyou.M uch ofwhatyou'reabouttolearn
isavailablenowhereelse.
Ladiesandgentlemen,canyoubearit?lt'soverview time!
O VERV IEW
W ho Should Read ThisBook?
lwroteitpredominantly forbusinesspeople.M y techniqueswill
helpexecutives,m anagers,entrepreneurs,salespeople,m arketers,
advertising staff,human resources personnel,presenters,job
seekers,andjustaboutanybodylookingforawaytomakepeople
receptiveto suggestions.
O fcourse,youdon'thavetobeinbusinesstoprofitfrom this
book.Anyonewhowantstoinfluenceotherstohisorherwayof
thinking willwantto read it.Thataudience includesactivists,
counselors,negotiators,performers,physicians,politicians,pub-
1icspeakers,andteachers.
Anaudiencethatdeservesspecialmentionissingles.M yper-
suasionstrategiesarenaturalswhen itcomestom eeting and im -
pressingpeople.lfyou'reaCasanova-orvamp-in-training,youke
cometotherightplace.
W hatIsthe Book'sH igh Concept?
Beforelanswer,1etmeexplainwhatahighconceptis.Theprin-
cipleiscriticalifyouwanttobeapowerfulpersuader.Theterm
bèbcogcel)tismostoftenusedintheTV andfilm industries,par-
ticularly during pitch meetings,in which writers throw con-
densed ideasatastudio executive,hopingthattheexecutivewill
buyoneofthem and turnitinto aseriesoramovie.
19. Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-
Thosecondensedideasarehigh concepts.They takeacom -
plexplotandreduceittoitsmostcompellingpoint.Theresulting
sentenceorphraseiswhatthewriterfiresattheexecutive.
W hat'sthemostfamoushigh concepteverpitched?Accord-
ing to ''PerfectPitch/''aTV documentary,itwas delivered by
Aaron Spelling to sellhisproposed seriesAlbtinyales.Spelling
pitchedtheseriesas''nursesinwett-shirts.''Thestudio boughtit
immediately.
SoW hatIsThisBook'sHigh Concept?
Jtsllofz?syou/90f,17tobersuaijebygsf'lgt/?etecllgftyesojbrojessionalIlftcllmea.
Thatconceptmay notbe assexy asSpellingk,butit'saccurate.
Thisbook bringsthe secretsofshow folk to theboardroom.lt
teachesyouhow touseentertainm enttoinfluence.
Thinkthesepremisessound odd?Then lsuggestyouswitch
on yourtelevision.lfthesuccessoftelevision hastaughtusany-
thing,it'sthis:Peoplewillopen themselvesup to acommercial
m essagef-fyouentertainthem.Takeawaytheentertainment,and
theviewersurfsofftoanotherstationwhilethesponsor'smessage
goesunheard.
Productsalesriseandfallbasedupontheentertainmentvalue
oftheirmessages.A messagethatticklesthepubliccan beworth
billions.Attimes,anentertainingmessagem ay betheonlything
separatingoneproductfrom another.
Bottledwaterisagoodexample.lt'sa$35billionayearin-
dustry.That's$35billionforaproductnotsubstantiallydifferent
from whatyoucangetoutofyourfaucet.
O bviously,thepeopleinthatindustryarebright.Theynotonly
created amarket,butthey work hard atm akingeach brand seem
differentfrom itscompetitor.O newaterisfrom astream .O neis
from themountains.Oneisfrom France.Onehasaddedvitamins.
O necomesinasquirtbottleforpeopleonthego.Thelistgoeson.
lwould argue thatvery little separatesonewaterfrom the
other.lfyou were to conductataste testam ong the top three
brands,ldon'tthinkyou'dfindanobviouswinner.
20. ovEltv lEw
Thethingthatreally separatestheseproductsistheircom pa-
nies'positioning strategies and the entertainment principles
eachusesinitsmarketingmessage.l'veseenbrandsadvertisedby
modelsinflowingrobes,by glamorousmoviestars,andby beau-
tiful,sweating athletes.
M odels,moviestars,and athleteshavelittleto dowithwater.
Theyhavea1ottodowithtellinganattention-grabbingdramatic
story,fast.lnotherwords,they'retheretoentertainyou.Forno
otherreason.
Perhapstheentertainmentcomponentinbottledwaterissub-
tle.Aftera11,mostcompaniesintheindustry takeadignified ap-
proachto pitchingtheirproduct.lt'snotsowith beer.
The beerindustry is a11aboutassociating its productwith
goodtim esandwildentertainment.To pushtheirproduct,brew -
ershaveusedawidevariety ofentertainingmeans:Theykeflown
blimpsover sporting events;run contestswith a billion-dollar
prize;andairedcommercialsfeaturingwomenwrestlinginmud,a
dog with human girlfriends,frogscroaking abeer'sname,and a
footballgam eplayedbetweenrivalbottlesofbeer.
W ith exaggerated vehicleslikethose,it'seasy to dismissthe
brillianceofthebeerindustry.Thatis,untilyourealizeonething:
ln 2002,beersalestotaled $74.4billion.Saywhatyoulike.En-
tertainm entsells.
W illM yTechniquesRequireYou to Becomean
Entertainer?
You willnothave to sing,dance,act,recite,getup in frontof
crowds,orwrestleinm ud,unlessyouwantto.W henltalkabout
entertainmentasapersuader,lmeanthatyouwillusecompelling,
often whimsicalstrategiesdesigned to putpeoplein areceptive
mood forwhatyouhavetooffer.
And keep in m ind, entertainment isn't necessarily light-
hearted.A dramaisentertaining.Soisahorrorfilm .ln thework
we'llbedoing together,you'llbeusing thefullrangeofhuman
em otiontomakeyourpointforcefully.
21. DPAW IN TH E LISTENER
W hatAreSomeoltheTechniques?
Youke already experienced atleasttwo techniques.The Fright
Challengewasone,and contained within itwasasecond tech-
nique:stgrlll/fg-f?.lfyou wantto persuade people,you're going to
haveto figureoutwaysofletting them sampleyoursuggestion,
idea,service,orproduct.Otherwise,they'lldoubtyou,and that
doubtm ay keepthem from actingonyourwishes.
lopened with theFrightChallengebecauseit'san attention-
grabber(gg;titacted asasampleofwhatyou'regoing tolearn.lf
youthoughtthechallengeflim flam ,thenyouinstantly knew this
bookisn'tforyou.Conversely,ifyou thoughtthechallengein-
triguing,thenyou'reno doubteagerto tearthrough therestof
thisbookand makeitsstrategiesyourstrategies.
Sampling helps people draw conclusionsquickly and hon-
estly.lt'san ethicalway to win them overto yourside.Later,
you'lllearn the bestwaysto offersamplesin situationsprofes-
sionaland personal.
Besidesthe FrightChallenge and sampling,you'llalso learn
how topersuadeusingdozensofothertactics.Amongthem :the
BodyMetaphor,thePaperMetaphor,theQuickPitch,andthe
Platform Pitch.A11are entertaining.A11are effective.You and
thepeopleyou'repersuadingwillhavefunwhileyougetyourway.
O fcourse,notevery techniquein thisbookfunctionssolely
to entertain.Yourofferings should be flavored with entertain-
mentprinciples,notdrowningin them .W hileyou'relearningto
entertain,you'llalso be learning good,solid businessand influ-
encepractices.
ldon'twantto leavethisintroductory chapterwithoutput-
ting thespotlighton an influencetechniqueparticularly dearto
me:theTransformationM echanism .
W hatIsaTranslormationM echanism ?
ltisademonstrationthatgainsyouraudience'sattention,lowers
theirdefenses,and servesasametaphorforyourmessage.Jtk(g
trfcêt/gtgtrltg/tes(gIlofgt.A majorpoint.Onethatmightspellthedif-
22. ovEltv lEw 7
ferencebetween someone'stakingyoursuggestion ordismissing
it.Letmegiveyou an exampleofaTransformation M echanism l
usedtomakea$45,000sale.ltinvolvedarubberband.
M yprospectwastheheadofm arketingforaW estCoastsoft-
warefirm.Hercompanywasrentingmajor1700thspaceatanup-
comingconvention,and shehadcontacted measapossiblehire
fortheshow.M yjob?To actasthe company'spitchman and
draw peopletoher1700th.
Becauseitwasshewhohadcalledthemeeting,lthoughtthe
salewouldbeeasy.W asleverwrong.W henlaskedherabouther
company'sgoalsfortheshow,shewasvague.W hen lshowedher
client testimonials and photographs of me drawing overflow
crowdsatpreviousshows,sheglanced atthem asiflhad handed
heryesterday'snewspaper.
Shethankedmeforcomingandsaidshe'dgetbacktome.But
lwasn'tleaving.Themeeting had costm etimeand money,and
herget-back-to-m espeechwasn'tgivingmefalsehope.lflleft,l
would neverhearfrom heragain.
lrosefrom my chairandpretendedto pack up.Aslshutmy
laptop andrepositioned im aginary itemsinmy briefcase,lasked
herthesamequestionslhadjustaskedher,onlylsoftenedthem.
Forinstance,ratherthanaskingabouthercompany'sgoalsforthe
upcoming show,lasked aboutherbestm omentsfrom previous
shows,and how she planned on duplicating them.Afterafew
moments,lsmokedoutherobjectiontomyservices.
H er company had always relied on winning over early
adopterswhowouldgettheword outaboutthenew softwareto
theirfellow hard-core users.Thisstrategy had served herfirm
well.lthaddoubledinsizeoverthelastthreeyearsbycateringto
early adopters.
M y servicedidn'tfitthatearly-adoptermodelatall- atleast
notinhermind.W hatl'm a11aboutisdrawingthelargesttrade-
show crowds possible, and that's not what she thought she
needed.''The massesaren'tgoing to buy ourproduct/''shesaid,
''
so lseeno reason to attractand entertain them .''Sheconfessed
23. Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-
thattheonly reason lhad been called inwasbecauseherfirm's
CEO had seen me draw crowdsfora rival,and he thoughtit
mightbeagoodideato hearwhatlhadtosay.
''Letmemakesurelunderstand/''lsaid.''Youbelievethatlcan
draw amob toyour1700th,butyou think that'soverkill.Yoube-
lievethatthousandsofundifferentiatedonlookersareawastedex-
pense,a distraction.They m ay even keep away the folksyou
reallywant:theearly adopters.''Sheagreed,thatwasherdilemma.
lknew whatlhadto do.lhad to transform themomentfor
her.lhad to takeherfrom whereshewasand moveherto adif-
ferentvantage point.W ords alone weren'tgoing to do it.Sbe
geer/e;tt/?eexberienceojseeiny/?ertlf/twlrltg(ggefz?.
lnoticed arubberband encirclingherwristand asked herto
rem ove it.
''lmaginethatyoursm allrubberband isyoursmallgroup of
early adopters/''lsaid.'Those arethepeopleyoureally wantat
theshow.Theyspellthedifferencebetweenyourcompany'ssuc-
cessand failure.Agreed?''
gree .
''Holdoneendofthatrubberband atyourleftfingertips,the
otherendatyourrightfingertips,andpressthebandagainstyour
upper1ip.''Thewom an looked atme asiflwerefresh from the
asylum .
''Don'tworlx ''lsaid ''you know lm akemy living asashow -
m an.lwanttodrivehomeapoint,butlwanttodoitin aspecial
way.Pleaseputthebandagainstyour1ip.''Shecomplied.
''Doesthebandfeelhotorcold?''lasked.
O ltl.
''Good.Now im aginethatbesidesthatsm allbandofadopters,
hundredsofotherpeoplecomealong and expand thecrowd.To
getavivid image ofwhatl'm talking about,expand the band.
Stretchitbetweenyourfingersuntilitnearlysnaps.''Shedid.
''Yourlargerubberbandnow symbolizesthemobsurrounding
your1700th iflwaspitching.Keepthebandtaut,andputitupto
yourlipsagain.W hatdoyoufeel?''
24. OVERV IEW 9
''O hmygodl''shesaid ''that'sremarkable.Theband ishot.''
''That'sright/''lsaid ''lt'shot notbecauseofmagic,butbe-
causeofphysics.W hen youstretchedtherubber,youexcited its
electronsandheateduptheband.
''Thesam ekind ofexcitement-and-heatreactioniswhathap-
penswhenyouexpandyourtrade-show audiences,too.
''W henyouhaveabigcrowd,passersbyrealizesomethingbig
ishappening in the 1700th.The crowd'ssizecreatesan expecta-
tion,an excitement,aheat.Thepeoplesauntering paststop and
wonder,'W hatare a11these people looking at? W hatdo they
know thatldon't'?'Then theyruntojointhecrowd,makingit
bigger.
''Now,someofthesepeoplerunningtojointhecrowdwillbe
early adopters.Early adoptersalwayswanttobeon theinside.lf
they spota crowd and they don'tknow whatit'sabout,they'll
practicallyshovetheirwaytothefront.l'veseenthishappenover
and overthroughtheyears.
''M y crowdswillpullin moreearly adoptersthanyoukeever
had,preciselybecausemy crowdsaresobig,soexcited,sofullof
energy.A crowddrawsalargercrowdl''
She satsilently forafew seconds,playing with the rubber
band.Thensheasked mequestions:aboutmy fees,my methods,
the logisticsofmy perform ances.W hen lleftheroffice,itwas
with asigned contract.
Transformation M echanismshelp you make yourpointin a
waymoreeffectivethanstraightforwardlogic.Theyworkforthe
samereasonDetgt/gojaStg/esrltggforcesustoreexamineourvalues
and Jtk(gJ//ogtler-fg/Lih letsusre-seeourplaceintheworld.Their
lessonscometousinaTrojanhorse.Theyappealtousbecauseof
story,color,andentertainment.Theytouchusin awaythatbald
inform ationmisses.
M orethan one-thirdofthisbookisdevoted totheTransfor-
m ation M echanism.Youcan usethesemechanismsin any situa-
tion youcanimagine:to rouseaworkforce,to closeasale,orto
getchildrentocleantheirroom .
25. DPAW IN TH E LISTENER
W ho Am Ito Teach You TheseM ethods?
lam JoelBauer,professionaltradeshow pitchman.lpersuadefor
aliving.Fortune5OO companieshiremetostandatop a26-inch-
highriserinfrontoftheirboothsandpitch theirproducts.
W hatdo these companieshave invested in a typicaltrade
show?Theykespentuptotenm illiondollarson 1700thconstruc-
tion,fivehundred thousand dollarsto rentfloorspace,and hun-
dreds of thousands m ore on union fees, drayage charges,
personnelcosts,and travelexpenses.Butthose dollarsare the
leastoftheirconcerns.
O ften,thefutureoftheirorganizationsrestsupon how well
they do atthe show.lfthey have a new productrollout,they
wantthe pressto see it,the TV camerasto shootit,and their
prospects to buzz aboutit.A bad show m eans a bad product
launch,and thatcansinkacompany.W henpeoplehireme,they
havehigh expectations.
W hatisthetrade-show environment?W henyou'reatatrade
show,you're in an environmentthatcan be impersonaland at
timesbrutal.Thecompetition surroundsyou,and they wantto
seeyoufailbadly.Andthepeopleyou'retryingtopersuade- the
show attendees- arerushing pastyou.They don'tcarewho you
are,how niceyouare,how fearfulyouare,orhow superioryou
thinkyourproductis.
Persuading atatradeshow isakintopersuadingonthestreet
orin the ancientbazaar.Therearerules,butfew ofthem arein
yourfavor.lt'smyresponsibilitytostoppassersby,getthem tolis-
ten to aproductpitch,and coaxthem into leaving theircontact
inform ation.
To be costeffective,lcan'tpersuadepeople to stop one by
one.lnstead,lmustcreate crowds.Large,scary crowds.lmust
getsom anypeopletostop andwatch andlistenandactthrough-
outthedaythatmyclient'slead-generationm achinesareflooded
with prospects.
H ow welldo ldo?The J'$Q//StreetJogrgtg/Onlinecallsme''the
chairman oftheboard''ofcorporatetradeshow rainmaking.f'tgst
26. ovEltv lEw
Corllltgg.
')rwritesthatl'm ''anexpertatgettingtheattentionofpeo-
p1ewithlotsofchoicesaboutwheretospendtheirtime.''
Even my com petitorsunintentionally complimentme.They
referto meas''thetrainwreck''meaningthatwhen l'm pitching
there are people laid out everywhere,filling the 1700th and
spilling outinto the aisles,making itim possible foranyone to
move.lcreatesuch pandemonium ,they say,thathardly ashow
goesby from which lam notthreatenedwith expulsion by show
m anagem ent.
Guiltyascharged.
l'vebeenpitchingattradeshowsfor24yeals,andinthattime
l'destimatethattwentymillionpeoplehavestoppedtohearwhatl
hadtosay,resultinginmorethanthreemillionleadsformyclients.
W ho IstheBook'sO therAuthor?
lwroteJ-foa?toPersgtgkePeobleJ///?0D0g1J//tggttoBePersgtgtle;twith my
colleagueM arkLevy.M arkisanexpertpitchm anandwriterwhose
skillshavehelpedmakehisclientsmorethanabilliondollars.
M arkhascontributed many ofhisown influencetechniques
and anecdotesto thisbookwhileworkingto bring my concepts
tolife.
W hat'sM y Pitch to You?
Thisisn'tanordinarybookonpersuasion.lt'snotatomeonhow
tocontrol,manipulate,orforceotherstosubmittoyourwill.
Books that promise such adolescent fantasies don't hold
water.Theirwin/losemethodssoonturnintolose/lose.Theirphi-
losophy goesagainstthewaymostofuslive,think,and actand
doesn'ttakeinto accountwhoweareand whatwewanttooffer
theworld.
lam going toteachyouhow to persuadein awaythat'snei-
thersinister,manipulative,norzero-sum.lam goingtoshow you
how tobecomeinfluential,charismatic,andm agnetic.
Youwillgetwhatyouwantby helping othersgetwhatthey
want,andintheprocess,youwilla11haveagood time.
27. 12 DlkAw IN TH E LISTENER
Thisisnotabookonhow towinatasinglenegotiation.This
fsabookonhow towinatlife.ltteachesthatthebestway toin-
fluenceothersistolookandbehaveasifyou'reapersonofinflu-
ence.Always.Ata11times.
ltteachesthatthewaytomakemoneyistohavefun.M yway
isthewayofthepitchman,theconjuror,theentertainer.Forthat,
lmakeno apologies.
lwillnotinflateordiminishwhatlhavetoteach.Youwillget
the unvarnished truth,because the unvarnished truth is what
works.ltworkswhetheryou're trying to influence a child at
home,theboardofdirectorsinaconferenceroom,ortenmillion
viewerssittingintheirlivingroom s,watchingyouontelevision.
Areyou ready,then,to learn how aprofessionalpitchman
persuadespeoplewhodon'twanttobepersuaded,andhow you
can dothesame?lfso,step closer.
ldon'twanteveryonetohearthis.
28. C H A N G E T H E M O M EN T
hatyoudo can have arem arkableeffecton peo-
ple.Don'tbelieve m e?Try this:Ask afriend to
think aboutthebestsummerdayshe'severexpe-
rienced,then watch herclosely.You'llwitnessa
strikingchangeinherphysiognomy anddemeanor.
Shemay look aboutdreamily,asifshe'strying to orienther
mentalim age in physicalspace.H ereyesm ay widen whileher
jaw slackens.She'llspeakslowly,andthen,asshecatchesholdof
avisceralm emory,she'llramp upand tellyouaboutachildhood
triptoacarnivaloralongkisson aparkbench.
By the time she'sfinished,she'llbe grinning and feeling as
though she'sfound something she'd lost.Shemay even beteary
eyed.And a11you did was ask a question.You changed her
thoughts,her posture,and her outlook with a question.One
question!That'spower.
Youdidn'twrestleherintoahappy state.Yousettheproper
conditions and 1et her mind do the rest.You changed her
m om ent.
29. CHANGETHEIVIOIVIENT
M ostpeople walk around in theirproblems.They view life
through theirperceivedlimitations.Theymeasuretodaybywhat
happenedyesterday.
W hen you change the moment,you shiftpeople'sperspec-
tive,takingthem from wheretheyaretowherethey'd liketo be.
From thatvantagepoint,peoplewillbem oreattentiveandmore
receptiveto yourpropositions.
Youcan changethemomentin anumberofways.lnthefol-
lowing three chapters,you'lllearn methodsthatrequire sim ple
props.Now,though,let'scontinuelearninghow to doitthrough
language.
C HAN GE TH E M O M EN T W ITH W O RD S
ln acorporateplanningm eeting,lchangethemomentbyyettiny
Ileoll/etosee(g.lïeneryeticy'gtgrein(gspltgg.')rsenses(gsbossible.Beforethe
plannersstarttheirwork in earnest,lgo around theconference
table and,one by one,ask the participantsabouttheirgoals.l
wantto hearaboutthe organization'sgoalsand theirpersonal
goals.
Thefirstperson tospeakisusually guarded.H etalksin self-
protective,distancing language.ln language that can neither
offend norinspire.ltsoundssomething likethis:''Theorganiza-
tion'sgoalisto assumeleadership ofthe industry by thefourth
quarterofnextyear.Theorganization plansto do thisbyim ple-
menting Six Sigmathroughoutthecompany and by im proving
customerserviceasaresultofbreakingdown departm entalsilos.
M y personalgoalistodowhateverittakestosupporttheleader-
shipinm akingthishappen.''
Thatanswerwon'tdo.lt'smachinetalk.H umansdon'tspeak
like that.Orifthey do,it'sacorruption ofwhatit'slike to be
hum an.
lchallengehim :''lheard whatyousaid,and lstilldon'tun-
derstandyourcompany'sbusiness.W hatdoesitdo?''
''ltmanufacturesindustrial-strength piping/''hesays.
30. CH ANGE TH EIVIOIVIENT W ITH W ORDS
''W hydoestheworldneed industrial-strength piping?''
''W ithoutit,you couldn'terectskyscrapers,run submarines,
havelastingsewersystems.''
''Soyourproducthelpsbuildcities?''
''ltdoes''
''Protectsthenation'scoasts?''
leS.
''W ashesawaywasteandsafeguardspeoplefrom disease?''
''Yes youcouldlookatitthatway.''
''W hydoesyourcompanywanttobetheleaderinthisfield?''
''W edeservetobetheleader.W edon'thidebehindmarketing
claims,likesomeofourcompetitors.W egivethecustomerwhat
the/repayingfor.Heavy-dutymaterialstrength.''
''You talked aboutbreaking down departmentalsilos.W hat
didyoum ean?''
''Attimes,peopleindifferentdepartm entsdon'tcommunicate
well.They don'tshareinformation.Theydon'thelp oneanother
asmuchastheycould.''
''lfyou gotthem sharing inform ation and acting asa team,
whatwouldhappen?''
''W ewouldm akeourproductsevenbetter,becausethere'dbe
astrongercross-fertilizationofideas.''
''lfthathappened,how wouldyourjobbedifferent?''
''l'd probably havemoreresponsibility.There'd bemoreem -
ployeesunderme,andl'dbeworkingonbiggerprojects.W hich
isfineby me.l'm muchbetterwhenthepressure'son.''
''W hatelse?''
''l'm inon theprofit-sharing plan,so l'dstand tomakeagood
dealmoremoney.''
''W hatwouldyoudowiththatmoney?''
''H alfwouldgo into my kids'collegefund,and halfwould go
toward aEuropeanvacation.''
lturn to the nextperson atthe table and listen to herre-
sponses.lfthey arecrispand authentic,lm oveon.lfnot,lques-
tion herforaslong asittakesto gethertotellmewhatshetruly
31. 16 CI-IANGETI-IEM OM EN T
hopesforherselfand theorganization.lwanttohearrealmoti-
vations,inreallanguage.
Bythetimeeveryonehasspoken,there'sanexcitementinthe
room .W hy?Becauseofthehonesty.Co-workersare seeingco-
workersasthey really are,maybeforthefirsttime.They under-
stand oneanother'sassumptionsand aspirations.
Theroom alsopulsesbecauseofthepelsonal,emotion-laden,
word-pictureseachpersonispainting.Theplaceisfillingwithlife.
Dryconceptshavebecomevivid.Deadscenesnow danceandsing.
lcoaxlivelywordsandimageryfrom peoplein orderto acti-
vatetheirim aginationsand hearts.lgetthem seeing in threedi-
mensionsand speaking abouttheirthoughtsin waysthatshift
perspective.lthen repeatback to them whatl'veheard,intheir
ownlanguage,and ladd somelanguageofmy own to heighten
themoment.
lputeveryoneinto thefuture.laskthem toseetheirorgani-
zation twoyearsfrom now.lt'sreacheditsgoaland istheleader
in itsfield.M orepiping isbeing shipped.Clients are building
stronger,saferstructureswithit.Eventhemediaisimpressed.Tor-
tggehasdonean articleonthecompany,ashasTorbes.
Because oftheprofit-sharing program,everyone'ssalary has
increased.Theirmoney isgoing where they wantitto go:into
collegefunds,savingsplans,buyinganew house,anew car,atrip
toEurope.
laskthepeopleto picturethemselvesatthecorporatecele-
bration.lt'satarockclub.TheirCEO hasrentedouttheclubfor
thenight,and abandisplayingeveryone'sfavoritesongs.Spread
outacrosstables are fun foods:steaks,burritos,tacos,pizza.l
havemy clientssmellthecheeseonthepizza,thecilantrosprin-
kled onthetacos.
TheCEO standsandaskseveryonetojoinhim inatoast:''To
a11ofyouform akingthisorganizationdosomuch,sofast.''They
clink glasses,drink down the champagne,and head outto the
dance floor.O nly then doesthe organization'sscheduled plan-
ningsessionbegin.W hy?
32. FJAZJSAZDPLJSJIGSSJIVJSJVJF KNOW S EIVIOTION TRUIVIPSLOGIC
Becausetheparticipantsarenow in adifferentpsychological
place.Theirm omenthaschanged.W heretheywereclosed,they
are now open.W here they were hesitant,they arenow giving.
W herethey wereproblem -focused,they are now goal-focused.
-
.r'/?:?ijjerenceintllefrrlfgkstrtggs/tgtesfgto(g?ijjerenceo-ft/gtg/ft.')rintllefr!)/(g.lï-
niny.ltisaspirited,productivesession,onethey willremember.
O newhosememorywillguidethem through therealwork that
mustbedoneiftheirvisionistobecomeareality.
THE J-JASJ/A#.D BLISINESSREW fV/KNO W S
EM O TIO N TRUM PS LO GIC
lfusingwordsto alterperspectiveseemstoo much likehypnosis
foryou,1etmepointyouto theSeptember-october2000issue
oftheJ-ftgrptgrkBusinessReview.lnan articleentitled''GettingtheAt-
tention YouNeed/''authorsThomasDavenportandJohn Beck
discussastudythey conductedwith 60executives.
Theauthorsaskedeach executiveto m akenoteofhisorher
interestlevelconcerning the messagesthey received in agiven
week.Thosemessagescouldhavecometothem throughconver-
sation,e-m ail,phonecalls,oravariety ofothermedia.The re-
sult?D avenportandBeckwrote:
Overall,thefactorsmosthighlyassociatedwithgettingrtheexec-
utives'lattention,inrankorder,were:themessagewaspersonal-
ized.,itevoked an emotionalresponse,itcame from atrustworthy
orrespected sender,and.itwasconcise.The messagesthat170th
evoked em otion and.were personalized were m ore than twice as
likely tobeattendedtoasthemessageswithoutthoseattributes.
1'11repeatthatlastsentence,with my addedemphasis:''Them es-
sagesthat170th evoke?twlotfo.lïand werebersonalize?weremorethan
twiceaslikelytobeattendedtoasthemessageswithoutthoseat-
tributes.''
To getattention,to beremembered,to changethemoment,
you mustmake yourmessagespersonaland evoke emotion in
33. CHANGETH EM OM EN T
yourlistener.ltdoesn'tmatterifyourlistenerisanautomechanic,
orthe executive ofaconglomerate.You mustalterthingsfor
them,inthem,ifyouwantto succeed.
Y Backroom 'Ilpsto ChangetheM oment
+ Stobtlofzqgll/tglrfg.
pyourfrlllorttggcetot/?efzqor/k.Supposeyoumanu-
facturebricks.Yourproductcanbeusedtobuildanouthouse
oracathedral,sowhy assumeit'11beused in theformerand
notthelater?
ln general,peoplearem odestabouttheirabilitiesandthe
rolethattheirproductsandservicescanplayinsociety.W hy?
Perhapsit'sbecausethey'reafraid to standout.Orthe/re
scaredthatiftheyelevatetheirsights,they'llbedisappointed.
W hateverthereason,beingoverlymodestdoesn'tservethem
ortheworld.
l'm nottellingyoutoboastorm akefalseclaims,butwhy
wouldn'tyouwanttothinkandactasifyouandyourproduct
can serveourcivilization'shighestideals,ifsuch elevation is
possible?lfyou'reapublisher,youdon'tproducemerebooks,
yougivepeoplethemeanstotranscendtheircurrentstation
in life.Yougivethem knowledgethattheycan translateinto
real-world achievements.Youprovidethem with restand sol-
acewhen daily lifeprovestoo much.Youhelp readersfocus
on hum ankind'shigherideals.Thesearewonderfulandgen-
uinequalities.W hy notclaim them ?
To changethemomentforothers,youmustfirstdoitfor
yourself.Giveyourselfawider,deeperunderstandingofhow
you and yourofferingsbenefitthe world.Push yourselfon
this.Selectaclientbenefitthatyourworkbrings,andfurther
ituntilyougetaclearpictureofhow ithelpstheworld.
lfyou produce microchipsforan automobile m anufac-
turer,youprotectthelivesofmillionsofpeoplewho count
on yourwork to getthem to and from theirdestinationsin
safety.
34. FJAZJSAZDPLJSJIGSSJIVJSJVJF KNOW S EIVIOTION TRUIVIPSLOGIC
lfyoumanufacturedressshoes,you helppeoplefeelbet-
terabouthow theylooksothattheycangothroughtheirday
with moreconfidence.
lfyouorganizeofficespace,youhelp businessesfunction
more smoothly so theiremployeesarelessstressed and can
spendm oretimem akingthecompanymoney.
Thisisnotasnow job,snakeoil,orself-deception.lt'sa
fulllookatwhyyoudowhatyoudo.
+ Use(gIlersogkjavore?imayery(gs(grletggsojc/gtgg-t/fg.pt/?erlorleat-for
t/gtwl.Peoplespeakastheythink.Theirspoken languagemir-
rorstheway they processconceptsin theirhead.So when
you'respeakingwith som eone,pay attention to thetypesof
metaphorsheuses,and to the specific languagethatexcites
her.lfyoucanframeyourconceptsintheirtypesofmetaphor
or by using their language,you increase your chance of
changing themomentforthem andgettingthem to remem -
berwhatyousay.
For instance, someone m ay use lots of sound-based
metaphorswhen talking:''lt'sasclearasabell''''lhearwhat
ou'resaying/'''That'smusicto myears.''lfso you'd positiony ,
yourconceptinanauditorycontext:''M aybethiswillstrikea
chordwithyou.''
Ofcourse,ifyoudon'tusethistechniquejudiciously,it
can betransparent.Pick yourspotsforit.W hen you do it
properly,thelistenerswillcarryyourideaswith them along
tim e.
+ Asê(gquestiontlltgtsegksbeobleintotllefrp st,intotllefr-j-fïtfïre,orjlibs
tllefrbetsbective.Although you can'tcontrolanother'sthoughts,
youcaninfluencepeopletothinkinnew directions.Oneway
to do thatisthrough theuseofquestions.Specifically,t/fïes-
tfogstlltgtrtwlopetlltwl-j-rorltllefrcfïrreatsftfïtgtfog.
O ne type ofquestion luse focuseson thepast.Forin-
stance:
35. CHANGETH EIVIOIVIEN T
''Te11m eaboutatimeyouwerelostinbusiness.''
''W hat'sthe mostsignificantbusinesslesson youke learned
inthepasttwoyears?''
Notice that these questions are based upon emotion-
ladenthemes.Thelisteneris''lost''and haslearned a''signifi-
cant''workplacelesson.-.r'/?:rloreextranet/?esftfïtgtfogyourt/fïestfo.lï
(gkkresses,t/?erlorelikely you'llclltgelget/?erlorleat-j-ortlltgtlistener(ggt:t
obenfï!lt/?ecogperstgtfo.lïinfïgexllectet:tyetrltwlortgl'/eways.
Llsingthesameideaofappealingtotheextrem es,youcan
ask questionsthatalsoputpeopleinto thefuture:
''lfyou reached yourgoalthree monthsearly,whatwould
youdowith thatextratime?''
''W herewillyou bethistimenextyear,ifyou continue to
holdthatassumption?''
And you can takepeopleoutoftheircurrentreality by get-
tingthem to flipaperspectiveandcreateanew reality:
''W hatwouldhaveto happen foryourmostagonizingbusi-
nessproblem tobesolvedtoday?''
''lm agineyou had to runyourbusinesswith halfyourstaff.
H ow wouldyoumakeitwork?''
Become a question junkie.Collectinteresting inquiries
and trythem outin casualconversationwith businessassoci-
ates.Seewhereyourquestionstakepeople.Thesequestions
show youhow easy itistochangethemomentforothers.
ln theend,influence isn'tso much azero-sum game of
m anipulationtechniques,asitisawayoftransportingpeople
to adifferentplace.lfyoukechosen thatplacecarefully,the
peoplewillbem orereceptivetoyourideasandrequests.
+ Dosometbiny0gtojt/?egorpl.Changingthemomentisa11about
givingpeopletheunexpected,whetheritbeanew ideaorthe
framearoundwhichyoupresentthatidea.
ln the next chapter,you'lllearn aboutTransform ation
M echanism s,which are distinctive metaphorsyou perform
36. FJAZJSAZDPLJSJIGSSJIVJSJVJF KNOW S EIVIOTION TRUIVIPSLOGIC
that enable you to communicate your ideas in mom ent-
changingways.Theyattractattentionandcommunicatewith
substance.Butdon'tfeelyouhavetoputon aperformanceto
dosomethingoutofthenorm.
lfyou're involved in anegotiation,you could overnight
theotherparty aletterreiteratingasinglepointyoumadethe
day before;thatpointwillstand outmorepowerfully than it
did duringyourconversation.
lfyouhaveguestsoverfordinner,you couldcook adish
with aspecialingredientandusethisingredientasameansof
changing people'sfocuson whatthe/reeating.lknow a
womanwho broughtback aspicefrom hertrip to lndiaand
useditin adish.Thisspiceinitiatednight-longconversations
aboutlndia,theTajM ahal,worldtravel,foreignpolitics,and
U.S.history.Quiteamoment-changerforafew pennies.
+ Cbanyet/gerlorlt':tJ/ectggseffstberl//?ttbinytot10.W henlspotacranky
child on aflight,lsitnexttohim.Asafatherofthree,lknow
whatit'slikefortheotherpassengelswhenachildisrestless.
lreach into my pocket,removeasquareofpaper,white
on oneside,blackon theother,and lstartfolding.Thechild
watches.lturntohim andsay:''l'm makingajack-in-the-box.
W henl'm finished,Jackwillbewearingatuxedo,ashirt,a
tie,andgloves.W henyouliftthe1id ofhisbox,he'llpopup.
A11from thisonesheetofpapen''
The child leans closerto watch.lgethim involved.l
m akefoldsand1ethim pressdownthecreases.W henl'm fin-
ished,lhaveabox,whichlopen,andoutspringsJack.lthen
hand the origamisculpture to the child,as a gif-t.ltis a
whimsym adeespecially forhim .
lcan'tknow thisforsure,but1'11bethe'llremem berthat
moment.H e'11recallthetimethemanon theairplanefolded
ajack-in-the-boxforhim.
W hatdid ldo?Did lm ake asix-figuresale?N o.W hatl
didwasgiveachild amomentoffascination.Someentertain-
ment.Somehappiness.
37. T H E T RAN SFO RM AT IO N
M EC H A N ISM
y favoriteway to changethemomentisthrough a
Transformation M echanism.lowe a1otto mecha-
nisms.Theykehelpedfeed and clothemyfamily,as
wellaspayformyhomeandcals.They'reoneofthe
mostpowerfultoolsyoucanusetopelsuadeinbusinessandinlife.
W hatisaTransformationM echanism?lt'satrickwithapoint.
A mechanism putspeoplein apleasurestate,andthat'swhereyou
wantthem .O ffbusiness,on pleasure.ltsetsa receptive atmo-
sphere.W hen you use amechanism,people are more likely to
lowertheirdefensesandgiveyourideasanhonesthearing.Amec/?-
(ggfsm fs(grlettgll/gorrltgtlebbysical,(gg;tt/ggsrltgtlerltwlortgl'/e(gg;tIlersgtgsfpe.
M ETAPH O RSASA M EAN S O FM AKIN G SEN SE
Everyoneknowsthepowerofm etaphors.Theyhelpusbetterun-
derstandoneideaby relating itto anotheridea.H ere'san exam -
ple.lfsomeonetold you thatshe had trouble sleeping because
38. IVIETAPH ORSASA IVIEAN SOFIVIAKING SENSE 23
hermattresswas''hardasarock/''wouldyouunderstandwhatshe
meant?Ofcourse.You'dknow thatshecouldn'tsleepbecausethe
m attresshad no giveto it.Themetaphoricalphrase''hard asa
rock''helpsyouseeandfeelthem attress'sstiffness.lfyoukeever
slepton ahard mattress,youmay even experienceabacktwinge
justreadingthephrase.That'sthepowerofmetaphors.
H ereisanotherexample.Amongyourincominge-m ailm es-
sagesyouseeonewith thesubjectline''Upgrading YourCom-
puterlsNow AsEasy AsTying YourShoes.''W hat'sthismean?
Again,ano-brainer.Somecompanypromisestom akeyourcom -
puter run better, and installing its product is simple. The
metaphoricalphrase ''aseasy astying yourshoes''conveysthis
thought.Afterall,wea11learned to tieourshoeswhen wewere
fouryearsold,sowhatcouldbeeasier?
M etaphorsareeverywhere.lfyoutookanhourtomonitora11
themetaphorsyoureadin booksanda11them etaphoricalim ages
youseeontelevision,yourheadwouldswim (which,bytheway,
isanothermetaphor).
llook to my bookshelves,and on oneshelfalonethere are
enough bookswith metaphoricaltitlesto keep me busy fora
month:Pgrll/eCow)Hell'sAgle/s?T'/?efxecgtfoger'sSony)T'/?e'Ih?yerin.l
T'ofzqg?kklfrtgdeivonyers)J//tg//tf'lg 0.lïAllèators)and Steeriny t/?eCrtg/.
M etaphorsoneand a11:waysofmakingyouinterestedinonesub-
jectbycloakingitinthewordsandimageryofanother.Youdon't
actuallywalkonalligatorsin J//tg//tf'lg 0.lïAllèators,andSteerinyt/?e
Crajtisabookaboutwriting.
ln oneTV commercial,afinancialservicescompany isrepre-
sented by abull.ln another,asportsutility vehicledrivesup a
canyonwallatasupernaturalangle.Theseimagesdon'thaveadi-
rect,one-to-onecorrespondencewithreality.The/remeantto
convey an idea,afeeling.To createafeeling,commercialsoften
go to extrem es.
H ere's a soda commercial:A teenager is soaring through
cloudsonaskateboard,andaflockofgeesefliesby.Theteenager
whipsoutacan and sprayssodainto them outhsofthe thirsty
39. TI-IETp-/ttqsyolklklATlox M ECI-IAN ISM
geese.Thegratefulbirdsbreaktheirtraditionalform ationanduse
theirbodiesto form thesodacom pany'slogo.Thoseim agesare
metaphorical.Teenagers and skateboards don'tfly,and geese
don'tform logos.Youknow that,lknow that,thesodacompany
knowsthat.
W hatthecompany istryingtodoism akeusunderstandone
thing(thetasteofthesoda),byexplainingitthroughtheimage
ofsomething else(the skateboarding teenagerand thegeese).
Thecompany wantsusto havecertain thoughtswhen wethink
ofitssoda.ltwantsustothinkYouth,Freedom,andDaring.lfit
cam e outand said,''O ursodafsYouth,Freedom,and Daring/''
we'd be skeptics.Butifthecommercialworksand we associate
thosequalitieswiththatsoda,itworksbecauseofmetaphor.En-
tertainingmetaphor.
M AKIN G TH E SH IFT TO M ECH AN ISM S
Formostpeople,perform ing aTransform ation M echanism re-
quiresanew wayofthinking.The/renotusedtoinfluencing
othersthrough metaphor,entertainment,humor,orfun.
Tothem ,influenceseemsagrim game.Theyapproachpresen-
tations,negotiations,andmeetingsasifthe/remarchingintoa
firefight.Theyfigureiftheyhavetheirfactsstraightandtheirlogic
issound,theiropinionsshould win out.And ifitlooksasifthey
aren'twinning,theymightturntointimidationtogettheirway.
l'm notknocking seriousness,determination,facts,logic,or
even intimidation.Those thingshave theirplace.(l,forone,
wouldn'twantmylawyerwritingjokesintoacontractthatcalls
forairtightlegalreason.)W hatl'm sayingisthatabullrushtothe
heartofthem atterisn'talwaysthebestpersuasiontactic.
W earen'tm achines.W edon'tprocesslogiclinearly aswellas
som emightthink.A criticalpointthat'sobviousto youm ay be
invisibletome.
A Transform ation M echanism highlightsyourcriticalpoint
and presentsitto thelistenerin away impossibleto miss.The
40. THE M ECHAN ISIVIIN ACTION
mechanism isalearning lesson doneup asan intriguing dem on-
stration.
THE M ECH AN ISM IN ACTIO N
ln Chapter1,youreadabouthow lusedarubberbandtoclosea
sale.The band wasamechanism .lthelped influence my client
whenwordswerehavinglittleeffect.
M yclientbelievedthatthetradeshow crowdslattractwould
hurtherbusiness.Shereasonedthatwithamob ather1700th,her
targetm arketwouldstay clear.lknew differently.From adecade
ofexperience,lknew thatmy pitcheswould attractconvention
attendeesofevery stripe- includingthepeoplefrom hermarket.
Notonly would hermarketflock,butthey'd be impressed that
hercompanywasattractingsuchheavytraffic.
Thatrubberband transformedthem omentforher.ltturned
hermind 180degrees.lttookherobjection and madeitintoa
reasonforhiring me.H ad lnotused themetaphoroftherubber
band,lwouldneverhavepersuadedhertosignmeon.
Letmeshow youanotherexampleofamechanism l'veused,
so youcanseetheconcept'sutility.Afterthat,1'11teachyouhow
toconstructRnduseyourownmeclnanisms.
W ith thismechanism,lwasn'teven in thesamepartofthe
country astheperson lwastryingto influence.Theheadofsales
atam anufacturerphoned,asking meto speak athercompany's
annualtwo-day conference.Shewanted meto tellastory,do a
demonstration,createexcitement.Fine,lcoulddothat.Theonly
problem ?Shewanted ascript.
''Youmean anoutlineofmygeneralconcepts?''lasked.
''N o''shesaid ''lneedafullscript.lt'scompanypolicyforany
speaker.W ewanttomakesureyourmessagesandoursjibe.''
''ldon'tworkfrom ascript/''lsaid.''lhavespecificideaslwant
togetacrosstotheaudience,andthen lusewhatevermeansnec-
essarytogetthoseideasacross.''
''l'm sorrythen.W ecan'tdobusiness.''
41. TH ETRANSFORM ATION IVIECHAN ISIVI
The nextday she received an overnightdelivery envelope
from me.lnit,wasaletterthatsaidthefollowing:
1'm sorrywehaveyettocometoan agreem ent.lfyou don'tmind.,
though,1'd.likeyoutod.om eafavor.W illyouparticipateinaquick
experiment?lfso,readon.
Think ofanumberfrom onetoten.
M ultiply yournumberby nine.
lftheresultingnumberistwodigitslong(e.g.J15)Jactd.those
digitstogether(e.g.J1+5=6).
You now haveanew numberinyourhead..Subtractfivefrom it.
Taketheresultrand.think oftheletterofthealphabetthatcorre-
spond.swith it.SoJifyou'rethinking ofthenumberonerthecorre-
sponding letter would be A. lf you're thinking of tw or the
correspondingletterwouldbel).And.so forth.
Think ofacountrywhosenamestartswith thatletter.
Thentakethesecond letterinthatcountry'snamerand.thinkof
ananim alwhosenamebeginswith thatletter.
Think ofthatanimal'scomm oncolor.
Finished?Please phone meon my cellphonerightnow.1don't
carewhattimeoftheday ornightitis.1willanswer.
W hen lanswered hercall,shewaslaughing.''Areyou going
toreadmymind?''sheasked.
''lbelieve so/''lsaid.''Focuson the im agesdancing in your
mind.Keep focusing.M y brain isreceiving apicturefrom your
brain,butthepicture doesn'tm akesense.lt'sofsomething that
doesn'texist.
''Afterall,therearenograyelephantsin Denmarkl''
The woman gasped.Based on my written instructions,she
had been thinking ofgray elephantsin Denm ark.Apparently,l
hadreadhermind.
''Thatisun-frigging-reall/''shesaid.
lthendidsomethingunusual.lexplainedthestunt.
42. TI-IE M ECI-IAN ISM Ix Ac-rlox
W eread backoverthesheet,and ldiscussed each step:how
anynumberfrom 1to 10multipliedby 9musthave9asthesum
ofitsdigits;how theresultingcalculationforcesthem tothinkof
theletter?;how mostpeoplewillthinkofDenmark (withthe
DominicanRepublicadistantsecond);how thesecondletterin
Denmark,which ise,willalmostalwayslead toe/ell/gtggtandlrtgy.
W henwewerefinished,shecoulddo thestuntaswellas1.
''N ow how doyoufeelaboutit?''lasked.
''N eat.Thanksforsharingit.''
''Doyouseewhatjusthappened?''
''Yourreaction wentfrom 'un-frigging-reall'to 'neat.'W hy?
Because now you know how it's done.Knowing how certain
thingsaredoneisaletdown.
''M oreto thepoint:Knowing how certain thingsaredoneis
unnecessary.
''Youwantmeto openyourconferencewith abang,so that
the5OOpeopleattendingwillbeexcitedaboutwhatthey'reabout
tolearn.Youwantthem to seethepossibility andpowerthatlies
ahead forthem .Youwantthem believingin themselves,andyou
wanttheirmindsfully presentatthatconference,so they give
youtheirbesteffortandtheirbestideas.Correct?''
o rrec .
''How lgetthose500peopletoexperiencepowerand possi-
bility,then,isa11thatmatters.H ow lgetthem to thatstate is
unimportant.You're notpaying m e formy wordsand actions.
You'repayingmebecauseoftheenergyandfocuslhelpothersto
jr JJcrea e.
Shehad to discussthe matterwith som ehigher-ups,butin
the end,l gotthe contract.The Transformation M echanism
helpedm akeanabstractconceptvivid.ltsmessage- thatprocess
isunimportant,aslong astheresultisstrong- hithomeforher.
Themechanism didn'tclosethedealonitsown,butithelpedme
readdressherconcernsin anew light.
43. TH ETRANSFORIV ATION IVIECHAN ISIVI
TAKIN G AN EN TERTAIN M ENT INVENTO RY
l'vecalled amechanism atrick,butitcan alsobeotherthings:a
puzzle,ariddle,aconundrum ,apieceoforigami.Anything that
entertains,ismemorable,flipsperspective,andgivesclarity qual-
ifiesasamechanism.
To getafeelforhow tousemechanism s,takeaninventoryof
whatyou already know how to do.W hatskillsand interestsdo
you havethatm ay laterhelp you proveapointmetaphorically?
W ritedownyouranswers.
J//lltgtttgsêsijo.'y.0gijokgrf'lg (gtvorlulay?Do you chairmeetings
with scientists?Areyouexpertatreachingdecision m ak-
ers?Canyoudraw amean Venn diagram ?Canyouwrite
e-m ailthatalwaysgetanswered?Doyoukeep aflawless
dailyorganizer?
J//lltgtareyourbobbies? Do you collecttwentieth-century LI.S.
stamps?Build colonialshipsin bottles? Read hard-boiled
thrillers?Skidouble-blackdiamonds?Hitinabattingcage?
J//lltgtskillst10youlltgpe?Can you bakeachocolate cake?Fish
like apro?Sketch arealisticstilllife?Build asturdy bu-
reau?Throw and catch aFrisbeelikeagradstudent?
J//lltgttrfcês(ggt:tbuzzlest10youêgofz??Canyoujuggleknives?Find
aselected card from ashuffled pack?Add rowsofthree-
digitnumbersinyourhead?Startfirewithsticks?Dothe
Sbgrb.
')r'Jlmescrosswordin50minutes?
J//lltgtfst/?equirkiesttllf'lg youtzaof.p/90f,17to?o?Canyourubabottle
againstawallso thebottlesticks?Createalobsteroutof
asheetofpaper?Callthetossofacoin seven timesin a
row?Fixasix-cylinderenginewith ahairpin?N ameeach
partofamapleleaf?
Ijyoutverein(gttg/t'lïtsllofz?,f.plltgtf.pogzyour(gctbe?Wouldyoudo
impersonations? Recite apoem ? Drum on empty paint
cans?H itabullk-eyewith an arrow at20paces?Beatthe
baseofahumanpyramid?
L steverythingthatcomesto mind,mundaneorextraordinary.
44. H OW DO YO U BUILD A IVIECHAN ISIVI? 29
H O W D O YO U BU ILD A M ECH ANISM ?
Creatingyourownmechanism iseasy,onceyougetthehangof
it.Let'screateonenow.Thinkofacurrentpersuasion problem .lt
can be important,butnothing too heavy.Nothing thatm akes
youcringe.Pickaproblem thatyoucanplaywith,soyoucanget
afeelforthistechnique.Yourproblem couldbefrom theofficeor
from yourpersonallife.
O nceyouhavethatproblem ,extractthehigh conceptfrom
it.lnotherwords,cutawaya11thedetailandthinkoftheproblem
inonegeneralline.Forinstance:
''lwanttoconvincemy bossto1etmehandleaproject,but
he'snotsurel'm ready.''
''lwantthe media interested in my firm'sCD-RO M action
gameattherolloutparty.''
''lwantmy neighborto help me getoutword thatthelocal
governmentischanging the zoning in ourarea,and it
could hurthomeowners.''
''lwantto convincemydaughtertobem oreresponsiblewith
herallowancemoney.''
Getit?There'sdetailenough thatthesituation isrecogniz-
able,butnotenough detailto tellacompletestory.Youwantthe
headline.Thethumbnailsketch.
Now takethatconceptandmatchituptoeachtaskyoudo,tal-
entyouhave,andtrickyouknow,andseeifoneshedslightonthe
other.Supposeyouhavetheproblem,''lwanttoconvincemyboss
to1etmehandleaproject,buthe'snotsurel'm ready.''Suppose,
too,thatyourinventory listcontainsthe entry,''Can throw and
catch aFrisbeelikeagradstudent.''H ow mightthosetworelate?
Let'ssee.Yourbossdoesn'tthinkyouhaveenoughexperience
andexpertisetomaketheprojectwork.Andwhileyoumaybea
world-classFrisbeeplayernow,therewasatimewhenyouhadno
ideahow tothrow one.
W hen you were nine yearsold,you'd watch the teenagels
throw Frisbeesonthebeach.Youaskedifyoucouldtry.O neofthe
45. TI-IETp-/ttqsyolklklATlox M ECI-IAN ISM
teenagerstossedyoutheFrisbeeandithityouintheface.Youtried
tothrow itstraight,butyoumusthaveheldittoolong,anditwent
widerightby 10yards.W iththeteenagels'guidance,though,you
improvedquickly.A shorttimeafterthat,youweregreat.
YoubelievetheFrisbeeexperienceandyourcurrentproject
situation have adirectparallel.Atthispointyourbossmay be
right:Youmightnothandletheprojectexpertly.Butyou'renot
goingtogetbetterbyhangingback.Youneedtolearnbydoing.
That'show you became world class atthrowing aFrisbee,and
that'show you'llgetgoodonprojects.Sure,theprojectismore
importantand difficultthan learning tothrow aFrisbee,butthe
waytoexcelatitisthesame.By doing.
H ow couldyouusethisparallel?lnanumberofways:
You could meetwith theboss,takeoutaFrisbee,spin iton
yourfinger,ask him ifhe'severplayed before,tellhim
yourstory,andrelateitto theprojectsituation.ln that
scenario,theFrisbeeinitiallyactsasan attention-grabber,
and thenyouuseittom akeametaphoricalpoint.
O r,youcould discusstheproblem firstand bringtheFrisbee
outofyourbriefcaselater,asameansofintensifyinghis
interestonthepointyou'reaboutto make.
O r,you and aco-workercould play Frisbee on the lawn in
frontofyouroffice building,and whenyourbosscom es
out,youm akesureheseesyoudoingtricks.O utthere,or
laterinhisoffice,youpointouttheparallels.
Noticethatineachcase,thephysicalobject- acolorfulFris-
bee- servesasaway to transform themoment.You'renotjust
tellingastory aboutlearning tothrow aFrisbee,you'rebringing
yourbossbacktothatpointintimewhenyouwereanovice,and
thenyou'redemonstratingyourskillnow.You'regivinghim avis-
ceralexperience.
A mechanism worksbestwhen it'stangible.W hen there'sa
demonstration.W hen theperson you'retryingto persuade gets
46. H OW DO YO U BUILD A IVIECHAN ISIVI?
involved in the situation m entally,emotionally,and physically.
Thereasons?
Situationslikethatareunusualduring thecourseofanormal
day.Butwhenyouputaperson into asafe,intriguing,entertain-
ment-based,out-of-the-ordinarysituation,shecan'tuseherstan-
dard defenses to shield herselffrom you.She can'tgo to her
defaultthinkingstrategiesasameansofmentally dismissingyour
argument.Shehasto reactdifferently,becausetheexternalstim -
u1iaredifferent.She'smoreopentowhatyouhavetosay because
youkeforcedherinto beingopen.
Twomorequickexamplesofusingwhatyou alreadyknow as
amechanism :
J'ogr!)r0J?/tpl:''lwantmy neighborto help me getoutword
abouthow thelocalgovernm entischanging the zoning
inourarea,and how itcouldhurthomeowners.''
A liney'rorlyourfgpeatory:''lcollecttwentieth-century U.S.
jr JJsam ps.
rlec/gtggfsrl: You meet with your neighbor and pull a
Theodore Roosevelt stamp from yourwallet.You talk
aboutyourhobby and thestamp'svalue.You also draw a
parallelbetweenRooseveltandyourproblem:''Today,we
know Teddywasagreatpresident,an inspiring historical
figure.Butbackwhenhewasinoffice,peopledidn'tjust
rolloverforhim and do whathe said.He foughtsome
powerfulenemies.ln particular,he busted up illegalbig
business- thetrusts.Now,l'm notcom paringourzoning
problem with trusts,butdamnit,Teddy didn't1etpeople
havetheirwayjustbecausetheyhadmoney.W rongwas
wrong.Asfarasl'm concerned,that'sthekind ofbattle
we'reinnom ''Thestamp actsasamechanism and givesa
historicalbackdrop toyourargum ent.
J'ogrIlrolp/erl:''lwantthe mediainterested in my firm's CD -
RO M action gameattherolloutparty.''
47. TI-IETp-/ttqsyolklklATlox M ECI-IAN ISM
A /fge-frorlyourfgpeatory:''lcanjuggleknives.''
A rlec/gtggfsrl:Attherolloutparty,startjugglingknivesasanat-
tention getter.Telltheattendingmediathatwhileknives
may bedangerous,you canjugglesomething farmore
deadly.Putdown theknivesandjugglecopiesofyour
CD -RO M action game.Tellthe people,''Actually,the
dangerhereisnotinjugglingthesegames.lt'sinplaying
them.''Displaythegam esonascreen,andshow how your
company hascreated aCD-ROM with moreblood and
gutsthan any gameevermade.Yourproductisgiving its
targetm arketexactly whatitwants.Theknivesgraphi-
cally setacontextforscreeningthegame.
W H AT IFYO U DO N 'T HAVE A SKILL O R D O N 'T
KN O W O FA PU ZZLE YO U CAN USE?
Fearnotifyouhavenoskillorpuzzletouse:J-foa?toPersgtgkePeoble
J///?0Dog'tJ//tggttoBePersgtgtle;ttotherescue!lconsidertheTrans-
formation M echanism to be such apowerfulpersuaderthatl've
loadedthisbookwith 20 ofmyfavorites.Thereisnoguesswork
here.lhaveused each and can attesttoitspower.Youhaveonly
tolearn andpracticethem .
lnfact,it'sagoodideatotrythesemechanism sbeforeyoure-
ally need them .Thatway yougetcomfortable attracting atten-
tion andbeing bold.Trythem atlunchesandinform almeetings,
and asicebreakerswith seatm atesaboard planes.The ideaisto
havefun andtokeepyoureyesopen fortim eswhenyoucan use
them as metaphoricalpersuadersin key situations.lfyou get
good atperforming them now,they willpay dividendsforyou
whenyouneedthem most.
ln therestofthisbook,lincludeamechanism attheend of
eachchapter,inthehopethatiflspoonthem outinsm alldoses,
48. w HAT IFYOLlD ON'T HAVEA SKILL?
you'lltry each mechanism then and there.Atthebook'sconclu-
sion,lofferyouan additionalfourmechanismstodraw upon.
lalso describeeachmechanism aspartofanimaginarysitua-
tion in which you are the m ain character.Presented thatway,
thesesituationswillgiveyou additionalideasabouthow to use
thesemechanismsinyourownlife.
Y Backroom ''llpsIorPerlormingTranslormation
M echanism s
+ lfyouwantpracticedrawingconnectionsbetween unrelated
ideasandobjects- askillthat'sattheheartofcreatingpotent
mechanisms- here'sagametoplay.
Slip offoneofyourshoesandstudy it.H ow isthatshoelike
yourthorniestbusinessproblem?(lfyou'rehavingtrouble
finding aparallel,break yourshoedown into itscom po-
nents.How does the stitching relate to yourproblem?
Thelaces?Theheel?Soundscrazy,lknow,butitcondi-
tionsyoutothinkflexibly.)
Look atthe ground you're standing on.How isitlike your
life?
L stentothesoundsaroundyouandpickone.How isitlikea
businessgoal?
Takeanitem from yourwallet.H ow isitlikethesunrise?
Examineyourcomputer'skeyboard.How isitliketomorrow?
W hen youke answered these questions,make up your
own.Duringyourdrivehome,forinstance,picktwoitems(a
green light and a hydrant,a crosswalk and a billboard,a
rearview mirrorandasongontheradio)andaskyourselfhow
they arerelated.
49. TH ETRANSFORIVIATION IVIECHAN ISIVI
A TransformationM echanism:TheM agazineTest
Thestene
You/rethedirectorofa marketingfirm,seated infirstclassonacross-
countryflight.Nexttoyousitsaprosperous-lookingwoman,clearly
anexecutivefype,thumbingthroughamagazine.Youexchangewel-
coming nods.
A few minutesintothetrip,youstrike upaconversationabout
thedestination,theweather,herprofession.Shegivesbrief,politean-
swersaboutherdatabasecompany andasksaboutyourIivelihood.
Yousmile,Ieanin,andwhisper:zzDoyoureallywanttoknow?
It'sa Iittlefrightening.Somepeoplecan'thandleit.''
Youroddanswermomentarilystartlesher.She'susedtohaving
herquestionsansweredwithoutpreambleorartifice.Yetsheisin-
trigued.Becauseyoudon'tappeardangerous- seated infirstclass,
elegantlydressed- shedecidestogo alongandpressesyouformore
information.
''Icreatefeelingsonagrandscale''yousay.zzMaiorcorpora-
tions,IikeAppleand Dell,hire metocreateaspecifictypeoffeeling
intheirclients.''
Shewondershow youdothat.
zzLetmegiveyoua demonstration.''
Asyouconspicuouslyturnaway,youaskthewomantopickup
hermagazine.zzFagethroughit,''yousay,zzfloodyourmindwithin-
formation.Thatmagazinehasfwohundred orso pages,withhun-
dredsofpicturesandthousandsofwords.Keepflipping backand
forth.LetaIIthatinformationwhiparound insideyourhead.
zzNow geta random numberinmind ...andturntothatpage.
Scanthepage,noticethewords,Iotsofwords,gotothetopIine.
LookattheIongestwordonthatIine.Imagine itpulsing.Seeitflash-
ing.Seethatwordflashingasifit'sonawebsitescreen.M akethat
word bright.Turnupthecontrast.Brighter.Brighter.Brighterstill.Shut
the magazinel''
(continoed)
50. W HAT IFYOU D ON'T HAVEA SKILL?
(Continoed)
Turningback,youreachintoyouriacketpocket,extractabusi-
nesscard,scribblesomething acrossitsbackand hand itfacedown
to thewoman.''W hatwordareyouthinkingof?''youask.
Shesays ''E e Iasses.'', y g
Youtellherto turnoverthecard.There,to herastonishment,is
yourdrawingofa pairofeyeglasses.
''W ouldyouIiketoknow how Ididthatk''
Shewouldl
''Ithoughtso,''yousay,''andthatfeelingyou/reexperiencing
rightnow is,inasense,whatIdofora Iiving.Ihead amarketing
company,and,asIsaid,maiorcorporationshireustofashioncam-
paignsthatcreatecertainfeelingsintheirclients.Inthiscase,Iwas
tryingto makeyoufeelwonder,and ...''Bythetimetheflight
Iands,you'repracticallyoId friends,andyouhaveanappointmentto
meetwithherandhercompany'sprincipalsto see how youmight
bestrepresentherfirm.
Behlnd the Stene
Inventedintheearly 1960sbypreacherDavidHoy,thiseasy-to-do
mechanism canconvincepeoplethatyouhavepsychicabilities.Here
youwilluseitasapieceofwhimsicalstagecraftthatb0thattractsatten-
tionandenablesyouto presentyourofferinginitsmetaphoricalwake.
Toperform themechanism,clandestinelyobtainfwo piecesofin-
formation:a pagenumberfrom themiddleofa magazine,and the
IongestwordonthetopIineofthatpage.
Thatinformationwould havebeensimpletoacquireintheairplane
scenario.Forinstance,youcould havespottedapageandaword
whenyouwerefirstseated,asyoucasuallyglancedoveratthewoman.
Or,youcould havenotedwhatshewasreading,pulledaduplicate
from thein-flightmagazinerack,turnedtoanappropriatepageand
word,andslidthepublicationbackinplace.W hateveryourmodus
operandi,youhavetheinformationinmind,andnooneisthewiser.
(continoed)
51. TH ETRANSFORIVIATION IVIECHAN ISIVI
(Continoed)
Atyourseat,youtooarethumbingthroughyourow nmagazine,
whichisdifferentfrom theexecutive's.Atsomepoint,youstrikeupa
conversationand startyourpitch.W henyougettothedemonstration
part,turnawayandtalkabouthermagazineasaglutofwordsand
images,whilesheflipspages.Now fortheprofoundlysneaky part.
You'reaboutto dowhatmagicianscalla''force'';thatis,you're
going tocoax hertoopentoyourmemorizedpageandguide herto
ourmemorized word.Here'show.Y
Tellherthatyou'd Iikeherto zzgeta random numberinmind.''As
yousaythat,turnbackto herand holdyourmagazineso thatits
backcoverfacesher.
W ithyourIefthand holding themagazine'sIowerIeftspine,use
yourrightforefingertoslowlyriffletheupperrightcornerofthemag-
azine'spages(Figure3.1).Askthewomantocall''stop.''
W henshedoes,holdyourforefingeratthespotcalledfor,and
openthemagazinesothatitsfrontand backcoversfaceher.Your
spectatorseesonlycovers,nopages.
Lookatthepage,ca//ootyoormemorizedpagerlumber,close
the magazine,anddrop itintoyourIap.She now has''a random
numberinmind//- the numberyouwanted hertopickaIIalong.
Turnawayagain,andaskhertoturnto thepagenumbershese-
Iected.ThenaskhertoIookatthetopIine,pickouttheIongestword,
andclosehermagazine.
The restisacting and presentation.
Backroom 'IlpsIortheM agazineTest
+ Ihave performed thismechanism beforetrade-show crowdsand
forindividualsinintimatesettings,anditneverfailstowow.Isay
thisbecauseIsuspectthatsomereadersmay believe ittoo boldto
fool.Thosereaderswould bewrong.
(continoed)
52. W HAT IFYO t1DO N'T HAVEA SKILL?
E
; '>
<
blb'k
f- q .R ! ''u:a.
jr.FIII.,. x.
::,'.
'
,
.
k..
tr
uj4g;jj,;,I,
Figure3.1 Riffletheuppercorners.
(Continved)
W henyouperform theforce youclre cltthesclmetime exe.
cutingwhcltmentclliststerm cl''miscclll.''It'sclstclndclrdmincl.reclcl.
ing technique.You Iook cltthe informcltion on clpclge on cl
plclyingcclrd oronclslipofpclper,clnclyoucclllthcltinformqtion
byclnothernclme.AreyouIying?Perhqps butitisclthecltriccllIie.
You/reIying inthesclmewclyLclurenceOlivierIiesinHumletclncl
MclrlonBrclndo IiesinIhe Goc/rcflllef'.Ifyouneedprqcticewith
thistechnique Icokcltyourclcxgclnclcclllitclcclt.Lcokcltyourcclt
clnclcclllitcltree.Lookcltcltreeclnclcclllitclcclr.You/llsoonget
thehclngofit.
/continved)
53. TH ETRANSFORIVIATION IVIECHAN ISIVI
(Continoed)
# Frealtbeforceasinconseqoential:Youwantyourspectatorto
thinkofa random number,sowhatbetterway ofgettingsucha
numberthanIetting chancedecide?Likea mixing machineblow-
ingIotteryballs,you/reriffling throughyourmagazineasa
meansofshufflingnumbers.AsIongasyouplayitnatura1,few
peoplewillevenrememberthatyoueverhelda magazine.
# A trooblesbooting point:Attimes,you may riffle through aIIthe
pagesinyourmagazinewithoutthespectator'scallingstop.Nota
bigdeal.Say''Let'sstartover,''and repeat.
# Naturally,you can also perform thismechanism with books.If
youraregoingto pitchina houseoroffice,find awaytosecretly
peekintooneoftheowner'sbookssoyoucanmemorizea page
numberandword.8utthebookbackwhereyoufound it.
W henyou're readyto perform,grab severalvolumesfrom the
bookshelves,includingtheforcebook.Brieflystudytheircovers,asif
you'reweighingthemeritsofeach,handtheforcebooktoyourspec-
tator,keeponeforyourself,anddiscardtherest.Now you'reset.
# Intheairplanescenario,Imadeitseem thatyouweregoing tore-
vealthismechanism'ssecret,butthatwasaninterest-holdingtech-
niqueonly.Neverrevealthesecret.W hy?
Lookatitfromthespectator'spointofview.Youhaveiustread
hermind.ThinkofthatlYouhaveapparentlyiourneyedintoher
thoughts,into theplacewhereshekeepsherIovesand ambitions,
herfearsand failures,and you/ve broughtbackevidenceofthat
trip.Even ifthe spectatordoesn'tfully believe yourclaim,she's
damnedsureyoudid something brilliant.So ifyouspillthebeans,
she'sgoingtobedisappointed:Youdidn'tread hermind,nordid
youdoanything particularly brilliant.
Ofcourse,eventhoughI'vewarnedyounottogiveawaythe
secret,Isuspectthatyouwill...once.Butafterthatone time,I
know youwon'tdo itagain.It'sdisturbing to seethe Iookofad-
mirationdrainfrom a face.
(continoed)
54. W HAT IFYOU D ON'T HAVEA SKILL? 39
(Continoed)
+ TheioboftheTransformationMechanismistomoveconversations
to a differentIevelofthought.Intheairplanescenario,Ihad you
use the mechanism asa way ofgetting theexecutive to experi-
encewonder,which iswhatyourmarketing program purportsto
do.Soshefeltwonder,whileyoutalkedaboutdeliveringwonder.
W hatothermessagescould thismechanism represent?Itcan
symbolizeyouruncannyabilityto understandyourclient'sneeds,
show how you'reb0thonthesamewavelength,demonstrateyour
knowledge ofthe marketplace,and dramatizethe powerofthe
media (vibrantimagespractically Ieap outofthe spectator's
headl),amongotherthings.
W hateveryourmessage,experimentwithwaysofusing this
mechanism to bring itto Iife.
55. T H E BO D Y M ETA PH O R
he Transform ation M echanism has two subsets:the
Body M etaphorand thePaperM etaphor.Lkemecha-
nisms,these subsetsalso useanalogy to coaxpeople's
mindsintofreshperspective.Thedifferenceam ongthe
three?Theprop each usestogetresults.
lnaTransformationM echanism,thepropisanoddobject(an
origamilobster),aconventionalobjectinanoddcontext(akite
in aboardroom),oraconventionalobjectwith which you do
somethingodd(arockthatvanisheswhenyoutossitintheair).
ln aBodyM etaphor,theprop isyourbody,orthebodiesof
thepeopleyou'reinfluencing.
ln aPaperM etaphor,theprop isadiagram orcartoon you
draw infrontofthepeopleyou'reinfluencing.
Youke learned aboutm echanisms.Now you'lllearn how to
perform BodyM etaphors,andin thenextchapter,you'lldiscover
theinsand outsofPaperM etaphors.
56. W HAT A BODY IVIETAPH OR LO O KSLIKE
W H AT A BO D Y M ETAPH O R LO O KS LIKE
Aslsaid,theprim ary prop in aBody M etaphoristhe human
body.Yougetothersto experienceanideaby makingyourbody
and theirsanallegoricalexpression ofthatidea.
Sayyou'reaconsultantandyou'resellingacompanyonyour
software-based knowledge-sharing process.ln frontofyou sits
the head ofeach department.Youkedoneeverything youwere
supposed to do.Youopenedyourpresentation with azing,un-
covered and intensified the problem,offered yourproductasa
solution,segued into itsfactsand benefits,and dem onstrated it.
Beforeheadinginto aclose,youkeaskedforquestions.
The departmentheadslikewhatyou said,buteach one of
theirquestionsseemsto takeyoufurtherfrom finishing thedeal.
You'relosingthem .M ostofthem aretechnocrats,andtheyseem
to bemired in analyzing theindividualfeaturesofyourproduct
ratherthantheoverallresultitwillproduce.Tobreakthisdown-
wardpresentationalspiral,youdecideto useaBody M etaphor.
''Thequestionsyou'reasking areimportant/''yousay.''Butas
we'retalking aboutsomeofmy product'sfeatures,lwantyou to
keeponethinginmind.lnfact,lwantyouto/lwhatl'm about
tosay.Everyonepleasestand.
''Putyourfeettogether,yourhandstogether,intermesh your
fingers,stiffenyourlegs,stiffer,squeezeyourjowls,yourneck,
yourspinalcolumn.
''X ghtenyourbody like aknot,like atight,tightknot.Grit
yourteeth.Gritthem .Gritthem.H oldit.H oldthetension.And
now ...release.
''Feelthetension leaveyourbody? Do youfeelthepressure
releasing?
''Thatreleaseiswhatmyprocessdoesforyoursystem .
''lt takes bottlenecked inform ation and allows it to flow
throughouttheorganization,whereitcanbeturnedintoservices,
products,andcapital.
57. TI-IEBODY M ETAPI-IOP-
''See,yourdetailquestionsareimportant,butlet'sneverforget
thatmy processand productare aboutcreating acompany that
can produceindozensofdifferentdirectionsatonce.
''M y process is about liberation.lt's aboutinnovation.lt's
abouthelpingyourcompanydowhatitwasmeanttodowhenit
erformsatitsbest.''17
DoesyourBodyM etaphorturn thesituationaround?M aybe.
W hatitdoesdoisbreakthedepartmentheadsoftheirpreoccu-
pationwithminutiaeandgetthem backontrack,soyoucanper-
suadethem onthebenefitsofthebigpicture.
This example used squeezing and releasing as a means
demonstratingwhathappenswhenyouremoveapluginthesys-
tem .H ow m ighta similardemonstration be used to influence
othersinyourownlife?
BO D Y M ETAPH O RSAND YO U
Perhapsan employeeofyoursisafraid ofm aking amistake and
hercautionisgettingin theway ofherduties.Youwantto break
herofherperfectionism,so you invite herinto youroffice and
discussthesituation.Duringyourtalk,youleadherthroughthe
squeezing and releasing,demonstrating how when you'retense,
it'shard to focuson anything otherthan thetension.H owever,
whenyoureleasethetension,it'seasiertofocuson everythingin
frontofyou.
You could also flip the rationale behind the squeezing-and-
releasingexercise,andbringupthepositiveaspectoftension.
Forinstance,you ask a slack employee to tense up,and
draw attention to the pronounced muscles in his forearm s.
Thenyou askhim to relax,andshow how thosemusclesdisap-
pear.Yourpoint:W henweoperateatfullcapacity,wedowhat
weweremeantto do.O urbodiesgetstronger,ourabilitiesin-
crease.
You could also usethesqueezing and releasing asameansof
showingharmonyandbalance.Tensionwithoutrelaxationcauses
58. BO DY M ETAPI-IOP.SAxo Yo u 43
burnout;relaxationwithouttension resultsinalifewithoutdirec-
tion.A yin-yangdemonstration.
Ofcourse,squeezingandreleasingisjustoneBodyMetaphor.
W ithsomethought,youcan com eupwith otherstoproveyour
points.
O nepublicspeakerinvitesan audiencememberto facehim,
grab hisrighthand,and intertwinerightlegs.Then thespeaker
and hisvolunteerleanback asfarasthey can.Each alonewould
fall.Butbecausethe/relockedtogetherbyhandshakeandlegs,
they rem ain upright.The speakerdrawsaparallelbetween the
exerciseandworkingtogetherproductively.
AnotherpopularBodyM etaphorisusedbyspeakerstofireup
theircrowds.The speaker asksher audience to stand,extend
theirrightarmsand forefingers,and swivelasfararound asthey
can,withoutm oving theirfeet.Afterthecrowdhasdonetheex-
erciseonce,thespeakerwalksthem through aninspiringvisuali-
zation abouttheircapacity to do morethan they everthought
possible.Then she asksthem to repeatthe exercise,only this
timethey'retotryswivelingmuchfartherthanbefore.
O n thesecond try,mostpeoplecan im proveon theirinitial
perform ancesdram atically.Someactuallydoublethedistanceon
the second go-round.Thespeakerdrawsaparallelbetween the
exerciseandthepowerofourminds.(Bytheway,ifyouwantto
trythisexerciseordoittoothers,m akesurenooneinvolvedhas
abadback.Donewrong,itcanbepainful.)
Themetaphorsl'vejustdescribedputthebodythroughphys-
icaltension.Butyoucan dom etaphorswithouttaxingthebody
ata11.
RobertM iddleton,amarketing consultant,usesan engaging
metaphorto help audiencesre-see a conventionalrule ofsales
and marketing.SaysM iddleton:''lwanteveryone to hold their
penson topoftheirheads,likeyourpenisanantenna.''Hewaits
afew secondssoeveryonecanlookandlaugh,andcontinues:''A11
yourcustomershavearadioantennaontheirhead,andtheyonly
tuneinto one frequency,W IIFM ,which standsfor'W hat'sin lt
59. 44 TI-IEBODY M ETAPI-IOP-
forM e'?lfyouwantyoursalesmessageto getthrough to them,
you haveto m akesureyou'retalking aboutwhattheywant,not
whatyouwant.''
M iddleton takesthe standard W IIFM conceptand givesit
new life.Hisaudienceisnotjustentertained;theyalsogivemore
seriousthoughtto aconceptthey m ay already haveunderstood,
butneverapplied to theirbusinesses.
Some Body M etaphorsmake theirpointsthrough mystery.
M ore than 1OO years ago,a teenager named Lulu Hurstcon-
vinced the world thatshepossessed aphysicalmagnetism that
robbedstrongmenoftheirstrengthandcausedatleastoneearth-
quake.Asbizarre as herclaimsseem ,she was a headline per-
former and was studied by leading scientists as someone
possessingsupernaturalpowers.
During herlifetime,H urst's methodswere never exposed.
H owever,she revealed some ofhersecrets late in life,in the
pagesofhermemoir.M ostofthem had todowith leverage,and
m anycanbemadeintopotentBodyM etaphors.
Anexample:Hurstwouldstandtwofeetfrom awallandhold
herhandsflush againstit,asifdoing astanding push-up.Then
she'd have one man stand behind herand puthishandson her
shoulderblades.Behindhim,adozenmenwouldthen taketheir
places,oneatatime,eachwithhishandsontheshouldersofthe
m an in frontofhim .On thecountofthree,each would steadily
pushwith a11hism ight.W hathappenedto Hurst?
Nothing.
Ashard asthemenpushed,H urstremained uprightandsmil-
ing.W ashersecretbased on metaphysics?No,itwasbased on
plain,o1dschoolbookphysics.
Forthe stuntto work,H ursthad to be able to handle the
strength ofthem an directly behind her;that'sit.Theothermen
on theline werewindow dressing.The effortofeach wasab-
sorbedby themanin frontofhim .Hurstcouldhavehad athou-
sandhe-men on theline,and aslong asthem an directlybehind
herwasam ouse,shehadnoproblems.
60. APPLYING TI-IEBODY M ETAPI-IOP-
Can you seehow herdemonstration could be turned into a
rem arkableBodyM etaphorforyou?lm aginethatyou'retryingto
proveapoint.Perhapsyou'reamemberofacharitableorganiza-
tion,and theothermem bersaredown onyourgroup'sability to
effectchange.
Youkegiventhem yourbestarguments,butthe/restillhang-
ing theirheads.They think yourcommunity'sproblems are too
big.Noonegroupcanmakeadifference.Youoffertogivethem a
demonstrationofjusthow powerfulonepelson,oneorganization,
canbe.Youstandfacingawallandlineupagroupofyourmostro-
bustcolleaguesbehindyou.Theygetred-faced from pushing,but
stillyoudon'tbudge.W hen you'refinished,yougo back toyour
mainideas,now seenthroughthelensofyourdemonstration.
Doyouthinkyou'dhaveeveryone'sattention?Youbet!You'd
notonly havetheirattention,butthey'd beweighingyourcon-
ceptsmoreheavily.Youjustputapictureintheirminds,afeeling
intheirbodies,thattheywon'tsoonforget.
A PPLYIN G THE BO DY M ETAPH O R
Forstarters,thinkofapersuasionsituation thatcomesuprepeat-
edly.W hatdoyounorm allysayduringit?W hatdoyounormally
do?W henyoufindacompellingpointthatyoufeelmightneed
strengthening,extracttheconceptfrom it.
Perhapsyou'rean architectwho specializesin building sky-
scrapers.W hen you presentto prospects,youhave alaptopfull
oftablesand charts,showing how much stressa structure can
take.They seem to appreciateyourfactsand figures,butyou
wishtherewasawaytheycouldexperienceit.
Yourconcept:You wantan allegory thatdemonstratesthat
you know whatyou'retalking aboutwhen itcomesto structural
strength.
W hatwouldfitthat?
YoucouldusethatH urstpushingdemonstration.You'd make
yourpointwith factsand figures,butyou'd also usethedem on-
61. TH EBODY M ETAPH OR
stration to show thatthere are tricksto making structureshold,
andyouknow thosetricks.
O r,youcouldmakeupyourownmetaphor.
Perhapsyoucouldstand onyourchairandindicatetheweak
pointsinyourimpromptustructure.You'dsay:
''W here thechairlegstouch theground isaweakpoint,be-
causethechaircouldmove.W herethechairseatisboltedtothe
legsisaweakpoint,becausetheboltscouldloosenanddropout.
W heremy feetcontactthechairisaweakpoint,becauselcould
slip.Tallbuildingshaveweakpoints,too.Butjustastheweak
points between me and the chairare apparent,so too are the
weakpointsin abuilding.Letmeshow youwhatlmeanthrough
thissimulationon my com puter.''
UsingthatBody M etaphor,doyouthinkthepeoplelistening
toyouwouldhaveabetterunderstandingofwhatyou'reaboutto
show them onyourcomputer?
Coming up with yourown metaphorrequiressomeim agina-
tion,butit'snotrocketscience.Youtakeyourhigh conceptand
you makehuman bodiesparallelthatconceptin away thati11u-
m inatesit.
Y Backroom ''llpsIorCreatingaBodyM etaphor
+ N ames like T'rtggs-forpltgtfogkklec/gtggfsm and Boijy kklettgll/gorare
metaphorsin and ofthemselves.They're attemptsto make
new ideascom prehendiblethrough ideasyou already know.
Don'tgethunguponthecategoriesandwhetheryou'reusing
onetechniqueortheother.
lm entioned M iddleton's pen-on-the-head exercise to a
colleague.H esaid,''W ouldn'tthatbeaTransform ationM ech-
anism,ratherthan aBody M etaphor?Afterall,apen isin-
lved''vo .
H isfeedbackwaswellmeaning,butunnecessary.Chang-
ing the momentand influencing the otherperson are key.
H ow yougetthereisimmaterial.Foryousticklers,substitute
62. APPLYING TI-IEBODY M ETAPI-IOP-
yourindex fingerforthepen,andyou haveyourselfapure
Body M etaphor.
+ A Leytot/?eJ-fgrststggt:Theperson behindyoumustpush evenly
(gg;tstea?ily with palmsagainstyourshoulders.lfthe person
pushesin stopsand starts,yourbalance may bethrown off
andyoumay beknockeddown.
H ow doyougetthepersonpushingevenlyand steadily?
Ask.Remember,the person doesn't know how the stunt
works.Askingto push evenly and steadily soundslikeanatu-
ra1condition forthe test.The person willacceptitatface
value.
lfthepersondoespush instopsandstarts,reestablishthe
condition youke set.Say that this is a demonstration of
strength,notbalance.
A TransformationMechanism:
TheFressure FointLeg Lock
TheStene
The headengineerofyourcompany'scommercialdivisionisreadyto
endthemeeting.It'sbeengoingforanhour,andyou/renocloserto
a resolutionthanwhenyoubegan.
Heand theengineersseatedaround him wantyouto fireyour
assistantbecauseshefumbled asensitiveinformationhand-offbe-
fweenyourdepartmentand theirs.That'show theyseeit,anyway.
You/renotsosure.
Theevidenceagainstherappearsflimsy,yettheseengineers
won'tbudge.They/reclose-minded and unwilling toexploretheinci-
dentinanydepth./f/cou/diostopenupsomeJoubfintbeirminds,
youthink,tbenmaybetbey'dgivetbesitoationafairerbearing.You
decideto Iauncha mechanism.
(continoed)
63. TH EBODY IVIETAPH OR
(Continoed)
The headengineerIooksexhausted,soyouapproachhim and
say,zzIcanusepressurepointstoraiseyourenergy inaflash.''He
eyesyoususpiciously.Youcontinue:zzThephilosophybehind pressure
pointsisthesameasthe philosophy behind acupuncture.Youapply
pressureto onepartofthe body,and itaffectssomeotherpart.Vigor
originatesintheIegs.Don'taskmewhy,itiustdoes.Ifyouhitthe
properpoint,thewholebodygetsiuiced.Thewrongpointshutsyou
down.Letmedemonstrate.''
YouasktheengineertostandwithhisIegsslightlyapart.You
thenIeanacrosshisbodyand,usingonefinger,pressaspotfwo
inchesabove hisIeftkneecap.zzl'm blockingyourenergyflow,''you
say.zzTryIiftingyourIeftIeg.''
Toeveryone'sastonishment,theengineercannotIifthisIeg.zzAre
outryingk''youask.Y
Heassuresyouthathe'snotonlytrying,buthe'sstrugglingto Iift
it.Afterafew secondsofeffort,theconfused and impressed engineer
burstsoutinnervousIaughter.Youreleasethepressure,andaskhim
to IifthisIeg now.Instantly,itgoesup.
Thewholeroom iscrowding aroundyou.Theywantto know if
the pressure pointtechniquewillworkonthem.Canitrestoreen-
ergy?Cureheadaches?Alleviatea bad back?
zzI'IIshow everyonehow to do it,''youassurethem,''butfirstI
mustmakea confession.W hatIdidhad nothingtodowithpressure
points.Itwasa humbug.A humbugwitha message.
zzYouwereaIIfocused onmyfingertip.That,though,wasthe
trick'smisdirection.Ithad nothingto dowithitsfunctionalmechan-
ics.''So saying,youshow thegrouphow,asyouIeanedacrossthe
engineer'sbodyto touchhisknee,youpressedyourIeftfoottohis
rightfoot,and IeanedyourIeftshoulderinto hismidsection.These
innocent-looking actions,whichtheengineerdidn'tevennotice,pre-
ventedhim from shifting hisweight.Theresult:HisIegwasIocked in
Iace.P
(continoed)
64. APPLYING THEBODY IVIETAPH OR 49
(Continoed)
''Idid thisstunttoshow thatyoucanfeelsureaboutaneffect's
causeandstillbewrong.
''Now I'm notsaying thatyou/rewrongaboutmyassistant,butI
don'tthinkwe/veused anyrigorinsearching forotherpossible rea-
sonsforthefoul-up.SincehercareerisontheIinehere,Iiustwantus
to becertainofourfacts.''
The roomfulofengineersIooksatoneanother.They/restillcon-
vinced ofyourassistant'sguilt,buttheygrudginglydecideto reexam-
inethesituation.Theexperiencehasopeneda crackofdoubtintheir
minds.
Behlnd the Stene
ThispotentTransformationM echanism isbased uponanoId stuntthat
appearsinbeginner'smagicand sciencebooks.Inthosebooks,you
perform itwithoutwindow dressing,onyourself.Ifyoutrythatstunt
now,you/llhaveabetterunderstandingofhow toperform itasa
mechanism,onothers.
StandwitheitheryourrightorIeftsideagainsta wall.Now try
IiftingyouroppositeIeg(theonenotcontactingthewall).Youcan't
do it.AsIong asyoukeeponesideofyourbodyflushtothewall,
youroppositeIegwillstaystucktotheground.
The reason?Youcanonly Iiftthatopposite Ieg ifyourbodyad-
iustsitsweighttohelpyou,andbecausethewallisactingasa
brace,movementisimpossible.
TheTransformationMechanism versionofthistrickisbased upon
refinementsmadebytheAmazingKreskin,withfurthertouchesby
MarkLevy.Itdisguisesthemethodthroughtheuseofmisdirection-
theartofgettingtheaudienceto IookwhereyouwantittoIook.
Toperform theFressureFointLeg Lock,havetheparticipantface
theaudience.Youdothesame,butstandcloseenoughto him that
theIeftsideofyourbodyisalmosttouchinghisrightside(forexpla-
nationpurposes,I'massumingyou/reonhisright).
(continoed)
65. TH EBODY IVIETAPH OR
(Continoed)
Asyoudiscusspressurepoints,reachacrosshisbodywithyour
righthand,andbendfolw ard totouch hisIeftknee.Inthatposition,
it'saneasymattertoslideyourIeftfootagainstthesideofhisright
footand forceyourIeftshoulderagainstthesideofhismidsection.
Basically,you/rethewall.He'IIfind itimpossibletoIifthisIeftIeg be-
causeyourbody iskeeping hisbodyata mechanicaldisadvantage.
Backroom 'IlpsIorthePressurePointLeg Lock
+ You needn'ttackle the spectatorto getthismechanism to work.
Firm yetsubtlepressureisaIIthat'sneeded.
+ IfyoufindthatyoursubiectcanIifthisIeg,itprobablymeansthat
you're notsufficientlycontacting hisupperbodywithyourshoul-
derandtorso.Leanin.
+ print,these bracing movements appearartificial.In perfor-
mance,theyare not.Ifyoupractice the mechanism ona friend,
you'llsee how naturalitisforyourbody to contactyourfriend's
bodyasyoureachacross.
+ Youmaywonderifthe secretistransparentto the personwhose
Ieg you're Iocking.Notusually.Ifhe realizesyou/re Ieaning in,
he'llassumeit'sincidentaland won'tIikelymake anyconnection
befweenyourheftand hisownIeg-lifting inability.Ifthegenuine
method dawnson him,don'tworry;thismechanism isstilla re-
markable thing to experience- and you were going to explain
how todo itanyway.
+ Ifthe idea oftemporarily fooling people unnel-ves you,use the
science-bookversion instead.Askpeople to stand with theirsides
againstawall,and show them how itmakesmovementimpossible.
Thendraw a metaphoricalparallelbetweenthewallanda problem
theorganizationfaces.
(continoed)
66. APPLYING THEBODY IVIETAPH OR
(Continoed)
+ W hy give away thesecretto thismechanism?AsImentioned,
thisstunthasbeendescribed inbooksavailableto thepublicfor
decades.Still,ithas an astounding effecton those notin the
know.
+ Mechanisms Iike thisone,inwhichyou use the body's natural
physiology againstitself,are particularly valuable because they
canbeperformedalmostanywhere,infrontofanysizegroup.AII
youneeddo isdraw a metaphoricalparallelbetweenthemecha-
nism andthepointyou/remaking.Someothermechanismsfeatur-
ingthebody:
Asksomeone seated ata deskto continooosly trace a small
circleonthefloor,using the toesofeitherfoot.Asshe keepsher
footmotiongoing,hand herpenand paperand askherto sign
hername inscript.Asodd asitsounds,shewillbeunabletoac-
complishthetask.
Asksomeone else to sitwith hisfeetplanted on the ground
andhisarmsfoldedoverhischest.Thenpressyourindexfingerto
the middle ofhisforehead,and ask him to stand.He can/t.As
Iongashekeepshisfeetflatand hisarmsfolded,hewillneverget
sufficientbalancetorise.
Haveanotherunsuspecting soulshuthereyelidsandturnher
eyeballsupward,asifshewereIooking throughawindow inthe
topofherskull.Ifshe keepshereyesinthisposition,she/llbe un-
able to open herIids.In the medicalfield,thisphenomenon is
known as Bell's Reflex,and isthoughtto have evolved as the
body'sway ofprotecting the eyesfrom trauma.The technique is
usedinphonydemonstrationsofhypnosis(zzcloseyoureyesand
imagine a Iarge hole inthetop ofyourhead.Through thathole
streamssunshine.Isn'tthatsunshine warm and calming? Keep
Iookingatitsglow,feeling itswarmth.Asyoucontinuestaring up
atthatwonderfulglow,try opening youreyes.Youtry opening
(continoed)
68. T H E PA PER M ETA PH O R
he problem many people face when learning how to
persuadeisthatthey study tacticsthey can'tpossibly
use.M ostinfluencetacticsarewin/loseaffairs.Theygo
againstthewaywethink and behave.Theydon'ttake
into accountwhoweareandwhatwewanttooffertheworld.
lfyoukeevertriedto adoptsuch atacticandfeltsoiled,lap-
plaudyou.
Believeme,l'm a11forgettingwhatlwantoutoflife.Butget-
tingwhatlwantincludesdoing rightalongtheway.That'swhy
you'llseethatmy strategiesarebasedm oreon makingmy posi-
tion clearandentertainingthan onbackingpeopleinto acorner.
ThePaperM etaphorisaperfectexampleofwhatlm ean:lt's
a principled,often lighthearted,persuasion technique.lfwhat
you'reoffering isofmutualbenefitto 170th parties,thatbenefit
becomesapparentthrough themetaphor.lfwhatyou'reoffering
works,the otherparty can'thelp butsee and agree with the
beautyofitslogic.
69. TH EPAPER IVIETAPH O R
W H AT ISA PAPER M ETAPH O R?
A PaperM etaphorisadiagram ,sketch,orcartoon thatbrings
yourmain ideatolife.Youdraw itinfrontofyouraudience:ona
whiteboard;on thebackofanapkin;insideam atchbookcover.
Yoursketch may seem impromptu,butit'snot.Rather,it'sthe
productofa1otofthinkingyoukedonebeforehand.
PartofaPaperM etaphor'scharm andpoweristheroughnessof
yoursketch.lt'snotaboutartisticskill.You'renotM ichelangelo.
W hatyoudraw isa11aboutthe strength ofyouridea.J'og're
Jfpflg your(ggkfeace(gclltggcetoexteriencef.plltgtyouketllfgêf'lg byyettiny
tlltwltouse(g.lïextrasense:sr/llt.'rbeykeseef'lg intoyourrlfgtl.You'realso
telling them- through actions,notwords- thattheideayou're
drawingisparticularly important,sothey'dbetterleanin because
they don'twanttomissit.
Letmeshow youhow luseaPaperM etaphor;then 1'11teach
yoLl13OW toConstrtlctyotlrOWn.
Suppose lam having dinnerwith Don,the head oftrade-
show developmentforalargecorporation.Donwantstohireme,
butbeforehedoes,hewantsto learnm oreparticulars.
Duringourcrabcocktails,lgrabthreepapernapkinsfrom the
barand usethosenapkinsasamemorablestructureforwhatl'm
going to say.
ltellDon thatlcallmy trade-show procedure '''The Build,
H old,M oveProcess.'Thatis,lbuildthecrowd,holdthecrowd,
and movethecrowdto action.''
ltakeanapkin,m arkitwith abold ''1,''and sketch ahammer
on it.'T hishammerrepresentstheBuild Step/''lsay.''Beforeany-
one attheshow understandshow remarkableyourproductsare,
theyhavetobepresentinyour1700th.Youmustbuildthecrowd.''
lturnthenapkintowardhim anddropitonthetablebetween
us.lstarttotalkabouthow lcreatecrowds.LverytfrleJttg//t(gllogt
builijin.qt/?ecrofz'rtJta3t/?egtgll/tfg-fortwllllltgsfs.lalsorefertotheimage
on thenapkin:''Noticel'vedrawn ahamm er.That'stosymbolize
thatthisisthe Build Step.Butwhatare thecharacteristicsofa
70. W HAT ISA PAPER IVIETAPH OR?
hammer?ltworksthroughforceandm akesaheckofanoise.The
characteristicsofahammeraremycharacteristics,too.Tobuilda
crowdatamajortradeshow,youcannotbesubtle.Youmust...''
W hen l'm finisheddiscussing theBuild Step,lm ark thesec-
ond napkin ''2''and draw afistwithstickfiguresextendingoutof
itstopandbottom .lthenslidethisnapkinbetweenus,andlcon-
tinue:''Step 2istheH oldStep.Onceyoukebuiltthecrowd,you
musthold them .lfnot,a11yourwork isfornaught.Thisisthe
step whereyou give them yourproduct'sfeaturesand benefits,
butyoumustdosoinaway thatmakeswhat'shappeningatyour
1700th more importantthanwhat'shappening anywhereelse on
thefloor....''
W hen l'm finishedwith theHold Step,lmarkthethirdnap-
kin ''3,''and ldraw arunning man,complete with motion lines
trailingbehindhim.ldrop thisnapkinnexttotheothers.
''The third step isthe M ove Step.W ithoutthispartofthe
process,youkewastedyourmoney.Afterall,youkerentedcon-
vention floorspace,constructed a1700th,paid dozensofstaffto
workit,and hired aperformerto build acrowd.Butunlessthat
crowd watchesyourproductdemosand leavestheircontactin-
formation,youkefailed.A11youkedoneispaytoentertainthou-
sandsofpeople,with nothing to show foryourmoney.That's
why in thisstep it'sim portantto getthe crowd to move,and
moverapidly....''
DomycartoonspersuadeDontobuy?lfl'vedoneeverything
else correctly,yes.A PaperM etaphorcan'tclose adealon its
own.ltworksin tandem witheverythingelseyou'redoing.
The exampleyoujustread centered around my three-step
trade-show process.Butitcouldjustaseasilyhavefocusedona
singlefeaturewithinastep.How wouldthatlook?
W e're back in the restaurant,and Don hasquestioned me
abouttheM oveStep.Hewantstoknow exactlyhow lgetpeople
tomoveintothe1700thsothe/llleavetheircontactinformation.
l answer him on anothernapkin.O n it,ldraw an overhead
schem aticofhiscompany's1700th.Asldo,lgetDoninvolved in
71. 56 TI--IEPAPEP-M ETAPI-IO P-
the sketch,asking him aboutthe booth'slayoutand wherethe
staffwillbepositioned.
''lwillstandhere/''lsay,drawinganX atthebooth'sbackwall.
''W ithinforty minutes,two hundred fiftypeoplewillbesurround-
ingmeinaparabolicarc.''ldraw that,too.''W henlfeelthecrowd's
interestisatitsheight,lwillgetthem to lineuphere.''lcirclethe
spot.''lwilldothatbyofferingasampleofyourproduct....''
W henl'm finished,thenapkinlookslikeafootballplay.O ra
battleplan.ThepaperiscoveredwithX's,O 's,anddirectionalar-
rows.lt'samess,butitm akessense.lt'saschem aticofwhatwill
happen.
lhand Donthenapkin.ltellhim tobringitbacktohisoffice
and shareitwithhistrade-show staff.Thatway,everyonewillbe
onthesamepage.W henl'm attheshow,there'llbenoconfusion.
Thenapkin actsasadditionalproofthatlknow my business
and willstand behind it.lt'sagraphic depiction ofmy claims.
H aving itreassuresDon,and makeshim morelikely to go for-
wardinhiringme.
PaperM etaphorscan beusedto illustrateeven the mostab-
stractofconcepts.RobertM iddleton,themarketerwemetlast
chapter,usesaPaperM etaphorto substantiatewhathecallshis
''Law ofL mitedldeas.''
O n a flip chart,M iddleton draws a man,and around that
m an'shead hesketchesshapes:stars,squiggles,circles,squares.
''These shapesrepresentthisman'sideas/''saysM iddleton.''Let's
counthisideas.Hehasone,two,three,four...tenideas.H e'sa
1otlikea11ofus.W eonlyhaveafixednumberofideas,that'swhy
wetendtothinkthesamethoughtsoverandover.
''Suppose,though,them angivesaway oneofhisideastothe
world,through abookhewritesorabusinesshestarts.''To illus-
tratetheconcept,M iddletondrawsanarrow pointingawayfrom
oneoftheshapescirclingtheman'shead.
''You'dthinkhe'd only havenineideasnow,right?Butlfind
thatwhen you give away an idea,theworld alwaysgivesyou a
72. K'I-IAT IsA PAPEP-M ETAPI-IOP.? 57
new ideato takeitsplace.''AsM iddletonsaysthis,hedrawsina
new shape to replace the o1d one.''The m an stillonly hasten
ideas,butifhestartsgivingthem away,the/realwaysreplaced
byfresh ones.''
O fcourse,M iddleton'sm odeliswhimsical,and heknowsit.
O urgoodthoughtsm ay notbefixed in number,butwedotend
to recycle ourfavorites.M iddleton'ssketch humorously tellsus
thatifwewanttoexpandourhorizons,wemustcontributetothe
world.H ad M iddletonputhislessonintowordsalone,hem ight
have seemed to be lecturing his audience.ln cartoon form,
though,histheoryisengaging.
The properPaperM etaphorcan stickwith youraudiencea
long,long tim e.Rob Kaplan,a writer and form er publishing
house editor in chief,told me the story of a metaphorthat's
stayedwithhim for20years.
ln the early 198Os,Kaplan wasattending abusinessconfer-
encewherehemetShep Pollack,who atthetimewaspresident
ofPhilip M orris.The men started talking,and eventually their
conversationturned to theconceptofpower.
Kaplansaid,''lnmycompany,l'm amiddlemanager,soldon't
havemuch power.lnyourcompany,you'reatthetopoftheorga-
nizationalpyramid,soyouhavetheultimatepowen''
Pollacklaughed,grabbedapieceofscratch paper,anddrew a
pyramid.''Rob,you're here?''he asked,pointing halfway down
thepyramid.Kaplan agreed.
''And youthinkl'm hereatthetop?''asked Pollack,pointing
tothepyramid'sapex.Again,Kaplan agreed.
Pollack then did something so simple and powerful that
Kaplan sm iles as he relates it today:the president of Philip
M orristurned thepieceofpaperendforend,so hisdrawingwas
now upsidedown.
''lnreality/''hesaid,''l'm hereatthebasewiththeresponsibil-
ityforthewholeorganization onmy shoulders.ldon'thavethe
ultimatepower.lhaveto answerto everyone.''
73. TH EPAPER IVIETAPH O R
H O W TO CREATE YO U R O W N PAPER
M ETAPH O R
Creating aPaperM etaphorisno differentthancreating aTrans-
formationM echanism oraBodyM etaphor.Youthinkaboutyour
m ain persuasion pointsand come up with waysto depictthem
through diagram ,sketch,and analogy.
O fcourse,you don'twantto draw fordrawing'ssake.You
wantyoursketchtoilluminate,notclutter.W iththatinmind,ask
yourself:
W hataremy mostim portantpoints?
H ow do lexplaineachpointnow?
H ow doesmyexplanationforeachgo over?
W hichpointismostcompelling?
H ow mightluseaPaperM etaphortomakeitmorecompelling?
W hichismy leastcompellingpoint?
H ow mightluse aPaperM etaphorto makeitmore com -
pelling?
W hatisthemostcommonobjectionlhear?
How canluseaPaperM etaphortoovercomethatobjection?
From youranswers,youshouldcom eupwith adozenpossible
metaphols.W i11a11ofthem beequallygood?Ofcoursenot.Some
willbeweak.Somewillbestrong.M ostlikely,you'llhavetoforce
them into conversations,atfirst,tounderstandwhichiswhich.
ThePaperM etaphorisalow-stresswayforyoutochangethe
momentforthepeopleyou'repitching.ltonlyrequiresapen and
apieceofcrum pled paperpicked up from the floor.W hen you
findtherightmetaphor,though,itsvalueisoutofa11proportion
toyourefforts.Themetaphorconvertsasitentertains.
Y Backroom ''llpsIorPaperM etaphors
+ lfyou'rehavingtroublefindinganalogiesforyourpersuasion
points,keep thiswordin mind:like.Askyourself:W hatismy
