Tip Thursday - Body Language

When people wear a white coat (such as doctors) more people are convinced by and believe them
than someone with the same title and experience speaking to them without one. The coat is just a prop but its underlying messaging has a significant impact upon the perceived credibility of the message. A simple tool to use to help your message be received favourably.

Obviously the white coat is a tool that is available only to those in the medical profession but... consider what an 'authority' in your industry and situation would wear... and wear that! It may be a subtle cue but anything you can do and use to help your message be heard and received favourably is one worth using to your advantage.

Tip Thursday - Influence

It has been shown that people become more 'certain' they are right about a course of action they took IF they can't undo it. If they can't change their action in some way they will hold on firmer and longer to their sense of 'rightness'.

Therefore, if you are looking to change their minds you would do well to help them see some way that their initial action could be 'undone', taken back or overlooked. This isn't always possible of course but the more successful you are in helping them to find an 'out' for their initial behaviour the more successful you will be in getting them to modify their choices in the future.

Tip Thursday - Body Language

We've all heard that a smile can be incredibly powerful.  However, research has also shown that it is a contributor to your overall success in business and love. Researchers have reviewed photos of couples and found that those who were not smiling in their early photos together were 5 times more likely to experience divorce.

Additionally, other researchers found that in reviewing the early sports photos of professional ball players that those smiling in their early rookie cards were significantly more likely to experience success in their professional careers.

The key to this is the link to optimists. Those who are more optimistic - and that's what smiles tend to show - find it easier to get along with people and to expect good things to happen to them, thereby contributing to their success in marriage and, at least, in professional baseball!

Tip Thursday - Influence

Researchers have found that using information and logic to persuade someone to engage in a specific
action is not as likely to influence their future choices as is getting them to 'imagine' certain actions.

For example, researchers that asked participants to read a report highlighting the benefits of purchasing a product were far less likely to sell that product to the group than they were with participants instructed to simply 'imagine' the benefits of using the product.

In fact, more than twice as many purchases were made by those imagining the benefits than by those reviewing factual reports. Consider then the use of this when selling your products and services to your customers. How might you shift your language and ad copy to strengthen your sales?

Tip Thursday - Body Language

Think it's unnecessary for poker players to wear those dark glasses when playing cards? A study by the University of Melbourne found that our eye position betrays the numbers we are thinking about.

It seems that when we think of numbers we automatically code them in space with smaller numbers falling to the left and larger numbers to the right. (for those of us who read and write this way!) We unconsciously place numbers along a left to right oriented number line.

Paying attention to where someone's eyes go when they are thinking of a desired card will give you some insight into  what they are potentially holding. Yes, the movement may be small but if you've got thousands riding on it you learn to watch for small discriminating give-away movements such as this.