persuasion Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich published a guidebook called Language: Л Key Mechanism of Control In it, he advised Republicans to use positive governing words for themselves and negative words for their opponents. This pamphlet encouraged them to use the words "common sense, courage, dream, duty, empowerment, fair, family, and freedom" when talking about Republican ideals. He then advised them to use the following words to talk about their Democratic opponents and their position: "betray, bizarre, cheat, collapse, corruption, crisis, destroy, devour, and disgrace." Remember how in 1980 Chrysler almost closed its doors and declared bankruptcy? Their only hope was $2.7 billion in loan guarantees from the federal government. This seemed hardly possible. Why would Congress approve such a sum for a private corporation? Chrysler and its lobbyists knew the right language would tip the balance. They positioned their argument so it was about the government providing a "safety net" for its companies, the same way it does for individuals. They further argued that this was an "American problem" belonging to everybody and not a unique situation only to themselves. Their strategy worked! The argument won Congress over, and Chrysler got the financial guarantees it needed. Master persuaders use very assumptive and assertive language. For example, instead of saying, "If you get the report done by Friday, we'll leave early and go out to dinner," they would say, "When you get the report done by Friday, we'll leave early and go out to dinner." Effective persuaders also speak positively when accepting responsibility. Instead of saying, "That's not my problem. You'll have to talk to someone else," they would say, "I'll have the person responsible give you a call." EmotionPacked Words The words we use can hurt others and cause tension and resentment. Words can even cause wars. Humans tend to create and use words that hurt or label. Hitler used labeling and namecalling during his rule in Germany. He called the Jews many negative things, including "vermin", "sludge", "garbage", "lice", "sewage", and "insects." Labels also extend far beyond the names people are given, into the way we describe things in a negative light, such as "broken home," "singleparent family," or "blended family." Whereas we think of theses terms as essentially neutral, the words can earn' significant negative weight to those people to whom the terms apply. As you design your persuasive message, you must consider the emotional impact of each word and phrase. When you want to create emotion, choose words that will trigger feelings. If you want to downplay the event or situation, use an unemotional word. Notice the following words generally have the same definition but carry different emotional weight, for example, calling someone "thrifty" versus "cheap," "traditional" versus "oldfashioned," "extroverted" versus "loud," "careful" versus "cowardly," and "eccentric" versus "strange. persuasion