persuasion Consider how lawyers, doctors, supervisors, lobbyists, and the like must be articulate if they are to survive professionally. Good articulation conveys competence, experience, •and credibility. Another practical reason to have good articulation is simply because it is so much easier to follow. As previously discussed, people will comply with you more if you are easy to understand. Pauses Treat your pauses like gold. Welltimed pauses attract attention to a particular part of your presentation, give others time to tune in and process your message, and help you gain poise and confidence if you're rattled. Use intentional pauses for the points you intend to drive home. Not only does a pause increase comprehension, but it also helps to highlight important points. Use pauses to create attention, emphasis, and mood. A carefully planned pause usually comes before the point you want to highlight. It is a common mistake to not hold the pause long enough. Be sure you allow enough of a pause that the full effect will be felt. When you do this, the audience anticipates and listens closely to what you will say next. They can tell something important is about to happen. This strategy is made even more effective when you combine it with pitch strategies: Be sure that as you come to the pause, your pitch is high, thereby building suspense and giving momentum to what will follow. Inflecting your pitch downward will defeat the purpose, providing a feeling of resolution instead of suspension. Dental Verbal Packaging As a final example of the power of verbal packaging, think about what you hear during your appointments with your dentist-not a particularly pleasant situation in general and sometimes downright frightening. Dentists have mastered the art of verbal packaging to put patients more at ease. What you won't hear What you will hear Painful Uncomfortable Does that hurt? Does that bother you? Blade #12 Hatchet BigH Yank, Pull Remove Cut Smooth Drill Prepare Blood, Hemorrhage Debris Needle Tip Spit Empty mouth Grind Prepare teeth Shot Injection Pain A little pressure The Law of Contrast How to Create Extra Value In the long run, men hit only what they aim at. Therefore . . . they had better aim at something high. -HENRY DAVID THOREAU HAVE YOU EVER TAKEN YOUR CAR to your mechanic and he tells you that you might need new brakes, a new transmission, a new fan belt, and that the timing sounds off? You go away thinking, "Oh man, I'm sunk. I might as well just buy a new car." Then when you come back, he tells you, "You just need new brakes." You feel as free as a lark, only having to pay $300 for what could have been a $3,000 repair job. Imagine if he had told you he thought he could fix it for $50 and the bill ended up being $500. That is the Law of Contrast in action. The Law of Contrast explains how we are affected when we are introduced to two vastly different alternatives in succession. We know that contrasting two alternatives can distort or amplify our perceptions of things. persuasion