persuasion An example of a pacing question (obviously true): Most people would love to be financially free and end their money worries forever. Once you have established rapport and harmony with your prospect, you can create expectation of agreement. You must have general agreement before you can lead your prospect to your point of view. You then begin to use statements that you want your prospect to agree with, even though they haven't consciously and publicly acknowledged that they do. An example of a leading question (you want your prospect to accept): ♦ The answer to your financial problem is providing the right training at the right time by the right person. So to put pacing and leading in a nutshell, pacing statements are obviously true, so the prospect has to accept their validity. Leading statements can't necessarily be proven true, but they represent what you want your Prospect to believe. The Law of Involvement Create and Awaken Curiosity Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment. -STEPHEN COVEY THE LAW OF INVOLVEMENT suggests that the more you engage someone's five senses, involve them mentally and physically, and create the right atmosphere for persuasion, the more effective and persuasive you'll be. Listening can be a very passive act; you can listen to an entire speech and not feel or do a thing. As a persuader, you need to help your audience be one step closer to taking action. As a Master Persuader, your goal is to decrease the distance someone has to go to reach your objective. When you get a prospect to start something, it is most likely they will follow through and complete your desired outcome. The more involved they become, the less psychological distance between the start and the finish. The desired outcome becomes more and more realistic instead of just an idea you are proposing. If you put on your shoes to go to the store, you are more likely to continue in that direction. If you sit down and turn on the TV, your goal of going to the store is less likely to be reached. There are many ways to use involvement. We are going to focus on the following: Increasing Participation Creating Atmosphere Maintaining Attention Using the Art of Questioning Telling Mesmerizing Stories Repeating and Repackaging Building Suspense and Distraction Generating Competition Engaging the Five Senses Increasing Participation You can create involvement through increased participation. The more we take an active role and get involved, the more open to persuasion we become. When we take an active part in something, we feel more connected to and have stronger feelings for the issue at hand. We have a personal stake in what we are doing. One of the keys to successful participation is making your problem their problem. This technique creates ownership and a willingness to help on the part of your prospects. persuasion