Power Language Is Awesome Because It Works
Imagine you were standing in a long line waiting to use the photocopier or printer at work. “Gosh this really sucks…” you might say to yourself, “...I wish this line would hurry up! I have other stuff to do!”
Suddenly somebody behind you taps you on the shoulder and says, “I need to cut in front of you because I have files I need to copy.”
You and like many other people who read that last sentence probably thought something along the lines of, “No duh, you jerk! So does everyone else standing in this stupidly long line!”
Now, before we tell you about the incredible story of Line-Cutter McJerkface, you’ll want to read to the very end of this blog post because you’ll discover powerfully effective tools of persuasion.
Of course, you are free to choose to continue standing in this long line for the printer, or you can use this time to unlock the secrets that many hypnotists and persuasive masters of influence use to get what they want. (like cutting to the front of the line!)
Would You Cut In Line If You Had The Chance?
Back to the story! So what would you do in this scenario? How would you respond or react? Would you let them in front of you?
If you answered, “Of course I wouldn’t let them in front of me” then congratulations! You are part of the minority in this choice!
Did we mention that power language has been studied by famous universities such as Harvard?
In fact, in 1978 Ellen Langer, a psychology professor from Harvard University did a study on power language, specifically using the word because.
To give people some clarity for the kiddo’s who have no clue what standing in line for a photocopier is about, back in the 1970’s there was a device called a “Xerox” machine. The Xerox machine was a massive printer and photocopier which was notorious for its long lines and sad individuals who had to wait in it.
The research was simple. Using just a single sentence, could a person go from waiting all the way at the back of the line to cutting in front of absolutely everyone else?
You could say the proof is in the pudding. (or the numbers if you are into that sort of thing) The results proved that power language exists because it bypasses what is known as the “critical faculty” of the mind.
The participants of the study asked those waiting in line one of three of these carefully-worded questions.
- “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine?”
- Only 60% of those asked let the participants jump ahead.
- “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
- 93% of those asked responded yes!
- “Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”
- 94% of those asked responded yes!
Yes, you read that completely right. A Harvard research study showed that you could literally say, “I need to cut in line to use the copier because I have to copy my papers.” and 94% of people said yes.
Go ahead and take a few moments to compose yourself. You’ll need it because you are about to learn some really cool science.
Power Language Will Change Your Life Because Harvard Said So
So you are probably already aware of the word because, because it’s bolded in the bullet points above. What you were probably unaware of though, is what exactly about it that makes it so easy to use with powerful results.
When people resist change it’s usually because they don’t have any other reason to want to change. There isn’t any need or justification for the change to happen. Using the word “because” in this context gives a reason for the change to occur.
We thrive on the deeper understanding of language and the ways we can use it to further our hypnotic abilities.
While the research from Harvard showed that you get an awesome result by asking politely, Mike takes it one step further by making it a statement rather than a question.
So instead of, “Can you please close your eyes because you’ll go into trance when you do?”
(YAWN!!)
You would say, “Close your eyes...NOW, because you’ll go into a trance when you do.”
Doing this allows you to embed a command right before the word “because” and then give your justification. Read those last few sentences again because they will make your hypnotic skills even better.
See what we did there?
The best part is you don’t even need to make the justification all that compelling. Saying, “Let me use the printer because I need to make copies” obviously doesn’t create much sense of urgency, but it will just as easily bypass the critical faculty and give a strong enough reason for somebody to act.
Just Take Power Language Into Consideration
In fact, that is exactly what power language does all by itself. Power language are words or phrases that affect people in a strong way even though they’re just simple words.
The word “just” is another great example of power language. So just take the next moment and check out this example.
Read this sentence to yourself right now.
Just read this sentence to yourself right now.
Which one did you feel more compelled to do? If you are like most people, the second one probably felt much easier to comply with because you didn’t really feel like you “had” to do it. It just seemed easier, didn’t it?
That’s because “just” is a word that softens the upcoming statement. It eases the tension between “having” to do it and “getting” to do it.
In other words, it creates unconscious influence.
Power Language And Positivity
So you are discovering some pretty excellent ways of using power language, but before we continue, it is our full intent to tell you that this stuff really needs to be used only for good, positive reasons.
We teach our students the power of positive change and influence in order to do one thing and one thing only.
Make the world a better place.
That’s it. It’s really that simple.
The principles and techniques you are uncovering in our blog posts, podcasts, and even on our Youtube channel are for positive use.
Needless to say though, sometimes you may inadvertently use some type of power language and unknowingly use it by accident in a negative light.
Because of this, when you understand what it is you are saying then it just gets so much easier to use it in the proper way. Always for the side of good.
So what exactly is really going on?
Your Critical Faculty Is Like A Night Club’s Security
We mentioned a term earlier called the “critical faculty” which is like a filter in between your conscious mind and your unconscious mind.
In other words, it’s like having a bodyguard standing at the entrance to your brain and it only lets certain things in, like what you personally believe is true, what you agree with, or what you are curious to learn more about.
Just for fun, let’s name your bodyguard Steven Tyler because he sure as hell doesn’t want to miss a thing! Unfortunately though, he is only ever aware of about 7 (plus or minus 2) different things at any one given time.
None-the-less, sometimes your mental bodyguard can become distracted and will accidentally let the wrong stuff in.
In fact, what a person says to you is just enough to distract your bodyguard and make him turn his back just enough so it slips right into your mind. This is what makes power language so darn effective.
Your Inner Voice Is As Important As Your Outer Voice
If you aren’t careful though, what you say to yourself is also enough to slip past your bodyguard. It’s not entirely your bodyguards fault though. It has one hell of a job to do!
One of those specific words that you might say to yourself that can make your life difficult is the word “why.”
But “why” looks like an innocent 3 letter word, doesn’t it? It can’t be that bad, can it?
Imagine the word why is like that person you sometimes find out at the bar, pub, or in your favorite night club and they are causing a huge mess. They throw stuff and get in fights. They scream and yell at the top of their lungs and make everybody’s life a living hell.
The word why is a colossal dick.
This is exactly what happens inside your brain when you use the word “why” especially when you are wanting to figure out a problem you currently have.
In other words, the word “why” is what we call a “stuck-state” word. When you (or anybody you may know for that matter) start explaining the story of “why” life is so hard and “why” things are so miserable, why is actually the worst thing you can ask yourself.
Doing this will immediately cause your brain to do the one thing it does best which is to generate answers!
You may ask yourself for example, “Why am I so stupid?”Your brain will immediately respond, “Well, your parents were stupid, you didn’t study in school, you hit your head on a rock when you were 12, your peers were all stupid…should I keep going?”
To which you’ll probably respond, “Thanks for nothing, ya jerk!”
When you want to move forward in life and create powerful positive change, then using words like “what” and “how” are much more efficient than using the word “why”.
What and how are forward momentum producing words.
In fact, if you want to get smarter then it can become rather easy when you change the words you use.
Take the statement of “Why am I so stupid?” for example.
If you wanted to become smarter you would ask instead, “What will I do to become smarter today?” or “How will I use my powerful brain to gain even more knowledge?”
In other words, What and How are like the friends who clean up your house for you after a crazy party. They are fun to be around and are always uplifting. Heck, you may even let them borrow your car one day if they really need it.
Ok so maybe borrowing your car is a bit far fetched, but you get the point.
The Principle Of Autonomy
You may be wondering, “Ok, so if I’m solving a problem, I shouldn’t use the word why, right?” and we would love to respond with, “You are totally right!”
Unfortunately though, there is another word that we have to talk about which can really put a damper on your ability to learn or be motivated to act. That word is “should.”
The word “should” is kind of like that really annoying person in your life who is constantly telling you what they think you need to do:
“You should probably stop eating chocolate…”
“You should probably stay at your comfortable job..”
“You should probably give up on your dreams..”
Telling that annoying person they should probably go play in the freeway is enticing but then that would be contradicting yourself with the word “should!”
When it comes to making decisions, humans are notorious for wanting to have the free will to be the one to choose their own destiny.
In other words, everyone likes autonomy. If that ability to make your own choice is removed you will often shut down and feel like you lost your power. As soon as that happens, it’s like the motivation switch is moved to the “off” position faster than you say, “You shouldn’t do that…”
“Should” can even affect you when it’s used in your own internal dialog. Telling yourself, “I should probably clean the dishes” or “I should go workout” can be just as disheartening as if somebody else told you to do those things.
This Is Just The Beginning
We covered a lot of ground in this article. You’ve discovered how the word “because” can help you cut to the front of the line and how “just” minimizes your resistance so you will consider things easier.
You also unearthed what the word “should” can do if you want to be motivated and how your critical faculty is like a bodyguard in front of a fancy nightclub.
Gosh, there is so much more to Power Language than we could even cover in this blog post.
We haven’t even discussed words like “Try” which implies failure, “Can’t” which shuts down your brain’s ability to want to generate answers, and “But” which deletes everything before it!
Because of just how much more knowledge there is to unpack regarding Power Language, we wanted to offer you the opportunity to discover even more.
You are free to choose between either the Mike Mandel Hypnosis Academy or the NLP Essentials Course, both of which will uncover even more Power Language and other awesome ways to simply improve your life and communication.
The best part is you can just easily decide on Lifetime Access of MMHA which will unlock both the MMHA Academy and NLP Essentials in one convenient location.
Your life will improve and the quality of your relationships and communication will naturally grow as well, whatever option you choose.
When you do decide, we would love your feedback because we are certain you’ll discover how much value these courses give you.
Until next time!