It’s not your fault. Wink, wink.
We heard a lot of talk during last night’s presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.
One issue we didn’t hear too much about was personal responsibility. And when we did, it seemed to be about as popular as, well, nailing Jello to the wall.
And yet, I hear many clamoring for just that: more personal responsibility.
If so many want it, why don’t more politicians talk about it? Because they want to get elected.
I discuss this at length in the One Sentence Persuasion course. In fact, this is one of the “big 5” points I make in the report. And the other 4 are clearly favorites of politicians as well.
In fact, I might go so far as to say the candidate that best embraces these points will be the one who wins in November. I think they’re that powerful.
But judge for yourself.
You can get the free version of the report here. Or if you want more, you can get the updated and expanded audio version of the report here.
Either way, I think you’re about to see this contest in a whole new light. If not, don’t worry. It won’t be your fault.
Posted on Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 05:07 AM
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The itch test
I’m getting the itch to start blogging again and just want to make sure everything is up and running before I do.
Hopefully this post will display properly and my RSS feed and Feedburner account are still in sync. We’ll see.
If you notice anything odd, please let me know.
If all is working properly, I should be back in the saddle soon.
Posted on Monday, October 06, 2008 at 09:31 PM
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There are no angels when it comes to influence
Some of my friends are having a discussion on twitter about the ethics of certain persuasion strategies and it brought this quote to mind:
…we are all at the mercy of influences of which we are unaware and over which we have virtually no conscious control. What is even more frightening is that we ourselves, no matter how careful and discreet we believe ourselves to be, are constantly influencing others in ways of which we may be only dimly or not at all aware. Indeed, we may unconsciously be responsible for influences of which we consciously know nothing and which, if we knew them, we might find totally unacceptable.”
Dr. Paul Watzlawick, How Real is Real? Confusion, Disinformation, Communication
If Dr. Watzlawick is correct, and I suspect he is, there are no angels when it comes to influence. We’re all in the game whether we want to be or not. It’s only a matter of how much awareness we’re able to stomach.
Posted on Monday, July 07, 2008 at 07:47 PM
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Crooked comments are back
By request, comments are once again enabled on my blog.
I can’t promise I’ll respond to all of them, but if you’re so inclined, fire away.
Posted on Friday, July 04, 2008 at 09:17 AM
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The Power of Pretense
If we want people to behave in a certain manner, we must set the stage and give them a cue. This is true also when it is ourselves we want to induce. There is no telling how deeply a mind may be affected by the deliberate staging of gestures, acts and symbols.
Pretense is often an indispensable step in the attainment of genuineness. It is a form into which genuine inclinations flow and solidify.”
Eric Hoffer, The Passionate State of Mind
Here are three quick lessons we can take from Hoffer’s quote:
1. Notice, he did not say, “There’s no telling how deeply a mind may be affected by clear communication.” Symbolism, not clarity.
2. He wasn’t talking just about affecting others’ minds in this way, but also our own. Pretense can be very powerful, in both directions.
3. Those who say we must never lie to ourselves are lying to us. Sometimes that is exactly what we need to do.
Set the stage for your own life. Or others will set it for you.
Posted on Friday, July 04, 2008 at 08:32 AM
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