Forbidden Keys to Persuasion Excerpt 2

by Blair Warren

As promised, here’s another excerpt…

From lesson 4 of The Forbidden Keys to Persuasion:

Learning from the Masters

The triggers that cause us to make the assumptions we do are dynamic and subject to an untold number of influences such as our personal histories, our intentions and desires, our immediate circumstances and the like. This is the reason that “formulas” like the ones Steve Allen was talking about earlier are so fruitless in producing powerful communication.

Still, while we may not be able to “nail down” these triggers and just pick and choose the ones that suit us in any given situation, there is another way we can improve our awareness of them and as a result, increase our power over them. To do this, we must study the masters of the art and their work is all around us, albeit in disguise.

Many people today complain that entertainment has no real educational value. And while I understand their complaint, when it comes to harnessing the power of psychological ventriloquism and increasing our skills of persuasion, nothing could be further from the truth.

From films and TV shows, to comedians and magicians and everything in between, the world of entertainment is the greatest school of psychological manipulation ever devised. And the best part is, it is all around us all the time. We only need to recognize this fact and the secrets of these masters are ours for the taking.

In his fascinating book, Which Lie Did I Tell? More Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman discusses a brief portion of a screenplay by Raymond  Chandler. The scene, which he offers as an example of great screenwriting, is as follows:

FADE IN ON

A married couple in an elevator. They stand silently. The man wears a hat.

The elevator stops.

A pretty young woman gets in.

The man takes off his hat.

That’s it. That’s the entire scene. Do you see why Goldman thinks it is such a well-written scene? I didn’t the first time I read it. In a moment, I’ll let Goldman explain for himself, but first, take a look at the scene again and try to uncover its magic.

FADE IN ON

A married couple in an elevator. They stand silently. The man wears a hat.

The elevator stops.

A pretty young woman gets in.

The man takes off his hat.

Did you catch it that time? If you did, you’re doing better than most because the magic is just below the surface. Goldman explains it this way:

“With that shot, you know everything. You know it’s a crappy marriage, you know he wants better, you know there is sexual energy in that rising room now. And you can do that in what, ten seconds?”

I believe what Goldman is saying is that in no time at all, the writer was able to communicate a world of information about the characters, their relationship, and their circumstances, simply by showing a man removing his hat for a stranger but not his own wife. For screenwriters I can see how this would be important. But for those of us who wish to increase our understanding of human nature, it is powerful almost beyond belief.

There are two fascinating things we can learn from this scene if we but take a moment to consider it. First, in reality, the writer didn’t “communicate a world of information” – we did. The writer simply wrote 32 words on a piece of paper. That’s it. Nothing more. We read these 32 words and added everything else to them, our assumptions about the characters, their relationships, their circumstances, everything.

And second, the screenwriter knew exactly how we would fill in the blanks. While it appears we have a choice in the matter, and perhaps even in theory we do, in reality, we don’t. No, the screenwriter isn’t putting a gun to our heads and forcing us to make any given interpretation. He is simply presenting information in a way that he knows will lead us to interpret things a certain way: his way. He controlled what we were thinking. This is the real secret behind the magic of this scene. This is the essence of psychological ventriloquism. And this is what makes studying dramatic, comedic and other forms of entertainment one of the most powerful ways we can develop this skill.

Films, plays, novels, jokes, magic acts and countless other forms of entertainment are literally loaded with opportunities for us to discover the secrets behind, and become more sensitive to, the way people think. Why? Because these opportunities are intentionally put there by the artists who create these bodies of work. These artists know, perhaps better than anyone, how to trigger specific thoughts, feelings and assumptions in our minds.

In addition to the fact that these triggers are intentionally placed in a lot of entertainment, there are at least two other reasons that make this type of material ideal for the persuader to study.

First, this type of material is streamlined for the express purpose of affecting those who encounter it. The writer of a joke has a few lines to generate the effect. A songwriter a few minutes, a screenwriter a couple of hours – at most. There is no room for fluff. They must generate an impact in this amount of time or they will have failed. So while most everyday communication is designed to make a point, entertainment is designed to make an impact.

The next reason that makes this type of material ideal is that the triggers used are often the most universally applicable ones around. Think about it. Films, songs, jokes, whatever, to be successful must not only generate the desired effect, but must do so in the largest number of people. If we want to understand what impacts the greatest number of people in the most powerful way possible, again, we’d be hard pressed to find a more apt body of research material.

When I have shared this idea with clients, occasionally one will complain that since entertainment is just “make believe” it couldn’t possibly teach us much about “real life.” By now, you can probably imagine that I agree with them in their concern. After all, they do make an interesting point. However, one need only consider the effect that entertainment has on us to discover where its value lies. In other words, how about the tears you shed, the fear you feel, or the laughter you share with your fellow audience members? Is that real or are you making it up? Case closed.

The next time we find ourselves laughing at a joke, crying at a film or being surprised by a detective novel, if we would but stop and retrace the steps of the artist, we could uncover the underlying psychological secrets that made that reaction not only possible, but almost inevitable.

Posted on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 09:59 PM

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