Persuasion Is Play

Business.

Ways to learn persuasion - one of my students recently asked me, 'kenrick, how do you keep track of all of these persuasion strategies? I can' t even remember to use the unconscious hello. . .how can I remember all of them? ' I responded to my student by saying, 'When you learn a new language, are you fluent in a week? ' When you learn a new instrument, can you play Rachmaninoff after a couple of lessons? Over the last few years we' ve learned dozens and dozens of them and each call we have you teach us a new technique.

The subject of persuasion is just as rich as either of these examples. - but the field fo persuasion is ever expanding with amazing breakthroughs happening all the time. The difference is, once you' ve learned a new language, you know the language( provided you practice it) . World class persuasion requires you to master the basics. Simple. And how do you master the basics when you are trying to learn something?

Practice. - and more practice. 'learning' has been traditionally broken down into five different categories: imprinting, associative learning, habituation, observational learning and play. Practice. The first learning phase is called imprinting and is closely associated with young animals and children. For persuasion purposes, imprinting doesn' t have a lot that we can utilize, but the brain state resembles very closely the brain state we achieve through the use of our light and sound machines. It is the process by which babies learn from their parents. An example of habitual learning is when an animal first responds to a stimulus, but if it is neither rewarding nor harmful then eventually, the response diminishes.

In persuasion the two types of learning that we most often utilize are observational learning and play. - this kind of learning rests mainly in the other - than - conscious. With observational learning, we observe and repeat. It' s that simple. Observe and repeat. So when my student asks about the' unconscious hello' , I say, observe and repeat.

I call the homework at the end of each call' home play' because I love the concept of play and playfulness as a way to enjoy our learning and enhance our experience of not only persuasion, but of life in general. - lastly, play. We' re all successful in our fields. And yet, I can' t help thinking that part of what we do when we meet for our quarterly meetings is quite playful. Many of us have high pressure work environments. Role playing, even the occasional, camaraderie game. Back to my frustrated student' s question.

Some play is unrestrained and has no outcome, but our play has a clearly defined goal, as does our work. - persuasion is play. Persuasion is habitual. Persuasion is observation. Persuasion is repetition and emulation and commitment and intention. And it all comes in time with persistence.