Maximize Your Influence

We've all been told, "Never judge a book by its cover." Yeah, right. Everyone is judging everyone else. Intentionally or not, people are constantly judging and categorizing others, compartmentalizing them into boxes. There are many boxes—sharp, strange, weird, intelligent, dense, geeky, powerful, annoying, and more. A great persuader can connect with anyone in thirty seconds or less. First impressions take only seconds to form, but they last a lifetime. This is a critical skill to develop because the cement dries fast. How do you ensure that you're making those early seconds really count? That first judgment or opinion about you is vital to your success. In this fast-paced world, you probably won't get a second chance—you have to make it happen the first time. Many persuaders can't tell if they're connecting. They think that they're doing everything right, that they're doing all the stereotypical rapport-building things: being friendly, enthusiastic, or fun. But the reality is that in most cases, they are not building rapport and are failing to connect with their audience. Studies show that not only do 75 percent of people not like all the "gushy, chit-chatty stuff," but 99 percent of them won't even bother to stop you when they're annoyed. Changes In Human IQ Are Frightening The proverbial bad salesman comes to mind here. He acts too chummy and tells stupid jokes, all the while thinking everyone loves him. You've probably met him. What did you do when you met this person? If you're like most people, you politely endured the encounter, made up some excuse to get him off your back, and then swore to yourself that'd you'd never get stuck talking to him again. Reality check: This annoying person could be you. Do you know your Persuasion IQ?

Why is it so easy to lose at a casino? Why do they know about human nature that you don't? It is all about the subconscious triggers. In his book Triggers, best-selling author Joseph Sugarman reveals that 95 percent of the reasoning behind a consumer's behavior is associated with a subconscious feeling. In other words, most behavior is done for reasons a person hasn't even fully formulated. Whether we realize it or not, we love shortcuts to thinking. When we buy an item, we don't always take the time to research the product or read the latest consumer guide's ratings on the product. Instead, we could rely on the salesperson's advice. We might just buy the most popular brand, the cheapest, or rely on a friend's opinion. Although we would never admit it, we sometimes even buy an item just because of its color, smell or packaging. Certainly, we know this is not the best way to make decisions, but we all do it anyway, even when we know we might make a mistake or feel regretful afterward. If we considered every single decision, we would constantly be overwhelmed our brain would be shut down and we'd never get anything done. This tendency means that inclinations like "It just feels right," "I like this product," or "I don't trust this person" are all based on subconscious triggers. This thought and emotional reaction occur in the unconscious mind, without our awareness. The reason this happens is the Amygdala. Joseph Ledoux of New York University says the amygdala allows emotions to dominate and control our thinking. The amygdala has control over the cortex in the brain. What does that mean? The cortex is responsible for memory, perceptual awareness, thought, and consciousness. The amygdala stores our memories that we associate with emotional events. This means subconscious triggers are always occurring and triggering feelings and emotions usually without our awareness. How-To Questions Each State Googles More Frequently Than Any Other State What triggers are getting you? How do Las Vegas casinos utilize these against you? Listen and find out. FREE BOOK OFFER

Want to negotiation tips from a FBI hostage negotiator? What negotiation tools are working? Which tools lost the value? Listen to this interview with Chris Voss. Meet Chris: Prior to 2008, Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the FBI's hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council's Hostage Working Group. During his government career, he also represented the U.S. Government at two (2) international conferences sponsored by the G-8 as an expert in kidnapping. Prior to becoming the FBI lead international kidnapping negotiator, Christopher served as the lead Crisis Negotiator for the New York City Division of the FBI. Christopher was a member of the New York City Joint Terrorist Task Force for 14 years. During Chris's 24 year tenure in the Bureau, he was trained in the art of negotiation by not only the FBI but Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School. He is also a recipient of the Attorney General's Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and the FBI Agents Association Award for Distinguished and Exemplary Service. For more info about Chris and his work visit: https://blackswanltd.com/ Chris has taught business negotiation in the MBA program as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business and at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. He has taught business negotiation at Harvard University, guest lectured at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland and The Goethe School of Business in Frankfurt, Germany. Get your FREE copy of Maximum Influence

How do you get a raise? How do you strategically negotiate a raise to earn what you are worth? Or is it better to persuade? What is the difference between the two? Persuasion occurs when your ideas are so convincing that the other party ends up adopting your point of view. With persuasion, there is no compromising, as there is in negotiation. Rather, the other party willfully and enthusiastically abandons their position to embrace yours. The other party clearly sees the gains and advantages of doing business with you. Negotiation, on the other hand, is a process of give and take, give and take, give and take. We meet somewhere in the middle. It's being able to overcome objections on both sides of an issue and ultimately reaching some kind of common ground. Remember, always persuade first, negotiate second. What is the number one predictor for personal success? While persuasion is the ultimate ideal, anytime one of us is presenting our ideas, the other party is often equally committed to their own convictions, thus making negotiation the next-best path. Salary negotiations are different because you are negotiating with a known party (your boss), This requires a different set of tool. Listen to the podcast and get those tools! FREE copy of Best-Selling Maximum Influence

Of all the tools in your persuasion toolbox, questioning is probably the one most often used by Power Persuaders. Questions are used in the persuasion process to create mental involvement, to guide the conversation and to find out what your prospect needs. Questioning is a very diverse and useful tool. An important study observed hundreds of negotiators in action in an attempt to discover what it takes to be a top negotiator. Their key finding was that skilled negotiators ask more than twice as many questions as average negotiators. Much like movements, questions elicit an automatic response from our brains. We are taught to answer a question when it is posed to us. We automatically think of a response when asked a question. Even if we don't verbalize the answer, we think about it in our head. Most people want to be cooperative. We don't want to be considered rude because we don't answer the questions. In this way, a question stimulates our thinking response. The Cheerleader Effect How do you form a good question? First, design your questions ahead of time. The structure of your questions dictates how your listener will answer them. When asked to estimate a person's height, people will answer differently depending on whether the question asked is "How tall is he?" versus "How short is he?" In one study, when asking how tall versus how short a basketball player was, researchers received dramatically different results. The "how tall" question received the guess of 79 inches whereas the "how short" question received the guess of 69 inches. Words have a definite effect on how people respond. "How fast was the car going?" suggests a high speed, but "At what speed was the car traveling?" suggests a moderate speed. "How far was the intersection?" suggests the intersection was far away. How to turn a no into a yes and a yes into a sale

What is NLP? Neuro-linguistic programming, or "NLP" as it is called today, is a very interesting science. NLP was first developed by UC Santa Cruz professor John Grinder and graduate student Richard Bandler. Its basic premise is that one's thought patterns, beliefs and attitudes can be used to "preprogram" actual experiences that are yet to happen. NLP is very focused on how we think, what influences the way we think, and how we structure what we think. Subscribers to the science are encouraged to closely study and then model those individuals who do things well. When studying them, you don't ask them how they did it—just what they were thinking when they did it. The Negative Side of NLP For example, if you asked Michael Jordan how to play basketball, he could give you a big list of dos and don'ts. He might outline a series of necessary drills, but that is not what NLP is about. Instead, you would find out how Michael Jordan perceives basketball in his mind. What are his beliefs and attitudes about basketball? When he makes a decision on the court, what is he thinking? Click here for FREE cutting edge influence techniques that will increase your income Many academics are haters of the science of NLP. On this podcast, I will reveal what upsets them and what aspects of NLP work/don't work. – Listen and find out

Mind Control and Expectations We communicate our expectations in a variety of ways. It may be through our language, our word choice, voice inflections, or our body language. Think of a time when you've been introduced to someone. Usually, if they introduce themselves by their first name, then you do the same. If they give their first and last name, you do likewise. Whether you realize it or not, you accept cues from others regarding their expectations and you act accordingly. Similarly, we all unknowingly send out our own cues and expectations. The power is in using the Law of Expectations consciously! Exercise Changes Your Personality Numerous studies have shown how the Law of Expectations dramatically influences people's performance. For example, in one study, girls who were told they would perform poorly on a math test did perform poorly. In another, assembly line workers who were told their job was complex performed less efficiently at the same task than those who were told it was simple. Another case study demonstrated that adults who were given complex mazes solved them faster when told they were based on a grade-school level of difficulty. Then there is mind control. What are the negative approaches to mind control and what are the techniques used in everyday persuasion? What are the mind control tools that are appropriate to use? Which one's are being used on you? – Listen and find out Whats Your Persuasion IQ?

The psychological edge gained by top persuaders cannot be overemphasized. How do great persuaders prepare their minds for success? What is their mental process before, during, and after the persuasion cycle? This mental aspect is one of the most important (and usually neglected) traits of success. Almost everyone wants to accomplish their dreams, achieve more, become a better person, or pursue bigger and better goals. And we often know exactly what we need to do to make these things happen. So why don't we do them? Why do we fall short of our dreams and aspirations? Writing down your goals coupled with a strong desire to reach them won't automatically bring success if you overlook this one vital detail: Successes are not achieved if they aren't first conceived mentally. We are told all the time to be positive, to change that attitude, to have a good outlook. In fact, we are so bombarded with these messages that they are easy to tune out. We gloss over "think positive" messages, saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've heard that before. Now get to the meat." Achieve Your Goals: Research Reveals a Simple Trick That Doubles Your Chances for Success In this chapter, we're going to talk about much more than just positive attitudes—I call it "mental programming." This mind training or self-persuasion is what gives great persuaders the psychological edge. It's true that "you'll only achieve it once the mind believes it." By "programming" our minds, we dictate our future. It's just that simple. Think of your loftiest goals, your greatest aspirations. Do you really believe you can achieve them, deep down? Do you? If you can't visualize your success, you are unlikely to ever experience it in real life. We are always thinking and processing information, and our thoughts either propel us closer to our goals or drive us away from our dreams. We have a choice. It is critical that our "mental programming" is always geared to our advantage. How do you program your mind for success – Listen and find out Claim Your FREE Book

There are only two things that motivate us in life: inspiration and desperation. We either move toward that which inspires us, or we move away from that which fills us with despair or discomfort. Most people only use desperation's motivational energy. Any persuader can motivate an audience with desperation, fear, and worry. The problem is that motivation spurred by desperation does not last. People who are moved by desperation or fear are typically so preoccupied with what they're trying to get away from that they can't think of anything else. If you want personal motivation to last, you need to rely on inspiration, which is rooted in our emotions and vision. The positive results that come from using inspiration as a motivator are obvious. And, inspired people don't need a carrot dangling in front of them to get something accomplished. They are self-motivated and don't wait for external factors to drive them one way or the other. SCIENTISTS SAY THEY CAN MEASURE YOUR CHARISMA WITH ONLY SIX QUESTIONS Motivation is not stagnant; we all will require different types of motivation. Every day, every hour we will require a different form of motivation. Great persuaders know when, how, and what type of motivation to use not only as a persuader but also in their personal lives. It is also critical to know what which combination of motivation to use in each persuasive situation.

Life Alignment When we look at life, we have to realize that it is not lived in segments, but rather, it is part of a greater whole. Every aspect of your life will either help or hurt the rest of your life. Our aim is to get all aspects working together to create a high-performing fund. Realize, however, that you can invest too much in one aspect of your life. When you do, you can get unbalanced just like a tire on a car. Even too much of a good thing can lead to disaster. As you invest in yourself, you must make sure you are diversifying in the following six areas: Financial: If you can't take care of your financial needs, then you can't take care of your basic needs. If you neglect your finances, imbalance will ensue. We all know that an inability to pay the bills affects every aspect of our lives. Financial freedom enables us to find true balance in our lives. Physical: If you don't feel well, you can't even begin to think about the other aspects of your life. You need to have a health plan in place. Do you understand nutrition and exercise? If you don't, your lack of health or energy will drop the value on your own personal mutual fund. Emotional: By our very nature, we are emotional creatures. Our emotions are like a thermostat or gauges in a car; they tell us when and where to make changes in our lives. You cannot allow emotions like anger, resentment, frustration, hate, and envy to control your life. You are in control. If you are not able to control your emotions, you will be unable to control your actions. Emotional mastery is essential to a balanced personal mutual fund. Defeating Pathological Liars: 5 Things You Must Do Intellectual: Personal development is what keeps you excited, motivated, and enthusiastic. We are at our best when we are continually learning and growing. Personal edification is something we need to achieve every day. That's because a lack of personal development causes us to become negative, cynical, and pessimistic. Spiritual: You have to be in tune with yourself, with who you are, and with where you are going. We are spiritual beings; we all have a spiritual side. We all define spirituality differently. It could be serving others, religion, meditation, or getting back to nature. You need to take the time to listen to your inner voice and to tap into your spirituality. Most Americans Still Believe in God Social We are also social creatures. Our greatest strength and well-being stems from our relationships. As such, relationships are an integral part of your happiness and balance. You have to have a sense of meaning and purpose to lead a fulfilled life. No man is an island in and of himself. FREE Copy of Maximum Influence