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by: KenrickCleveland
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I recently wrote an article about "Persuasion Continuums" which is one of the slickest tools you can use in persuasion. I'm back for more and am thrilled to give a little bit of a deeper look at this phenomenal tool.

Here's a brief recap of the first article: A continuum works best when the client you are influencing is at one end or the other, not if they're middle of the road on a particular matter.

If your prospect is at the far left side of one continuum (say the towards and away continuum) but in the middle of another one (like the internal/external continuum), then you'll want to concentrate on towards and away and ignore the internal external because whatever language you're using in that regard is not going to affect them much anyway.

These continuums are organizing principles for people; they're a filter, a way of looking at things. And, lucky for us, they're habitual, meaning, people tend to keep the same perspective within the context in which you've inquired.

Radical life changes can alter orientations but for the most part, they are a set way of experiencing the world.

We all view the world through these different lenses to one extent or another. We have a 'towards/away' lens, an 'internal/external' lens, and an 'options/procedural' lens. Once you understand how these work and what to say in order to access them, you will be able to zero in on the way a person functions and influence them with amazing precision.

The idea is to learn to adjust your language to take advantage of the continuums you hear like notching a key to fit into a lock.

People commonly believe that we all have the same thought processes, that despite our differences of opinion, we all have a similar way of gaining and assimilating knowledge. This is simply not true.

I think the way I do. You think the way you do. They think the way they do. We're all complex little creatures.

Step one in using this skill is to allow yourself to be a blank slate, a white board, which your prospect will define. You are open to their way of viewing the world so as to get into their head.

You are not at all changing your core values or beliefs. You are temporarily changing the way you express and receive information within the context of talking to this particular person.

'You are what you eat,' 'Clothes make the man', 'You can tell a lot by a person by who they keep company with'. . . these are all cliches and/or truisms (depending on your frame), but are you really what you eat? No. Are you really what you wear? No. You are a great deal more than the parts that make you up.

Are you a belief? No, but you're closer to that than you are a shoe. Are you a value? Well, that's part of who you are. You're part of all those things. When you combine it together you have you.

It is vitally important that you understand that by "becoming" like your client in the way you language your persuasion, you are not fundamentally changing who you are. It's like you're changing your outfit or getting a new haircut.

When we're pushed into a corner and we have to come out swinging, we're going to simply do what it is that we know how to do. And from there, we hope to improve. Every time you're in front of a prospect, you're in a corner, so to speak, and you do what you know how to do as best as you can. The goal is to have flexibility, to increase that.

As contexts change, so do orientations. Don't assume that because someone is 'away' as you discuss health, that they'll be 'away' in regard to finances or security. This is context specific and requires that criteria be re-elicited.

Coming soon: Backing the Ambulance Up to the Door: The 'Away' Perspective.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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