Effects of Praise (1)
You know people are more likely to be persuaded to say ‘‘yes’’ when you make them feel good about themselves, their work, and their accomplishments. People will do almost anything for you when you treat them with respect and dignity and show them that their feelings are important.
I remember going to try on suits at the local mall. I was thinking about buying a suit but I was pretty indifferent about making a purchase that day. Because I knew the sales representative would want to persuade me to buy a suit that same day, I came in prepared for his persuasive techniques. He asked, ‘‘What type of suit were you looking for?’’ I answered, ‘‘Blue, double breasted.’’ ‘‘What size are you?’’ he asked. I said, ‘‘I’m not sure.’’ He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye and asked, ‘‘Do you work out?’’ I said, ‘‘Yes, I do.’’ He said, ‘‘I thought so. You will need a suit that has an athletic cut.’’
I smiled and felt the rush of esteem. I knew he was attempting to sell me a suit, and it worked. I took the bait and he reeled me in. It was something so simple yet so powerful. Yes, I did go home that day with a new suit.
An experiment testing the effects of praise on a group of men in North Carolina was very insightful. The men received different types of comments from someone who needed a favor from them. The comments were either positive, negative, or a mixture of both. As you might expect, the person giving the positive comments was liked the best. Secondly, this conclusion held true even when the men knew their ‘‘complimenter’’ was seeking a favor. Finally, unlike the other types of comments, pure praise did not have to be accurate to work. Positive comments produced just as much liking toward the flatterer when they were untrue as when they were true.[12] Strive to be sincere in your praise, although flattery works even when it is not sincere.
The following example shows the immense strength that praise has. At a small college in Virginia, twenty-four students in a psychology course decided to see whether they could use compliments to change the way the women on campus dressed. For a while, they complimented all the female students who wore blue. The percentage of the female student population wearing blue rose from 25 percent to 38 percent. The researchers then switched to complimenting any woman who wore red. This caused the appearance of red on campus to double, from 11 percent to 22 percent. These results indicate that when you favorably comment on behavior, that behavior will increase.
Taken From : Maximum Influence : The 12 Universal Laws of power Persuasion
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