Dear Persuader,

I thought this an appropriate subject to discuss on Halloween...

When a person sneezes, we say ‘God bless you’. That’s a superstition. It started in the Middle Ages when it was thought that the devil could enter a person when unguarded, such as in the midst of a sneeze. If someone said the magic words, ‘God bless you’, immediately after the sneeze, then this unfortunate demonic possession could be avoided.

In many high rise buildings, you can take the stairs one flight up from the twelfth floor to the fourteen floor. What happened to the thirteenth floor? It’s called triskaidekaphobia, and in Western cultures, it’s a fear of the number 13. (Eastern cultures have a superstition about the number 4 called tetraphobia.)

As our world becomes more unstable, the more we look for stability and for explanation. In a moment I'm going to tell you how to use this fact to your advantage in persuasion.

What about something as innocuous as walking under a ladder? This dates back to early Christianity as the sides of the ladder and the ground form a triangle, the symbol of Holy Trinity.

It was thought that when one walked through it, it violated the trinity and put you on the same level as the devil. Nowadays, no one really knows where this superstition came from and yet, people avoid walking under ladders without reason. Maybe it’s wise to avoid walking under ladders simply because you might end up with a bucket of paint on your head, but to believe bad luck will befall you? It’s kind of a stretch.

I have an acquaintance who believes all religion and spirituality is superstition. I happen to think he’s wrong, but I appreciate the perspective in that it’s just another example of how framing is a powerful tool for looking at the world around us.

Superstition is defined as ‘an irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.’

Even Helen Keller’s assertion that, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.... Life is either a daring adventure or nothing,” is an example of how diverse we all are, and yet, we all believe in something irrational.

With that said, how can we use the fact that we all believe in something (which may actually be an ‘irrational belief’) to persuade?

The more our world becomes unstable, the more people look for stability and look for ways to explain things. As a persuader, you have the ability to offer explanations, just the same way that they do to make sense out of their life.

So in the same way that people look for supporting reasons, even nonsensical ones, to explain their reality, and they look to assign blame, we can do the same.

‘There are no accidents’ is a great phrase born of superstition, that we can use to persuade our affluent clientele. Especially if our prospects have had problems in the past, we can use this term to indicate that, ‘Yes, you’ve had problems in the past (with your agent, advisor, etc.), but those problems are over now and we live in an infinitely wise universe where there are no accidents. You ended up with me for a reason.’

Is this true and verifiable? No. Absolutely not. But will you be called on it? Unless you’re trying to sell my acquaintance, the cynic, who views the world through the frame that everyone is superstitious except him, I seriously doubt it.

For more language patterns and ideas on how to layer them for maximum persuasion, check out my Persuasion Factor monthly at-home program. For more intensive learning, for those of you who reach or wish to reach a truly affluent clientele, consider my Elite Coaching Club. You will find yourself becoming less superstitious as you take control of your universe and begin hitting your targets.

Happy Halloween!

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"Use An Old Dog's Old Tricks"

Dear Persuader,

The definition of Revivification is: 1. Renewal of life; restoration of life; the act of recalling, or the state of being recalled, to life. 2. Bringing again into activity and prominence.

I want to walk you through an exercise using Revivification as a technique for persuading your most affluent prospects. Read through, maybe a few times, practice, and try this in your next Persuasion situation...

First, I’d like you to remember a time when you made a really big purchase. Maybe a house, maybe a car, maybe a piece of jewelry. Think about how you felt at the moment of ownership. It’s all yours now. That little piece of security or freedom or luxury is all yours. Does it feel good?

By revivifying this moment in your life, I’ve just reminded you of a groove, a path that you’ve already traveled, a warm, fuzzy feeling that you already know.

Remember when you use these persuasion techniques that they've been created so that you can easily persuade any affluent prospect, and do it in such a way that is unique to that person. You need not use any sales scripts, complicated sales tactics, or manipulation. You simply use these skills to help guide your prospect to the right decision for them.

In revivifying our prospects' well-tread paths and grooves, we’ve set the groundwork for persuasion. We can assist the process of persuading the affluent by directing our prospects to remember times they did the kind of thing we want them to do.

Revivifying a past experience cuts by an enormous percentage the difficulty of getting the affluent to do what we want. Why try to teach an old dog new tricks when you can simply use a trick the dog already knows to get it to do what you want it to do?

Here we have an opportunity as it relates to persuasion to really make our job easy. We can do it by getting the affluent to think about and remember times they did the kind of thing we want them to do, or thought the way we want them to think, or acted the way we want them to act.

If you are a financial planner, for example: Have your affluent prospect think of the first time they made it to a million. What did it feel like when they became a first time millionaire? Can they envision a future when that number is multiplied by ten or twenty? How will that feel?

How about in real estate? Maybe try revivifying ‘home’. Get your affluent prospects to picture in their head what 'home' means to them. If it doesn’t seem to be a very positive picture, move it around to their dream home. We need to keep the affluent mentally on track with our persuasion and not let them go off down a rabbit hole, especially a rabbit hole of negativity.

We need to get to the people that have some money, that have some ability to buy what we have to sell - the affluent. To actually start things off on the right foot we need to position and frame ourselves in such a way that’s easy for the affluent to hear our message.

If we can get our affluent audience to think the way we want them to, instead of having to teach them something brand new (and especially something that’s bad or difficult), well, we’ve already got half the battle won.

It’s really that simple. That’s what we’re doing. We’re literally getting the affluent to remember the track that will carry our message to success. That’s the way to think of this.

Revivification is the art of getting people to remember the track so that when they do so with our message, they’re already accessing a worn-in pathway. And the minute they start the pathway, people need to complete the pathway. People don’t like to leave things half done.

Your message will be carried to fruition much easier than if you tried to teach the affluent how to think in order to do what needs to be done.

What would be the kind of thing you would want your affluent clients to think about? What pathway would you want them to find that already exists, that would help you to make your message come to fruition?

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

When we’re persuading the affluent, (which is after all, where the money is) it’s useful to be as much like them as possible.

But when you get right down to it, it’s very individual. How do we individualize our presentation for each of our prospects? As it relates to rapport, we can do so by effectively learning how their mind thinks.

There are three major ways our minds think and we are all predominantly one (and often a combination) of them:

(1) seeing, (2) hearing and (3) feeling.

Another way to describe these categories is Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic (VAK, if you want to get technical). People get used to targeting one of these by paying attention to one more so than the others.

By increasing your precision with language, you’re going to learn how to create rapport verbally. You’ll also learn how to begin the process of training your prospects to follow your ideas and suggestions. To do this you must first develop a few skills that will give you far more flexibility in your language as well as laying the groundwork for powerful strategies to come.

What is the difference between reality and our THOUGHTS of reality?

What is the difference between experience, (I mean, that which is happening around us), and what we remember about what has happened around us?

to get into this, let’s talk a little bit about how we perceive the world around us...

We perceive our world through our five senses. Our five senses, of course, are visual, auditory, kinesthetic (feeling), taste and smell.

If something happens in the world around you, let’s say within ten feet of you, (and you have the ability to see, hear or feel it, your eyes are open and you’re watching it), do you perceive that it happened as fast as it happened?

The answer is no, you don’t. It actually happens a split second before you can perceive it. Why? Because the information is being filtered through your five senses. In other words, how do you become aware that there even is an experience going on around you?

Another way to look at this is, if a pencil were in a room and something happened but you weren’t there, would the pencil know that it happened?

There are some who argue, yes, the pencil knows and if someone tunes into the pencil, it will tell them. Well, maybe so, but I doubt it.

It takes an observer to be there in the room to know that something happened. And how do we observe? By absorbing what takes place coming into our mind through our five senses. And once the information comes into our five senses, we can remember it and talk about it.

We perceive our world through our five senses. Now most people think, when they first start their study of this, ‘My perception of what happened and reality are the same thing.’

Well if that’s true, how is it that no two people experience things the same?

There are filters that change our perception of things. Our five senses are distorted. In fact, they go through three basic processes that are fundamental to all human beings.

What comes in is distorted, or generalized and/or deleted. Distorted, deleted or generalized.

In other words, there are so many things happening every second around us that if you could possibly pay attention to all of those things, it would pretty much drive you crazy and nothing would make sense.

So we learn to tune our senses to pick up the things that we believe are important.

As we study persuasion even deeper, we will explore each of the three main ways of perception, how they affect rapport, and how you can tune into them in order to maximize persuasion.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

I'm a firm believer that we are here to create our own destinies. Our lives are exactly as we have made them - for good or bad.

I'm fairly certain that most people involved in MAXpersuasion are either living the good life or are on the path to the good life because expanding our universes is truly one of the best ways to get exactly what we want out of life.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about affluence. From the principles of affluence, to the thoughts, to action, to the realization.

Installing an affluent mindset and thought processes will help you to realize your dreams. I'm talking here about the strategies of the world's wealthiest.

Want to know why Bill Gates is wealthier than you? I'll tell you...

It's really more than a mindset. I'm talking about foundational principles, wealth strategies. It's about programming ourselves and teaching ourselves at the level of our other-than-conscious mind.

At the core of who you are, you have a really good idea of who you are and what you want. Maybe you've gained this insight as a result of working through your universes, and understanding your own criteria and your own core values in life. These all provide you the drive that it takes to succeed.

My dad taught me when I was young that if I loved what I do, I would never work a day in my life.

This is sage advice that has been passed on from father to son, from mother to daughter, from generation to generation, probably since the dawn of time. And I can tell you that I've certainly benefited by that.

I know that if we were to go around and follow some of the wealthiest in the world, we might feel like they are literally working from dawn to dusk, maybe even much more. It might even be exhausting to follow them around and try to keep up.

Why? Because their dreams are not our dreams.

If they had to follow you around for a day - and you were lit on fire in terms of manifesting your universes, experiencing your criteria and values for wealth generation and success in your life - I'll tell you, they would probably feel tired too.

What fuels this fire is the fuel of really understanding who you are and what you want. And the clearer the image, the clearer your ability, the clearer and stronger this fire will be burning within you.

If we can get our mind into the mindset of a millionaire or billionaire, then that's where we're headed. You can create those same results.

There was a saying in my early training in neuro linguistic programming that said, "If it's possible in the world, it's possible for me. It's only a matter of how."

And of course there was always the smart aleck in the room that had to challenge the trainer and say, "Are you telling me that a paraplegic has the same ability as an Olympic athlete?" No, that's not what's being said here.

What's being said is that if it's possible for other humans of roughly the same capability that you have, it's possible for you. Meaning, there's nothing inherently better about Bill Gates than you, yet I guarantee he's wealthier than you or me, at least today.

Why is he wealthier? Could it be that he was just lucky? Well, yeah. It sure could. Could it be that he was at the right place at the right time? Yeah.

But it's not enough just to be in the right place at the right time. I love saying, "I'm a great believer in luck. And I find the harder I work, the more of it I have."

Where inspiration and perspiration meet, that's where magic happens.

However, you can't have one side without the other. It's not enough to have the inspiration (the thoughts) without the perspiration (the work, the action, the doing).

It's not enough to just do. That isn't going to cut it either, not without the inspiration, the thought, behind it. We have to couple these things. That's when we find real success and rewards in our lives.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself." - Henry Miller

Hi Persuader,

I love language. I get really excited about words, patterns, meanings and the indescribably magnificent world of linguistics.

For the past 30 years I've been studying persuasion, but really if I think about it I've been studying the language of persuasion. Physical mirroring and matching aside, persuasion is a world of words and it just thrills me to bring this information to you.

When you hear and understand the Awareness Pattern and how to use it in your persuasion, you will kick yourself and think why you didn't use it sooner. This pattern is an absolutely essential tool in your persuasion arsenal.

Aldous Huxley said:

"Every individual is at one the beneficiary and the victim of the linguistic tradition into which he has been born - the beneficiary inasmuch as language gives access to the accumulated records of other people's experience, the victim in so far as it confirms him in the belief that reduced awareness is the only awareness and as it bedevils his sense of reality, so that he is all too apt to take his concepts for data, his words for actual things."

This is an amazing description of how language can either expand our universes or reduce our awareness. And by studying persuasion, we can maximize our benefit of our linguistic traditions.

Language patterns are one of my favorite aspects of linguistics. And the Awareness Pattern is one of the most powerful patterns you'll ever learn. It qualifies as one of my absolute all time favorites.

The three words that I tend to like a lot in this category are: aware, realize, experience.

By simply saying one of these words you're making the person start the mental process that you mention.

In other words, you're enticing them to become AWARE, to REALIZE, or to EXPERIENCE.

These words are very important in your persuasion arsenal because everything that follows them is presupposed to be true. These words also force the issue of not "will you do," but instead, "are you aware of," which is far more powerful in persuasion.

As you gain skill in being able to use these words powerfully, you might think that someone may respond to the question, "Are you aware of?" by saying "No". I assure you, when done properly, this does not happen. And if it ever did, all you need to say is, "Not yet, huh?"

Here's an example: The more you begin to construct your mind in the ways you'll be using these patterns, the more you'll begin realizing the explosively profitable techniques you are learning. Are you starting to experience the growing awareness of what being involved in MAXpersuasion brings you as I tell you about it and as you go through it?

Is the awareness of the power of these patterns starting to sink in? Let's go through this carefully.

I'm not asking you if these patterns have power; that would not be a presupposition. Do you think these patterns have power? That's not helpful.

I'm asking, "Are you aware of the power?"

If you're not aware, it presupposes you need to be aware. And if you are aware, you'll state that you are in fact aware. If you say, "Yes, I am aware," then you know the power of the patterns and you agree they're starting to sink in. And if you're not aware, then by hearing the question asked, you begin to become aware.

If you're getting excited about this information, you're ready to learn more about how language can expand your universe. There are several of these patterns that will work for you to persuade the affluent. All you have to do is to take action, learn them, and implement them.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

"Rhythm is something you either have or don't have, and when you have it, you have it all over." - Elvis Presley

Hi Persuader,

It starts in the womb with the thump of the mother's heartbeat. Then come lullabies, rocking chairs, and bouncing the baby for relaxation.

Rhythms lull us. Rhythms soothe.

Just as a lullaby does with a baby, there are ways to use persuasion to soothe, calm, and lull the affluent. It's an incredibly powerful and effective way to influence others. Here's how to do it...

The goal of Repetition in Threes is to establish a rhythm so that we can embed suggestions.

When you get this down you'll really begin to see results. And when you continue using persuasion, before you know it everything you've ever wanted will just fall right into your lap. It's amazing how well this works and what a snowball effect it has on your life and your career.

Symbolically, the number three has extraordinary power in our society - the Trinity. Most every major religion on the planet talks about three things: God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit.

If anyone who has ever been exposed to anything religious, (and that's pretty much 100% of the population on the face of our planet today), has heard something from the Christian religion that deals with the Trinity, even if they couldn't express it in those words, they've at least heard of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

That's another reason Repetition in Three works; it is an immediate reference to religion, a subconscious reference to religion. And if the people you were persuading were highly religious, repeating in three could have a dramatic impact on them.

Even in humanist psychology, they talk about the id, the ego, and the super ego (the conscious mind, the sub conscious mind, and the super conscious mind).

There's the father, the mother, and the child. These are all iterations of the number three in our society.

Here's an example of using Repetition in Threes:

Today, there are a few things that I believe so strongly that I want to emphasize so profoundly, that I believe in with all my heart, that I'm going to do my best to try to take the position of a father who's giving this information to his beloved son in such a way that he can infuse his heart with the spirit of the message such that it's really understood through and through. And there is a resulting change, such that today, by the time we've gone through this process together, you will experience this information in a whole new way.

Not only will you be excited about it, not only will you feel fantastic about it, not only will you have a sense of understanding that you've never had before, but you'll begin to experience how it will work in your life.

Now I want you to understand that for me, this is a mission. It's a mission that I live my life for every day. See, my dad taught me something very important when I was young. He said, 'Kenrick, if you love what you do for a living, you'll never work a day in your life.'

And he also taught me that if you don't like what you do, then every day will be a struggle and a fight. So I realized early on that I had to love it and it's my mission to help people understand these principles just like I do so that they can have a change of life, then can completely accept into their heart a new way of understanding, a new way of dealing with this subject matter and that's my goal for us today as we talk.

Now, what have I just done there? Let's analyze it...

First, I've used all kinds of religious symbolism, repeating in threes. I used the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit symbolism to infuse you with the spirit.

Secondly, (and this is one of the main reasons Repetition in Threes works), I repeated my message. Repetition helps install anything. It's simply a convenient way of remembering to repeat the things that you most want to install in people.

And thirdly, spoken in a soothing cadence with emphasis on the proper words, Repetition in Threes utilizes the lullaby rhythm that helps put our affluent prospects in a very receptive mode so that persuasion is inevitable.

Repetition in Threes is just one way to install things into your affluent prospect's mind. When you use this in conjunction with other persuasion strategies, you will have exceptional results.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

How do you know if something has really made it into the collective consciousness?

Well, I'll tell you one way... it's on Oprah. Oprah features it.

I want to talk with you a little bit about the movie The Secret. I imagine you've probably seen it, or have heard about it. Maybe you even own it.

Let me give you a few thoughts:

I absolutely love it. It's phenomenal. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it and here's why I think it can have a significant impact on your life...

The Law of Attraction is absolutely at work in my life and in the lives of everyone who has the ability or inclination to pay attention. (Obviously that's you, since you had the good sense to subscribe to this newsletter and learn more about persuading the affluent.)

What is the Law of Attraction?

Basically, it says whatever you concentrate on, you'll get more of in return. If you concentrate on your lack of money and worry about paying bills, you're going to get more 'need'.

On the other hand, if you concentrate on drawing money to you, becoming a money magnet, you will attract affluence.

And this isn't just about money. It's about every single thing that you think about. This includes influence, sales and conversion, as well as more personal aspects of life like health and wellness, relationships and spirituality in such concepts as gratitude.

I'm sad to tell you that there are a number of people that, in an attempt to make a name for themselves and parlay off the success of it, have decided that it's appropriate to tear this movie down.

Why? You may ask. And you're probably also thinking, "what does this have to do with persuasion?"

So why would people want to put this movie down?

Well, a typical way of trying to promote oneself these days is to piggyback what you're doing along with something else that's happening in the news.

The Secret is certainly in the news and I have no issue with doing that. In fact, I love to use the piggybacking strategy myself when I get a chance. And I guess you have to take a stand one way or another on things, so this group of people chose to take a negative stand.

Do you agree with everything that you hear from any source? I don't, and I doubt you do either.

So I guess we could then turn and ask, do you agree with everything that you've heard about The Secret, or as a result of watching The Secret? I can tell you that I don't.

But disregarding the entire movie just because there are a few things I disagree with would be like saying, "Money can be used wrongly so I'm going to do the right thing and never try to earn another dime as long as I live. I'll make sure that if ever anyone gives me money, I'm going to give it away because, after all, I don't want to be involved with something bad."

That is definitely throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

If a person objects to positive mental thinking, positive mental attitudes, and the sage advice that has shaped our nation and most all of the successful people in the world today that have followed along the footsteps of great thinkers of our time, then I guess someone could genuinely be upset with The Secret.

But in particular, what did the naysayers pick on? One is that The Secret talks about being responsible in every way. The movie says something to the order of, "We all choose our own reality. Even the people of Darfur consciously chose their plight in life."

Alright, so the people that stood against this movie basically said, "That's nonsense. The Secret is a cult and so it's saying things that are blatantly untrue." They are framing the creators of this movie as a cult.

Do I believe that the people in Darfur (or anywhere else in for that matter who are having horrible problems) consciously choose to be there? No, of course not. And I think in the attempt to entertain and be dramatic, The Secret went a bit too far.

However, do you know that there are many, many millions of people that actually believe along those lines?

I don't think anyone would say someone would consciously choose that kind of life, but let's say that you believed that we are here on planet earth for a reason: to learn. Life is a school and we're trying to learn all the lessons this school has to offer.

Were all of the lessons you learned in high school positive? Probably not.

Some of them were very difficult. Some of them hurt a lot. Maybe you broke up with a special boyfriend or girlfriend during that time and it was quite devastating. Maybe you thought your whole life was coming to an end and then all of the sudden you were saved by something else going well for you.

Alright, so you learned the lessons of your schooling, good and bad.

Well, there are a lot of people out there who believe in reincarnation. Now once again, I'm not going to ask you to believe in this, not for a second. I'm not going to ask you not to believe in it, not for a second.

Through the perspective of reincarnation they might believe that we choose our parents, we choose the country we're going to be born in, and we choose to live the lessons that earth has to give us such that one day we don't need to come back anymore and we can evolve to a higher level.

With this belief as the basis for this premise, then would it be reasonable if you were the creator of the movie The Secret and you believed in these things, that you would make a statement such as, "The people in Africa who are starving have chose their plight in life so that they could experience these difficulties to learn how to overcome them or simply experience a life of poverty"?

I think the answer is absolutely yes. They didn't choose them consciously; they chose them before they came into this earthly experience.

The big question I have for you is: why should we knock it?

I have my own beliefs and thoughts. I believe we need to be responsible. I believe we need to be careful, but to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I just can't fathom.

What do you think?

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

Sometimes it's hard to let go. We've all been there... not wanting to say goodbye to something that we've outgrown, not letting go of someone who wasn't good for us.

Think about a time you had to put a beloved pet to sleep because you knew it was the absolute best thing you could do to end their suffering.

As the things in our lives become outmoded, as we grow to learn and strive for more, we have to also learn to let go of ways that we existed in the past, ways that are no longer applicable to how we've advanced.

I'm about to reveal to you 1 of 2 things that I absolutely believe you should NOT be doing in persuasion. These things are NOT part of persuasion and will hinder your results when you carry them out (hint: the 2nd of the two is in the last sentence of this post)...

If you're in the Persuasion Factor or in my Elite Coaching Club, one thing that should have come to an end already, that you, by now, have buried or flushed, is the concept of cold calling.

I had a student ask me in a seminar recently how the process of criteria elicitation applies to cold calling. The hard, cold truth is: you cannot apply this to cold calling as a general rule.

Cold calls are not selling. Cold calls are marketing. For those of you that do cold calls, stop it. Learn how to market. Spend some money and actually market your product or service. Marketing works.

If you're in a business in which you must cold call, supplement it with real marketing.

Some businesses have to cold call. For example, realtors farm area, at least an awful lot of them do. There are other ways to do it, but some will choose to cold call. It does work in that profession.

Some stock brokers choose to prospect by telephone. It isn't easy, nor is it fun. But in some ways, the game is rigged. If they work for a company that has a compliance department, they may not allow them to do much else.

Nowadays, if you're an advisor of any kind, you probably aren't even allowed to send an email through the company's system to a customer, and if you did you probably can't say more than "hi" or compliance will stop it.

So in that instance, maybe all you have available to you is cold calling. Even if that's the case, don't confuse it with selling.

In sales, we are simply looking for someone with their hand raised. Cold calling is nothing more than getting someone to raise their hand. When they raise their hand you switch hats and move from marketing to sales. Now criteria becomes an issue, whereas in the 'marketing' side it was not.

The minute there's an interest, the context is present in which to do criteria. Before there's a context you can't elicit criteria. It won't do you any good. You won't get any answers and there's no rapport.

If you can, stop cold calling. Sell to current clients. Develop new clients from your current clients. Work with getting new clients through some systematic method of advertising that will create a steady stream of traffic.

It's time to let this one go. Sorry old pal, your time has come. As with 'features and benefits', our time together must come to an end.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

Empathy is the ability to identify with and the vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another person. Empathy is the capacity to understand and respond to the other's experiences.

Can you see any advantage of that in terms of persuasion? I sure can. I've been using it as a secret weapon for years in my persuasion and I'll now share it with you.

Here's an exercise to really help you get into the affluent mindset of your clients...

It's all about understanding and responding to their experiences. You may have heard of another powerful technique like this where you metaphorically 'jump' into them. Here, we are instead going to experience them.

When someone feels that kind of trust - where you are actually experiencing what they are going through - rapport is never far behind.

There is unbelievable power in being able to tell how someone feels just by observing them.

With loved ones whose patterns we know and understand, this comes naturally. This exercise you will give you an insight to people you don't know that well (if at all).

The ability to empathize with people you've never met before - from your affluent prospects to potential employees to potential romantic relationships - is pure gold. This is incredibly powerful for EVERY situation and you will begin to see just how it works once you practice it yourself just a few times.

For this exercise you'll need a partner. Here's the set up:

Ask your partner to think of anything. Call it 'A'. Notice how their body is arranged - facial features, breathing, muscle tension, gestures, etc. - and take a mental snapshot. This is how they represent thought 'A'.

Next, have them break state by looking around the room and naming three things they see. (This is just to get their mind off of 'A' and to revert back to their normal state.)

Now, have them think of something qualitatively different, though not necessarily opposite. Call it 'B'.

[NOTE: When you first do this exercise thinking of the opposite may make it easier, but I encourage you to develop your skills and not use something opposite once you've got the hang of it.]

Okay, now have them break state again.

Next, have them think about either the A or B thought, without telling you which. Your job is to tell which one they're thinking about, just by looking at them. Which snapshot do they resemble the most?

Once you've done this enough times, switch roles and let them enjoy the experience of being able to tell what you're thinking. You can begin to really know the people you deal with regularly.

Now you don't practice this with your prospects. You're not going to sit down with them and say, "okay, now let's practice a persuasion technique..." You practice this with the people you know well, so that you can fine-tune your observation skills.

After a while, you will begin to recognize the smallest state changes in others as you converse with them. When they speak about certain topics, give you certain answers, you will actually experience them and they will feel it too.

Although they will not be able to pin point the feeling they get, they will feel connected to you.

So what's the value in this? Certainly it's a fast and effective way to gain rapport. It also puts the person in a state of feeling understood.

Another way this can be valuable is in determining whether or not a client is lying. Not that you need to interrogate a client, but knowing if someone's fibbing is always useful.

If a prospect, for instance, explains that their finances are "great" but their body language belies this, then these verbal and nonverbal cues can be a dead give away that this prospect doesn't really have a steady hold on his finances - and this information can be used to your persuasive advantage.

You can use other persuasive strategies (taught in detail in my Persuasion Factor program) to get this prospect to open up about their financial situation. And once you do that, you gain even more rapport, you get to the heart of their problem, and you can immediately introduce yourself and your service as the solution to their problem.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland

Hi Persuader,

When I was a kid I was raised on a farm. I used to help my grandpa plant fruit trees. Some of them were hybrids - really cute little trees.

I remember saying to him, "Grandpa, we worked hard in the garden this year and I can't wait. I'm going to really enjoy the tomatoes and the carrots and all these vegetables, but what I really want are some of these apples that are going to come on this tree. It seems to me that the tree is pretty little, but I guess because it's a dwarf tree it's still going to have apples."

And my grandpa said, "Well, you know, you first have to plant the tree and then the tree has to mature a bit and then it will be producing apples and you'll be able to eat the apples, but that's going to take a couple of years. These trees don't produce immediately. It's going to take a couple of years."

In our businesses, some of us don't have to wait a couple of years to reap the rewards. But we do have to plant the seeds and we have to nurture it, water it and we have to take care of it while that's happening.

I don't mind working hard, putting in the time, the sweat, the financial investments for more education and state-of-the-art equipment because I know, ultimately, that apple tree is mine and that fruit is going to be delicious and will sustain me in every way.

What is it that will carry you through the growth period, enabling you to work and do what needs to be done such that you can reap the "apple" - the time and freedom that you really want?

Many of my students have been with me for years. I've watched them as they've - for lack of a better word - blossomed into amazing persuaders. We've all grown together. And as we take on new students of all different persuasions - realtors, financial advisors, copywriters, - we are able to see the amazing richness this diversity brings us.

It's not a farm with only carrots. We've got variety and that variety shows us how to apply persuasion in so many different facets of life. We are amazing resources for each other and I am particularly excited about what we bring to each other through the forums, the blog, and at the seminars and in the Elite Coaching Club.

Sir Isaac Newton said, "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent."

Patient attention. This is a concept I want to explore with those of you who feel they are struggling with a huge amount of information that seems to be opening itself up to you.

I caution my new students all the time, not to be too hard on themselves for not getting it all right away. Not only is it training the other-than-conscious mind to experience undue stress, but it's really counterproductive. Despite your current level, if you're on the calls, if you're doing the light and sound sessions, if you're thinking about persuasion and your skills daily, then you are getting it. It's sinking in. Please believe me.

And while I suggest that this is all sinking in, I'm also going to tell you that if you're not making the most of this - say by not doing the home play or by not coming to the quarterly meetings, or not showing up for the weekly calls - then something needs to be adjusted.

In order to "get it" you need to be present. You have to have the "attention" part in play for it to begin to bear fruit.

With that said, if you are receiving these newsletters in your inbox every few days and you're feeling as though you need to step it up a notch, then look into my Persuasion Factor program to learn how you can really get involved and actively learn this material.

Until Next Time,

Kenrick E. Cleveland