Watch Your Mouth: Persuasive Oration

Language is an art. Persuasion is too. Of course, both can also be mangled. As with any art, most likely you'll have to practice to be good with language and subsequently, persuasion.

As always, we orient ourselves toward working with the affluent. To best serve us in this respect, we must use language and speech powerfully.

Reading is the best thing you can do to expand your vocabulary.

However, a huge vocabulary doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be a great speaker. Oration is a different best altogether.

One of the biggest fears people face, is the fear of public speaking. And if you can get over that, the next step is having something of interest to say.

And once you get over the fear of speaking and have something to say of importance or interest, then there's the next obstacle. . . the delivery.

I've been told that I say 'in other words' a lot when I do my seminars and conference calls.

I do this in part because I want to be fully understood.

Another reason I do this is because I don't often use the filler words 'um' or 'uh'. In other words, I'm filling the space with in other words.

There's a great new book out called 'Um. . . Slips, Stumbles and Verbal Blunders and What They Mean' by Michael Erard. One of the most interesting things I've read so far in 'Um. . .' is that this is a universal. All languages have their own version of 'um' (in Spain it's 'eh', in France 'euh') and the use of this filler has been around since at least as far back as the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks.

As of late, probably since the advent of television and radio, 'um' has fallen out of favor and is seen as more of an impediment than simple filler.

'Um. . .' starts out in the offices of the Federal News Service. This is where the transcriptionists type out the news, political speeches, etc., that is 'of record' and appears as closed captions for hearing impaired.

At the FNS, the transcriptionists are given style guidelines: 'um', 'uh', 'ah' and 'er' are all left out, as are false starts of one or two words and partial words. The one exception for all of these rules is that absolutely everything a policymaker is typed out.

I couldn't help myself. I skipped ahead and read the chapter on George W. Bush. And while it's not as funny as 'Bushisms' it is quite an interesting take on perception and how people view him as a result of his "disfluencies".

The perception of the president's misuse of language is as polarized as the general perception of him. Some seem to think his linguistic mistakes make him more down to earth or one of the people while others point to them as further evidence of a disconnect with reality or lack of preparedness and intelligence.

Whichever side you're on, some of these gaffes are incredibly funny. (See: 'Bushisms')

My suggestion this week: pay attention to the way you talk. See how many ums, uhs, false starts, stumbles, gaffes and blunders you make verbally.

Language is a critical part of persuasion and the ums, uhs, and other fillers 'say something' to your prospect when you speak. Keep that in mind when you are persuading the affluent.

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs unique public and private seminars and offers home study courses, audio/visual learning tools, and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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