| By :
George Hutton
Sit back and think, now, what it would be like to be able to deliver a basic imperative to anyone you saw, and they would carry it out without the slightest hint of complaint. Imagine having the guts to walk up to any person and give them a simple command, and have them eagerly obey. Far fetched? Not quite. Read on. There is a way to turn a command into a simple question, one that implies the command, but also carries with it an "out" for your dear listener. A way to "soften" the command so that they almost want to do what you ask. There are many situations where you could use such a strategy. For example, let's say you are a salesperson. You've given a fantastic sales presentation, and it's about that time that every salesperson dreads. Asking for the order. It would be wonderful if you could wave your magic wand, or pull out your pocket watch and put them into a hypnotic trance so they would order everything, including the five year warranty. But in order to get them to buy your product, you've got to ask them to. If you simply tell them to buy your product, you run the risk of breaking rapport and ruining everything you've built up over your conversation. This is where this particular pattern comes in hand. It was created by none other that world famous hypnotist Milton Erickson, and is called the "Conversational Postulate." Basically it turns a command into a question. "Sign this sales contract," tuns into "Say, do you have a pen to get started on this form here?"?" The question, "Do you have a pen to sign this contract with," technically is a "yes" or "no" question. But most everybody will understand the implied command inside of the question. It is a command that brings with it an implied "out" for your potential client, and doesn't have you coming across as a pushy salesperson. We use these every day. When you are sitting at the table with others, you don't command that somebody pass you the salad dressing. You ask nicely, "Can you pass me the salt?" Obviously they can, so on the surface it seems like a funny way to ask for the salt. But it is command disguised as a request, which in turn is disguised as a simple yes or no question. Which is much easier to comply with. You can also try this with your friends, and see how far you can go before your friends cart you off to the mental institution. Do you have enough money to buy me a dessert to go? Do you have enough money to buy me a candy bar? Can you order me another chicken pot pie to go? Can you go ask that girl over there for her phone number for me? Try this, have fun, and see how well it works.
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