Knock. Knock… What confidence tricksters can teach us about communications
Admiration for a Trickster
Yesterday I had an encounter with a Trickster. She came knocking at my door and had I not been scammed a few years ago by a young girl asking for money for the nightbus to get home, I’d have been less on my guard. The more I think about the conversation the more I realise it was full of rather clever ploys and cues - the kind that NLP and Derron Brown could make whole books and TV shows out of. But also the kinds of cues that Behavioural Economists like Dan Ariely are constantly reminding us about.
The Scenario
Trickster: Hello, sorry to bother you….
Me: Hi there!
Trickster: I’m your neighbour, you’ve probably seen me around, I live at number 38 down the road [trickster dangles keys as if to say, look these prove I live there]
Me: OK. [listening hard]
Trickster: …this is really embarrassing… I’ve lost my contact lens and can’t drive. I need to get to Enfield. I need to borrow £8.50 for a cab. For 45 minutes.
Me: I’m sorry, I just don’t know you…
Trickster: OK. [moves off quickly to try next door]
What this can teach us?
Before writing off some of these tricksters as worthless scoundrels, it’s worth reflecting 3 basic principles that make them actually among the world’s most cunning communicators:
- use specific referents: the precision of the money amounts, times and places my trickster mentioned (£8.50 / 45 minutes / Enfield) diverted my attention from the logical gaps in her story that I only later managed to unpick (it’s more than 45 minutes to Enfield and back for instance)
- physical anchoring: repeated gestures, pointing and general brandishing of the keys created kinetic drama and also helped make her account of being locked out more convincing (I didn’t immediately think to check that her keys were in fact door keys, car keys or whatever)
- personalisation: ‘I’m your neighbour’, ‘I live just down the road‘, ‘you’ve probably seen me around’ all made it harder to disagree with the appeal and harder to overcome the feeling of duty and neighbourliness that she was appealing to
Study, practise and utilitse these 3 tricks in your next presentation and I guarantee you’ll be more convincing. The line about the neighbour might not wash, but I’m sure you’ll find an equally good equivalent.
This entry was posted on Thursday, 11 Feb 2010 at 6:08 pm and is filed under General.
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June 20th, 2010 at 2:04 am
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