Shut Your Trap

Wow! I understand stage fright, but I don't understand this... Odds are, if you're much of an internet surfer, you've seen this clip already:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII

This is a YouTube clip of a Miss Teen America contestant from South Carolina. She's answering the question, "Recent polls have shown that a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?"

This is even scarier. . . seeing it written out word for word:

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there in our nation don't have maps. And I believe that our education, like, such as in South Africa and the Iraq, everywhere, like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

Maybe she got left behind, if you know what I mean.

Keep this clip in mind in relation to persuasion under the heading of 'when talking too much loses the sale'.

Of course, for the most part, we aren't persuading thousands or even hundreds of people, and to be fair, we have no idea how hard it would be to endure that sort of pressure. However, out of the fifty girls, only one clip is circulating the internet. The other forty nine didn't blather on insanely.

As persuaders, our goal is not simply to fill the air with words. We strive to aim our message directly at what our clients and prospects need.

Of course, regardless of how pleasing this contestant's physical form was, whether or not she was attractive enough to win is not the point. She came in third and that truly indicates this was not an intelligence contest. She's not hard on the eyes, just hard on the ears.

Without proper training, you may be perceived as a bumbling idiot. If we take a lesson from Ms. Upton's "answer" to the question, it should be this:

Less is often better. If you have no idea what you're talking about, best keep your mouth shut.

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

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated