This is the final article in the series on linguistic presuppositions, those powerful language patterns that you can use to conversationally persuade others.

There won’t be any new patterns here, just a couple of tips on how to practice them so you can quickly become proficient and start using them in your daily conversations without even thinking about them.

The best way to think of learning these, or any other language pattern, is to treat them like a sport, or a foreign language. The only real way to become proficient is to drill them like you would any new martial arts move.

The best way to drill linguistic presuppositions is to write them out, longhand. The best way to do that is to take an idea that you would like to focus on, and for each of the twenty eight presuppositions, write at least ten or twenty sentences involving that particular presupposition, and your chosen idea.

This will take some time, so give yourself a few weeks to really practice these so you can become proficient. It may seem like a lot of work, but the opportunities that will present themselves once you master these patterns will more than make up for it.

What I usually do is to get an empty notebook, head on over to Starbucks, and sit and write for an hour or so on the weekends, or thirty minutes here or there whenever I have time.

You’ll find a couple of interesting things happening. Firstly, you’ll start using these in your conversations and writings without really thinking about them.

Second, you’ll notice other people’s communication takes on a whole new depth of meaning. You’ll be able to listen to a couple having a conversation and know exactly what is going on below the surface.

You’ll develop a kind of X-ray communication, where you’ll be able to see below the surface structure of the communication of others and read their intentions like never before.

Even if you never plan on using these for persuasion, by writing them out and training your ears to hear them in the words and communications of others is well worth the effort. You’ll literally be able to read others like a book, and will find yourself with a whole new level of social communication skills.

A great way to have some fun with these patterns is to go online into any of the millions of forums out there and use these patterns to argue your point, whatever that may be.

If you really want to develop some mental flexibility, argue both sides of an issue, either on different forums, or with different user names. By arguing both sides of an issue you’ll really develop the intellectual elasticity that will be unbeatable when it comes to persuasion.

Of course, if you have any questions or comments, please drop me a comment and I’ll respond accordingly.

Here we are with another article on linguistic presuppositions, those powerfully useful language patterns that you can use to conversationally persuade others to your way of thinking.

Today’s pattern is called “Change of Place Verbs” and these are words that are normally used to describe physical movement to and from a location. They include words like come, go, leave, depart, arrive, enter, etc.

When you speak of ideas in these terms, it is a lot easier for your listener or reader to accept them as true. When you speak of “entering into an idea,” or “arriving at a conclusion” it presupposes that these ideas are metaphorical places. By describing them in such terms, your listener or reader will have a much easier time “trying the on,” so to speak.

Some examples.

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight

When you arrive at the conclusion that simple daily exercise is the best way to lose weight, you can leave behind any notions of having to pay any monthly fees for expensive mail or meal plans or diet pills.

In this example, you are “arriving” at the idea I want you accept, and you are “leaving behind” the opposite idea.

When you come to the conclusion that exercise is the best way to lose weight, you’ll enter into a whole new world of possibility, where your ideal weight will be much more achievable than you may have thought previously.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

When you come to the conclusion that dollar cost averaging is the best way to build long-term wealth, you’ll leave behind any fears you may used to have about the stock market, and will enter into a real possibility of finally starting to build the retirement that you deserve.

When you arrive at the concept of dollar cost averaging, you’ll realize that building long term wealth in the stock market is a simple consequence of putting away only a few dollars a month, and you’ll enter into the idea being able to really look forward to a comfortable retirement.

When you arrive at the conclusion that presuppositions are the best way to easily persuade others through simple conversation, you’ll enter into a whole new world of possibilities that you may not have realized even existed before. Not only that, but you will leave behind any fears you may have had about being manipulated by others, as you will consistently understand the underlying messages beneath the communications of others.

This is an article in a series on linguistic presuppositions, those powerfully effective language patterns that you can use conversationally to persuade your listeners and readers.

Today’s pattern is called the “Spurious Not,” and is similar in structure to both the rhetorical question pattern and the negative question pattern.

You can use it as follows. Take any negative question, separate the contraction (e.g. aren’t you à are you not) and simply make the question. When you separate the “not” out like that, it takes a little bit more brain processor time to make sense of the question.

If you’ve ever see a TV show when the lawyer had some poor witness on the stand, and kept firing away with questions like:

“Were you not there that night that…”
“Did you not see the defendant…”
“Are you not aware that you are under oath?”

These are intended to throw the witness off guard, and make them more susceptible to tell the truth, (or less resistant to cover something up) or in the case of les than ethical attorney’s, answer the questions in a way that throws their client in a better light, or confuses the jury, so that they will have a harder time coming back with a verdict against the attorney’s client.

In order to persuade, it’s best to phrase these like you are asking a question of yourself, and then follow up with a more “leading” statement.

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight

I wonder if you are not already aware that exercise is the best way to lose weight, because when you realize that you can save a lot of money by not buying all those diet pills and mail order meal plans.

I wonder if you are not already aware that many people have already discovered that exercise is not only the best way to lose weight, but also a great way to improve the quality of your sleep and boost your self-confidence and self-esteem.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market

I wonder if you are not already aware that dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market, and can save you lots of time and worry.

I wonder if you are not already aware of many people who are now happily retired simply because they decided before that the simplest and most effective way to consistently make money in the stock market is through simple, dollar cost averaging.

Idea = presuppositions are a great way to persuade people

I wonder if you are not becoming more and more aware that with these simple language patterns, you can easily persuade your friends and family to vastly improve their lives by opening up a world of possibility around them.

I wonder if you are not starting to realize that presuppositions are not only a powerfully effective way to conversationally persuade others, but they will make it virtually impossible for others to manipulate you, as you will be able to clearly see their intentions beneath their language.

I wonder if you are not already seeing the benefit of not only reading this blog on a daily basis, but also of emailing a link to all your friends, so they too can benefit from these powerful language patterns?

This is an article in a series on linguistic presuppositions, which are powerful language patterns that you can use to covertly persuade others either through simple conversation or writing.

Today’s pattern involves the use of “Rhetorical Questions,” which are questions, which don’t require, nor expect, an answer from your listener. They are designed to express and opinion through a supposed answer to the rhetorical question.

For example, if I say in exasperation, “Who cares what we do?” I’m not really asking for a list of people who are concerned with our actions, I’m expressing a supposed truth that nobody cares.

In order to use these in persuasion, it’s helpful to phrase the rhetorical question to minimize any past situation or condition that is contrary to the idea that you are intending to convey, and then follow it with a statement containing your idea, and the positive benefits that will follow if the listener or reader decides to accept your idea.

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Does it really matter that you’ve been trying to lose weight for years, and nothing works? What’s really important is that you realize that exercise is really all you need, and consistent, daily exercise will allow you to gradually and permanently lose the weight you want.

Who cares if you’ve spent two years on that mail order diet plan, without any real success? What’s really important is that you are starting a daily exercise program, which has allowed thousands, if not millions to consistently not only lose weight, but keep it off as well.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market

Does it really matter that all the pundits on TV are saying that the stock market is in the worst shape ever? What’s really important is that with consistent, dollar cost averaging, you will be setting yourself up for a nice, comfortable retirement, and you will be able to do all the things you’ve dreamed of.

Who cares if your next-door neighbor got lucky with that IPO and make billions overnight? What’s really important is you and your future, and how dollar cost averaging will generate a nice healthy nest egg that will be waiting for you when you’re ready to retire.

Does it really matter that you are just now starting to realize the amazing power of presuppositions? What’s really important is how you plan on using them in the future, both for your benefit, and the benefit of all those around you.

Are you really worried about how you are going to use these powerful language patterns conversationally? Because once you start to see how powerful and useful they are to increase good feelings and potential, you’ll really be wondering how you ever got along without them.

Here we are with another article on the amazing linguistic presuppositions, those incredibly powerful language patterns that you can use to covertly and conversationally persuade others for fun and profit.

Today’s pattern is the “Negative Question,” and is very similar to simple questions. For simple questions, remember, when you phrase the question so simply by answering “yes,” or “no,” your listener or reader will have to accept the underlying idea.

When you make a negative question, it works basically the same way. A negative question is simply phrasing the question with a negative contraction at the beginning.

Don’t you want to go to the beach?
Aren’t you hungry?
Haven’t you had dinner yet?
Don’t you want to see that movie one more time?

When used incorrectly, these can sound a bit confrontational, as it is obvious the speaker is “forcing” the listener to acquiesce.

If you’re boss walks up to you at the end of the day and says (with a disapproving look):

Don’t you want to work overtime tonight?

You know you’re in trouble.

It sounds a lot less confrontational if she said,

Do you want to work over time tonight?

When using these conversationally for persuasion, make sure you aren’t “forcing” your listener or reader to feel any sort of pressure. That never works well in the long run.

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight

Aren’t you aware that in order to lose weight, all you really need to do is exercise, and that you don’t need to spend any money on diet pills or mail order diet plans?

Keep in mind that if you say this before your listener has expressed an interest in losing weight, or if you aren’t already talking about ways to lose weight, it will sound terribly rude.

Don’t you realize that all you need to do is simple exercise, only five minutes day, in order to lose weight?

Make sure when you say this, to genuinely believe that you are helping your listener to achieve his or her goals, and not tricking them into losing weight for your sake.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market

Aren’t you aware of all the people that have generated huge nest eggs through simple dollar cost averaging?

Aren’t you ready to start an investment plan based on dollar cost averaging that will surely grow your nest egg and provide you with an easy and relaxing retirement?

Aren’t you aware of the power of presuppositions to help you to easily persuade others, and to help you protect yourself against manipulation?

Haven’t you discovered yet just how you can use these patterns in your daily conversations to covertly convince others of their great potential?

Aren’t you aware that the great persuaders and orators of all time have been using these very patterns for centuries?

Isn’t it time you started to really practice them yourself so that you can powerfully enrich the lives of all those around you?

Here we are with another article on powerful linguistic suppositions, those simple patterns that you can effectively use within normal, everyday conversations to persuade and influence others.

The pattern for today is rather simple, and can be used very well along with other presuppositions, or by itself if phrased correctly, and with enough rapport.

The pattern is “Questions.” In English, we almost always begin an interrogative sentence with a “question word,” like “who, how, do, did, will, won’t, where, which, etc.” Whenever we hear these as listeners, we unconsciously switch into “listen and answer mode” where we make ourselves open for information, in order to respond with an intelligent answer.

By sliding your idea within the question, no matter how they answer, they have to accept the idea as true.

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Do you know how incredibly easy it is to lose weight with only exercise?
Do you know how many people have lost weight simply by adding ten minutes of moderate cardio every morning?
Are you aware of how many people are losing weight with simple exercise?
Can you think of anything more powerful than simple exercise to lose weight?

Whether you answer “yes,” or “no,” you will accept the underlying idea, often even without knowing that you are being persuaded.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

Do you know how quickly you can build up your retirement through simple dollar cost averaging?
Do you know how many people have become wealthy through simple dollar cost averaging?
Have you heard about dollar cost averaging, and how you can use it to make a lot of money almost on autopilot?

Do you realize how powerful these patterns are, not only for conversationally persuading others, but to detect unhelpful persuasion from those that would otherwise manipulate you?

Are you aware how much money salespeople have made using these patterns alone? Are you beginning to see how you can easily use these patterns in all aspects of your life?

Here we are with another lesson in linguistic presuppositions, those powerful language patterns you can use to covertly and conversationally persuade and influence others to your way of thinking.

Today’s pattern is the Selection Restriction pattern. This particular pattern has a wide variety of applications, both good and bad. Anytime you take a group of things (ideas, time periods, people, etc) and categorize them into sub groups, and assign one “sub group” a characteristic, you are implying that the other subgroups do not have this characteristic.

Lawyers make excellent politicians.

Although according to the rules of logic, this statement says nothing about people who aren’t lawyers and their ability to be politicians, the listener will assume that is the meaning of the statement, that lawyers are the best politicians.

Women have excellent communication skills and can talk about many subjects at once.

While not stated explicitly, this implies that men don’t have excellent communication skills, and can’t talk about more than one subject. (I’ll leave the actual truth of that for you to decide.)

He’s the guy I see walking every morning.

While “that guy” you see walking every morning may do a variety of things during the day, he is only “the walking guy” in your mind, as described in that statement above.

Anytime you give somebody, something, some event any sort of “label” you are effectively defining it only in those terms, and are using this pattern, for better or for worse.

So how to use this persuasively, in a positive way?

Simple

Separate out groups of “pretend” people into two groups. Attribute some genuinely desirable characteristic to one group, and phrase it so they achieved that “desirable” trait by doing whatever it is you are persuading your listener to do. Be careful not to put the “other” group into any sort of “bad” light, as that will diminish your persuasive power, according to the laws of Karma.

Some examples:

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Plenty of people have tried plenty different weight loss techniques, and those that have had the most success have discovered that the best way to lose weight is through simple daily exercise.

So here you have a group within a group. The first group is people in general. The second, sub group, is people who have tried to lose weight. The group within that group are the ones that have successfully lost weight. And they lost weight because they exercised.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is a great way to make money.

Many people have tried many different investment strategies over time, but the people that are now happily retired will tell you that the easiest way to get there is through simple, dollar cost averaging.

The selected group is happily retired people (which presumes a group of unhappily retired people), and they got there through dollar cost averaging.

Now, I don’t know exactly where you are in your sales career, or your particular skill level when it comes to persuasion. Some people like to study persuasion and persuasion techniques as a hobby, while others use it on daily basis to make a significant amount of income.

Those that do are either naturals, meaning they were born to sell, and have been persuading people as long as they could walk, or those that learned the techniques consciously, and perfected the art of persuasion over a period of time.

Those that have learned to become masters of persuasion through the study of specific techniques and language patterns will tell you, hands down, that presuppositions are likely the most powerful, most effective, and most useful set of language patterns to use conversationally that exist.

No other set of patterns will allow you to carefully lead the mind and emotions of your listener to better and more empowering places, so that everybody benefits.

This is another article in a series on linguistic presuppositions, powerful language patterns that you can use to easily and conversationally influence others to your way of thinking.

Today’s pattern is quite simple, and if it were a magic trick, it would rely heavily on mental misdirection. The pattern is called “Contrary To Expectation” and basically involves use the word “should.”

They kind of put the listener or reader into a mental bind, and force them to implicitly agree with your message or idea, as they will be focusing on the logic of the statement. By themselves, these aren’t all the powerful, but can be peppered throughout your message here and there to drop your idea, or variations of it several times throughout the conversation.

For example, with the idea of “exercise is the best way to lose weight,” there are several ways to use this.

Should you not understand why exercise is the best way to lose weight, I’d be happy to explain it to you.

If you say the above, and they don’t respond, they’ve tacitly agreed with the idea. If they actually ask for an explanation, the implication is that once you explain why, they will accept the idea.

If you should decide you’d like to lose weight in the easiest way possible, then I’ll show you a simple exercise program.

This one mentally binds them up so they have no real choice but to accept the idea.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

If you should not understand why dollar cost averaging is so incredibly lucrative, then I can explain it to you if you’d like to make an appointment.

If you should decide you’d like to find the easiest, safest, and simplest way to make money in the stock market, I can explain dollar cost averaging to you.

If you should wonder why so many people have found it so easy to grow wealth consistently, and with no real effort, I’d be happy to explain the concept of dollar cost averaging to you.

Idea = presuppositions are the easiest way to conversationally influence others

If you should wonder how useful these patterns can be, just imagine a future where you could easily persuade others with only a few minutes of conversation.

If you should think that linguistic presuppositions are only for easy and effective conversational persuasion, just think of how well you’ll be able to deflect manipulation once you learn these powerful strategies.

If you should think that these presuppositions are only useful one at a time, wait until you read further blog posts where I’ll show you how to combine them in ways that will make virtually any message or idea you have irresistibly attractive to your listeners.

Today’s lesson on linguistic presuppositions, those powerful language patterns that you can use to easily and powerfully persuade others, is another doozy.

Logically, then send the listener in a quick time distortion combined with what in sales they call the “takeaway.” Then, all of a sudden, there they are in the present with a huge opportunity to get what they seemingly just lost, and all they have to do is to believe whatever it is you are trying to persuade them!

Sounds cool, right?

The pattern today is called the Counterfactual Conditional Clause, or clauses that are in the Subjunctive Tense. Both mean talking about something that isn’t true, as if it were.

If I were tall, I would play basketball.

If I saw a UFO, I would take a picture.

The actual definition of the Subjunctive is rather vague. The basic definition is talking about something as if it were true, even though it is unlikely that it is.

The way to use this in persuasion is take the idea you’d like to persuade your listener of, put it into a conditional clause, put it in the subjunctive, or counterfactual voice, and finally, put it in the past tense.

For example, first lets create a conditional clause:

If I go out to dinner, I’ll eat chicken. (Eating chicken is dependent upon going out to dinner.)

Now we put it in the subjunctive, or counterfactual voice:

If I went out to dinner, I’d eat chicken. (Eating chicken is dependent on going out to dinner, but it’s not likely to happen.)

Now put it in the past tense.

If I had gone out to dinner, I could have eaten chicken. Since it’s in the past tense, all my chances of eating chicken are gone, so I feel like I’ve missed out on something.

For persuasion, lets use the previously used examples:

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight

If you had started a simple exercise program a month ago, you could have lost about ten pounds by now.

Hearing this makes it sound as if the person in question has missed out on losing ten pounds. And since losing something of value is highly persuasive, they would be much more likely to start an exercise program than if we’d said:

If you exercise, you’ll lose weight.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market

If you had started a simple dollar cost averaging program five years ago, with only as little as 50 dollars a month, you could have generated a huge bank account by now, which could have given you an easy cushion against any unemployment that may come the future.

Now it sounds like we’re really missing the boat, and we’d better sign up for whatever investment plan is offered to us, so we can get back that money that we didn’t make in the first place. We don’t even question the idea that dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market.

Now just imagine now, how powerfully persuasive you’d be today if only you’d started studying these amazing language patterns only a couple years ago.

You could have been able to influence more people, close more sales, and been the center of attention at every social gathering. Just talking to people could have been an interesting experiment in covert mind control, as you would have had the power by now to walk up to any stranger, any place, and strike up a simple conversation and within moments literally having them eat out of your hands.

Not only that, but you would have been impervious to manipulation, as you could have been able to see people with less than noble intentions a mile away, and would have quickly been able to dismantle their efforts at verbally tricking you.

What you do now, of course, is up to you. But some people decide that learning these patterns is a skill that can powerfully influence all areas of your life to affect positive changes in the lives of others.

This particular pattern of linguistic presuppositions, those powerful combinations of words than can quickly and covertly persuade others, is one of the most powerful.

One of the reasons that this particular pattern is so powerful is that it is only one word, and therefore can be placed before (or after) any idea you’d like your listener to believe as true. Of course, this pattern, as well as all the others, won’t do much in isolation, so it helps to combine as many as you can to really maximize the power of these patterns.

Nevertheless, this one simple pattern is one that you will likely see everywhere after you read this. Because it is so simple, and can be applied in a variety of situations, it is very common in advertising.

The pattern?

Commentary adjectives and adverbs.

Since you can’t comment on something that doesn’t exist, it makes since that whatever you are commenting on is a foregone conclusion.

These commentary adjectives and adverbs are words like:

Quickly, easily, naturally, effortlessly, luckily, fortunately, fantastic, wonderful, great, out of this world, peculiar.

For those of you who remember grammar class as only a distant fog, adverbs are words that usually end in –ly, and modify a word.

Eat – - eat quickly, or quickly eat.
Learn – easily learn, or learn easily.

While adjective are words that modify nouns. Of course, the nouns you want to modify can be the ideas you are trying to persuade the other person to believe.

Some examples

Idea = exercise is the best way to lose weight.

If you are overweight, you are in luck because fortunately, all you really need to do to lose weight is exercise. Luckily you don’t have to commit yourself to some crazy diet plan.

Isn’t it fantastic that exercise is the best way to lose weight?
Most people find it amazing that exercise is the best way to lose weight.

Idea = dollar cost averaging is the best way to make money in the stock market

Luckily, you don’t have to go back to school to learn about investing because fortunately, dollar cost averaging, which is the best way to consistently make money in the markets, is relatively simple, and can be learned in about twenty minutes.

Isn’t it fantastic that you can make so much money so quickly with dollar cost averaging?

My friend was amazed when he found out how easy it is to make money through dollar cost averaging.

Idea = presuppositions are powerfully persuasive language patterns

You can easily and quickly persuade others with these simple language patterns. Naturally, the best way to persuade somebody is allow them to believe the idea is their own, and you can effortlessly do this with presuppositions.

Most people are unaware of the massive amount of potential that is all around them. As you start to learn these powerfully effective patterns, you will naturally start to notice all the amazing ways you can apply them to all aspects of your life for continued success and pleasure.