Communication Skills That Can Change Everything

Three Communication Skills That Can Change Everything An Essay by Steve Scott www.stevenkscott.com

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Three Communication Skills that can Change Everything.

“As I came to understand and then use these three techniques they have made all the difference for me while becoming an effective and persuasive communicator. I know they can serve you as well.”

Steve Scott No single skill is more important to our success and happiness than the ability to communicate. Communication is your key to personal contentment and continuing professional growth. The inter-personal skills required to convey information, clearly reveal intentions and illuminate feelings are a mystery to most of us. But those of us able to understand and use three simple techniques become capable of creating masterful and persuasive communication. You can be one of them. Effective communicators know it is their responsibility to grab a listener’s undivided attention, hold that attention, impart a clear understanding of what’s being said, and implant what is felt into the emotions of the listener. Great communicators do that by using three techniques.

Three Techniques to Become a Masterful and Persuasive Communicator.

1. Hook 2. Salting 3. Emotional Word Pictures

Hook Simply stated, the first thing you need to do when effectively communicating is to grab your listener’s undivided attention. We accomplish this with a “hook.” A hook is a strong statement, a personal reference, or a specific question that grabs a person’s attention at the beginning of the communication. A “hook” instantly brings the listener “into” the conversation. “Have you ever looked at your hair in the mirror and wanted to cry?” Cher was my celebrity spokesperson for a great line of hair care products and the preceding state-ment was the “hook” that I wrote for her to use as she began her conversation with hair care buyers. Hooking a Person’s Undivided Attention An effective “hook” is built around three qualities; a strong and captivating statement, a personal ref-erence, or a specific question. The best hooks contain more than one of these qualities. The line that I wrote for Cher used two; a strong and captivating statement and a specific question. Remember the components of great “hooks.”

1. A strong, captivating statement 2. A personal reference 3. A specific question


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During your conversations today look for opportunities to grab your listener’s attention using one or all of these qualities. Writing a good hook is a learned skill that you develop. Like any other skill, you become better by doing. Constantly think, write and try using hooks. Salting Once you gain a person’s undivided attention you need to keep that atte n-tion at a high level. Personal interest in any particular matter ebbs and flows during a conversa-tion. Interest levels begin to decline as soon as ten or twenty seconds after the start of your con-versation or presentation. You keep a person’s attention level high throughout a conversation or presentation with a technique called “salting.” You’ve heard the adage, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” Well, that’s simply n ot true. I can make him drink every single time I take him to the water. All I need to do is salt his oats before I get him to the water. The salt makes him thirsty for the water before he ever gets there. We achieve similar results in our personal and professional commu-nications. Communication “salt” is a statement, a group of statements or a question that creates curiosity about what we are going to say before we say it. For example, in his video seminar on relationships, Gary Smalley tells women that there are two things they do that make a man want to get away from them faster than a speeding bullet. Gary points out that these two things are so devastating to a man’s ego, it not only makes him want to get away from his wife, it can make him want to find another woman to heal his wounds. Needless to say, every woman ends up wanting to know what those “two things” are before Gary reveals them. His salting not only makes women curious about what he is going to say but his communication effectively draws in their complete undivided attention. Emotional Word Pictures The final key to becoming a powerful and effective com-municator is your ability to create Emotional Word Pictures. Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln, Ben Franklin and even the Biblical writers and prophets used this technique to move their lis-teners and readers to the heights of human understanding and emotion. It is literally the master key that opens the door to a person’s mind and heart at the same time. Emotional Word Pictures have not only been the most powerful communication technique I have ever used, it is the single most powerful technique used by the world’s greatest commun i-cators throughout the ages; Ronald Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt, Winston Churchill. An emotional word picture is a word, a statement or a story that creates an instant picture in the listener or reader’s mind. It effectively clarifies what you are trying to say and communicates a feeling that you want your audience to feel. It can be as simple as a word or statement; or as complex as a short story or analogy. Creating emotional word pictures is a learned technique. With practice they will become your greatest ally in persuading others to listen to what you have to say and do what you believe to be in their best interest.


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Why Emotional Word Pictures work;

1. Like a hook, they can instantly grab and direct a person’s attention. 2. They have the power to change a person’s thinking and beliefs. 3. They breathe life into any communication. 4. They actually lock understanding and feeling into a person’s memory, som e-

times for life. 5. They provide a gateway to deeper relationships because they enable the listener

to actually feel what you are feeling. 6. They can enable you to correct or reprove someone’s behavior or attitude in a

way that can be more easily received without negative consequences. 7. They provide the only communication method that can bridge the chasm be-

tween right-brain dominant individuals and left-brain dominant individuals. Create Emotional Word Pictures; Six steps to creating effective Emotional Word Pictures

1. Set a specific time to create the word picture. 2. Think about the other person’s int erests. 3. Create your word picture from one of the following inexhaustible sources; the

passions, hobbies, or interests of the person you are communicating with, memo-rable events from their past, present events that he or she is currently involved in, everyday objects that the person is familiar with, images from nature or imaginary stories that picture the points you want to make.

4. Practice using a word picture before you actually share it with the person. 5. Pick a convenient time with minimal distractions to communicate your word pic-

ture. 6. Without overusing them, be persistent and soft in using emotional word pictures.

Practice Using These Skills Now look for opportunity to use these three techniques; hooks, salting, and emotional word pic-tures. Be confident in knowing that you can become skilled in using these strategies. I am so confident that you will understand and effectively use these techniques with such suc-cess that I want to give you something more. Here’s another FREE technique. Bonus Skills and Strategies—Humanities Greatest Motivating Factors Once the person with whom you are communicating truly understands what you are saying and feels what you are feeling, which happens as you become more and more skilled with these strategies, the final step to moving them to a particular course of action becomes fairly easy. Because you are effectively communicating understanding and feeling your conversation has moved a great distance. Your communication skills have traveled from New York streets to a Los Angeles beach. The short distance remaining is from the sand to the water. The difference between good communication and powerfully persuasive communication must include an ap-peal to humanity’s greatest motivating factors.


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The Three Greatest Internal Motivating Factors in Anyone’s Life.

1. Desire for gain 2. Fear of Loss 3. The need to love and to be loved

Our desire for gain, fear of loss or desire to love others are internal factors deeply embed-ded in the personality of each of us. The more you appeal to any or all of these factors, the more persuasive your communication will be. You move from informing to connecting with your audience in a deeply personal and moving way. People will respond to your message be-cause it answers a question, solves a problem or validates their most intimate emotions. Persuasive communication is like a magnificent building with a solid foundation, the finest building materials and an attractive and sound structural design. The foundation of communi-cation is “honoring and respecting” the person with whom you are communicating; honoring and respecting them with your attitude, the words you choose and the manor in which you pre-sent those words. The building materials are effective “hooks,” “salt,” “emotional word pi c-tures” and appeal to their greatest internal motivating factors of desire for gain, fear of loss, or the need to love or be loved. The structure itself is a logical presentation that respects the lis-tener’s time and satisfies their need for information, service or products. Important Definitions

Hook: A strong captivating statement, per-sonal reference, or specific question that instantly grabs a listener’s undivided attention. Salt: A statement, question, or story that creates curiosity about what you are going to say before you say it. Emotional word picture: A word, statement, or story that creates an instant picture in listeners’ minds that clarifies what you are trying to say and implants a feeling into their emotions.

You begin using these three keys to effective communication as you design effective presenta-tions. By thinking through your presentation, knowing when you will use each of these tech-niques and actually rehearsing your “salt,” “hooks,” and “emotional word pictures” you will b e-come expert in implementing the skills. Like every other good habit they are acquired over time and perfected through practice. The final secret to becoming a great communicator is to use these skills in a structured way. Here is how you put all of these skills together.


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The Secret Keys to an Effective Presentation 1. Make sure everything you write or say in your presentation treats your listener with

honor and respect and avoids condescension. 2. When appropriate, appeal to at least one or more of the person’s three gre atest internal

motivating factors (desire for gain and fear of loss that your idea or product affects.) 3. Write a presentation that follows this structure:

a. Create an opening that will immediately grab the listener’s attention with as strong a hook as you can create. (Use emotional word pictures when appropriate.)

b. Describe the problems your idea or product will solve. c. Salt the presentation with curiosity building statements or questions as often as you

need to keep the individual’s undivided attention. d. Use emotional word pictures to make your most important points crystal clear and

unforgettable. Use your idea or product benefit list and your answers to objections and excuses to form the body of your presentation.

e. Use testimonials of others who have benefited from similar ideas or from your

product. If this is a sales presentation, use the testimonials of satisfied customers, industry experts, or other credible sources to increase the credibility of your product and your claims.

f. Use comparisons to other ideas, products, or prices to build a perceived value of the

idea or product that far exceeds what you are proposing or the selling price of your product.

g. Close the presentation with a quick summary (when time allows) of the benefits of

your idea or product. Give a risk-reward comparison, a clear-cut reason for action, and finally, a call to action.

Persuasive communication can open more doors to people’s minds an d hearts than any other key. It is a learnable art that you can master. In the beginning it will take time and effort. But like any art, the more you practice, the more it becomes second nature and the more you will discover your ability to effectively and persuasively communicate. Good Luck If I can be of any help please don’t hesitate to contact me at www.stevenkscott.com Steve Scott

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Communication Skills That Can Change Everything