/b> – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece

We all make a variety of decisions every day. These can vary from the routine, such as deciding what to wear, to those of greater importance such as buying a car or a new home.

What is most important is that we make the right decisions, becoming convinced through the correct processing of good information.

When you become convinced about something – whether it’s:

• something you’re thinking about buying
• an idea you’re being told about
• or the trustworthiness of a person or a source of information,

we all have a point after which we can be convinced of something in response to consistent input.

This is rarely a conscious process – you probably don’t say to yourself “I’ve seen that information three times in different places from different sources. I think I’ll accept that as being true.” It’s more likely that the information eventually comes to seem okay.

How does that happen?

For starters, two meta-programs (deep filters) are involved in this process:

1) Convincer Channel

We all experience the same world, yet focus on different things and process the information of our senses in different ways. Sometimes we may have a preference for how we want information to be presented to us.

For example, how do you know that something you are being told is true?

See
Do you need to see evidence of it?

• See it yourself
• See a photo,
• Watch a video,
• Examine a graph

Hear
Do you need to be told about it?

• By a trusted source
• By a variety of independent sources
• By an expert

Read
Do you need to read about it?

• Reports
• Research
• Testimonials
• Reviews

Do
Do you need to experience it?

• In person
• Try it out
• Work with it
• Prove it for yourself

Of course, these options aren’t exclusive – you may be convinced by information presented through several of these channels at different parts of the decision process.

In order to track your own decision-making process, it may be useful to ask yourself – which of those channels grabbed your interest and which one acted as the clincher?

Now let’s have a deeper look at decision-making.

2) Convincer Mode

In addition to how the material is presented, it’s important to know how the decision point or conviction is reached. There are several preferences here too:

Number of examples – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece

s is rarely a conscious process – you probably don’t say to yourself “I’ve seen that information three times in different places from different sources. I think I’ll accept that as being true.” It’s more likely that the information eventually comes to seem okay.

How does that happen?

For starters, two meta-programs (deep filters) are involved in this process:

1) Convincer Channel

We all experience the same world, yet focus on different things and process the information of our senses in different ways. Sometimes we may have a preference for how we want information to be presented to us.

For example, how do you know that something you are being told is true?

See
Do you need to see evidence of it?

• See it yourself
• See a photo,
• Watch a video,
• Examine a graph

Hear
Do you need to be told about it?

• By a trusted source
• By a variety of independent sources
• By an expert

Read
Do you need to read about it?

• Reports
• Research
• Testimonials
• Reviews

Do
Do you need to experience it?

• In person
• Try it out
• Work with it
• Prove it for yourself

Of course, these options aren’t exclusive – you may be convinced by information presented through several of these channels at different parts of the decision process.

In order to track your own decision-making process, it may be useful to ask yourself – which of those channels grabbed your interest and which one acted as the clincher?

Now let’s have a deeper look at decision-making.

2) Convincer Mode

In addition to how the material is presented, it’s important to know how the decision point or conviction is reached. There are several preferences here too:

Number of examples – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece

ou know that something you are being told is true?

See
Do you need to see evidence of it?

• See it yourself
• See a photo,
• Watch a video,
• Examine a graph

Hear
Do you need to be told about it?

• By a trusted source
• By a variety of independent sources
• By an expert

Read
Do you need to read about it?

• Reports
• Research
• Testimonials
• Reviews

Do
Do you need to experience it?

• In person
• Try it out
• Work with it
• Prove it for yourself

Of course, these options aren’t exclusive – you may be convinced by information presented through several of these channels at different parts of the decision process.

In order to track your own decision-making process, it may be useful to ask yourself – which of those channels grabbed your interest and which one acted as the clincher?

Now let’s have a deeper look at decision-making.

2) Convincer Mode

In addition to how the material is presented, it’s important to know how the decision point or conviction is reached. There are several preferences here too:

Number of examples – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece

i>Prove it for yourself

Of course, these options aren’t exclusive – you may be convinced by information presented through several of these channels at different parts of the decision process.

In order to track your own decision-making process, it may be useful to ask yourself – which of those channels grabbed your interest and which one acted as the clincher?

Now let’s have a deeper look at decision-making.

2) Convincer Mode

In addition to how the material is presented, it’s important to know how the decision point or conviction is reached. There are several preferences here too:

Number of examples – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece

/b> – How many times do you have to be presented with a piece of information before you trust its authenticity?

For example, how many times do you need to be told that a particular movie is good before you decide to go and see it?

Naturally, marketers know that repetition helps in convincing many people to make a buying decision. The idea is that repeated exposure provides sufficient examples to pass the convincer threshold. Fortunately, it’s not quite that simple.

Period of time – Do you have to evaluate something over a certain period of time in order to establish its worth?

For example, how long do you need to have a new piece of software before you’re convinced it does what it’s supposed to?

This is why a lot of companies offer a free time-limited trial of their products. They know that many people require time to evaluate and decide so they can become convinced to buy something.

Automatic – People in this small category decide very quickly based on a small amount of information and do not easily change their minds. They quickly believe anything that they find plausible and often give the benefit of the doubt.

Never convinced – People with this strategy are never completely convinced. They need to re-check every time. They hold that what was true yesterday isn’t necessarily true today.

I’m sure you can readily understand where that way of processing might be limiting and where it can be extremely valuable.

Test it out:

1) Think about the last time you decided to book a holiday. What did you have to do to be convinced you had made the right decision?

2) How can you tell that someone you work with is good at their job?

3) You have to make your case to receive some funding. What questions can you ask to find out the convincer channel and convincer mode of the relevant decision-maker? How will that help you present your case?

Convincing Others - Ethical Communication

There are many good reasons for finding out someone else's convincer strategies as in 3) above. There’s a lot of talk on the internet about using such NLP information ‘against someone’ to manipulate them. Here’s my take on that.

When I want to communicate clearly with someone, I consider it courteous to determine how they are most comfortable receiving the information I wish to share.

A big part of that is to find out what they want, and how to best convey my solution so they can understand it.

Finding out how they filter information is a significant piece of the puzzle. After all, if my information gets filtered out, they’ll never get to evaluate it and won’t get to make an informed decision.

So being aware of convincer meta-programs can be necessary for clear communication.

The story of convincers isn’t over yet, though. There are further influencing factors to consider. Stay tuned for part 2 – Placebos, Celebrities and Urban Myths.