a short summary of how highly effective people speak by Peter D Andre summarized and read to you by the inner Evolution saving you time on your journey to wisdom subscribe to our channel for more free audiobook summaries now effective communication according to Peter D Andre is more of a science than most people think it's not as some people believe some obscure that can only be Mastered by the most charismatic and graceful Among Us instead it's a complex craft that can be studied and loaned and
its strategies can be broken down and used by anyone most books on speech and communication say the same things keep it simple be authentic use emotion to persuade speak with confidence and so on Andre argues that most of these truisms about speech aren't wrong per se but they only scratch the surface and how highly effective people speak he shares the basic strategies of powerful communication teaching you how to speak with eloquence and persuasion not by simply repeating platitudes but by div
ing into what makes them true and how they make communication more effective the key to effective communication is to understand cognitive biases patterns of thinking that affect human behavior and perception you can use them to persuade and influence others in predictable ways whether intentionally or not the most effective speakers and writers throughout history have activated their audience's cognitive biases to make their communication persuasive and you can do the same in our guide we'll fi
rst briefly touch on the morality of rhetoric and why appealing to cognitive biases isn't inherently unethical then we'll explore some of the most powerful and influent influential biases you can use to make your communication more persuasive and effective then we'll explain andrei's strategies and how to practice them and we'll compare them to those of other communication experts the morality of rhetoric communication says Andrei is about persuasion and the morality of persuading others that is
whether it's right or wrong to manipulate people's thoughts or actions with words depends on the morality of the speaker's intentions using cognitive biases to influence others may seem selfish dishonest or unethical but Andre argues that this isn't necessarily the case rhetoric the science of persuasive speech can be used for good or evil to connect people to sour division to help people see the truth or to make them believe in facets thus rhetoric is a tool you should understand how to use no
t for selfish or unethical reasons but so you can persuade others according to your moral standards appealing to cognitive biases isn't about lying to your audience it's about helping them see the truth by conveying information in the way they're conditioned to understand it short form note a deeper look into morality may help further explain andrei's take on the morality of persuasive communication in the Righteous Mind Jonathan hates argues that morality is based on intuition rather than sound
reasoning that is our moral standards aren't objective truth their social and cultural constructs Guided by emotions more than logic if morality isn't based on rational thought or logic appealing to our often irrational and emotional cognitive biases is the only way we can hope to persuade others if morality itself is intuitive there is nothing inherently wrong with using intuitive rhetoric to influence others let's examine some of the most common and Powerful cognitive biases you can use to ma
ke your speech more persuasive and effective availability bias available availability bias is the tendency to give too much Credence to evidence or information that comes most easily to mind the evidence that's mentally available relying on this type of information can allow us to make judgments quickly which can be helpful but also can lead us to wrong judgments a classic example of this bias is in the common fear of plane crashes a statistically unlikely event that people are rationally fear b
ecause they easily remember instances of it occurring when you step foot on a plane you might remember the new story you heard of a plane crash because it takes more time to think through the statistics about How likely such an event actually is your readily available memory of the headline makes you worry it's going to happen to you what makes availability bias so widespread and Powerful the availability bias was first researched by Amos farsky and Daniel Kahneman in the 1970s and their book Th
inking Fast and Slow provides some more insight into the causes effects and potential remedies of this bias they write that a Big Driver of availability bias is the media which often overemphasized the importance of a relatively insignificant event like a plane crash a plane crashes of course tragic but no less tragic than the estimated 3700 daily deaths due to car accidents but since car accidents are much more common they are much less likely to become a big news story and cause global fear an
d panic sarsky and Kahneman also write that you're more susceptible to availability bias under certain conditions such as when you're in a good mood when you're an amateur in a field or when you feel powerful or successful being aware of this enhanced susceptibility can help you avoid falling victim to the availability bias but you can also use it in your communication if your speech makes the audience feel good or powerful it'll be more persuasive if you're writing about a topic in which the au
dience isn't well informed it'll have a greater greater effect according to Andrei if you want your communication to be Unforgettable and thus the most readily available it should be emotional simple and Vivid he offers several strategies to imbue your speech or writing with these qualities use compelling narratives one of the most effective ways to make your speech emotionally stimulating is to use powerful storytelling appealing to narrative bias people understand the world through stories it'
s how we learn and how our ancestors pass down information over thousands of years when an argument is presented as a story we relate to the people in the story and imagine what it would be like if the same things happen to us for example when we read a new story of a plane crash we think about how afraid the passengers must have been and then we feel afraid ourselves experiencing it mentally like this makes it more memorable short form note psychologists argue that narrative bias comes from our
desire to find meaning in the world and to make the random and chaotic more coherent and explainable this can be helpful in many situations for example when you reframe a painful memory into a more understandable and less painful story it can be psychologically beneficial like if you come up with a story to explain why your ex broke up with you but narrative buyers can also be harmful like when you tell yourself you failed at a task because you're inferior when it was actually due to randomness
to make your stories as emotionally compelling as possible Andrei recommends telling a story about a single person this makes it even easier for The Listener listener to imagine themselves in the story let's say you're making a speech about reducing the effects of pollution on a small town near a factory you could just provide all the facts the higher percentages of illness the levels of toxins in the drinking water before and after the factory was built and the economic damage to the town or m
ore effectively you could tell a story about one person in the town for instance a single mom who got sick had to stop working and could no longer afford to take proper care of herself and her children then when the audience is emotionally captivated you might add in the statistics about illness percentages or toxin levels to drive the point home this narrative structured speech is more likely to resonate with the audience than simply stating the facts or even telling a story about how the town
as a whole was affected further tips on emotional storytelling other public speaking experts go into more detail on how to make a story compelling in talk like Ted Carmine Gallo recommends imbuing a story with the following characteristics Rich detail a detailed story is more immersive making the audience feel like they're experiencing it first hand this might be another reason the quantitative details that Andrei recommends work to enhance a story surprise an element of surprise in a story will
keep the audience from becoming bored and losing interest in what you're saying mystery like a surprising story a mystery will keep the audience guessing and engaged people are naturally drawn to a story with an unknown outcome adversity people also love having someone or something to root for if your story has a Hero trying to overcome adversity or defeat a villain the audience will find it more interesting and feel more compelled to listen though Andre recommends telling a story about a singl
e person instead of a group of people Gallo adds that telling three distinct stories can be even more persuasive because three stories can drive the point home but he recommends limiting yourself to three so that you keep your audience's attention which Echoes andrei's next strategy of keeping your message simple convey a simple message another way to use the availability bias is to simplify your communication Andre writes if your message is complex or difficult to understand it won't be as easy
for people to recall this information later at the end of your speech your essay the audience should know exactly what they learned and what information they can take away from it to achieve this provide the most important information as clearly as possible remove unnecessary details from a story or any information that makes your message less clear for example if you're trying to get a town to act on the pollution in their drinking water tell them an emotional captivating story provide the ess
ential details about pollution then stop they don't need to know every little detail about the town the factory the mom or her children unnecessary details will only obfuscate the message and make it less memorable further tips on Simplicity and simply said J Sullivan provides some additional tips on how to keep your message clear and simple first make sure you know exactly what you want to say before you start working on the speech or presentation he says that many speeches are confusing to the
audience because the speaker didn't know their main point when they were working on it once you know the main point express it as simply as possible Sullivan recommends one sentence of fewer than 10 words another Simplicity tip Sullivan suggests is to present your conclusion first this makes your presentation easier for the audience to follow as they will have the context for the rest of the speech if you would hold the conclusion until the end of your presentation the audience will struggle to
understand the point of your presentation and be more likely to lose interest this is another way to understand andrei's suggestion to provide your most important information early use imagery Andre explains that using imagery is an effective way to make your communication more memorable this is because memory is based on visual perceptions stick out more clearly in our minds so they'll provoke a stronger emotional reaction and be easier to recall later if possible use pictures or other images
in your speeches and writing if you're giving a presentation and can use a television or other technology to project images on a screen use it if you don't have a way to project images use visual imagery in your speech paint a picture with your words by including visual details in your story or visual metaphors in your explanations in the example of the single mom who's sick describe physical details of the moment her struggles people will be more likely to remember her story and be moved into a
ction by your words further tips on the use of imagery and other senses and Ray focuses on using visual imagery but others note that painting a picture can involve more senses than just sight in talk like Ted Carmine Gallo recommends that you incorporate multiple senses in your presentation to capture your audience's attention.if you're giving a speech you might use sounds other than your voice use an audio or video recording of someone else speaking for example if communicating in the written f
orm you could use descriptive language that activates the reader's sense of hearing Gallo also provides additional tips on how to best use images and slides in your presentation he advises using a combination of short phrases and images as studies show that people are much more likely to retain information if they hear it and see it at the same time for images Gallo says that you limit the number of charts you use people won't Tire of seeing photographs but they all get sick of seeing slide afte
r slide of charts in your presentation dot if possible Gallo also recommends appealing to the audience's sense of touch if you're making a sales pitch for a tangible item pass around a prototype if you're pitching an idea try to simulate the sense of touch by getting the audience to imagine what it's like to touch or feel something related to your idea attribute substitution Andrei says that attribute substitution is behind a variety of cognitive biases and can be used to influence your audience
in subtle yet powerful ways attribute substitution is the tendency for people to replace a complex judgment or problem with an easier one in other words they substitute an attribute that's difficult to measure with a simple one for example deciding whom to vote for in a democratic election can be a difficult decision many people instead of reviewing the policies of every person on a ballot simply vote for the candidates who represent their chosen political party they substitute a complex judgme
nt with a much easier one short form note some researchers argue that attribute substitution is a form of unintentional intellectual laziness we tend to take the easier intellectual route when making decisions but one study found that although people intuitively avoid thinking about hard questions and instead think about easy ones most people are aware of when they do this suggesting we at least acknowledge that we're taking mental shortcuts when making many decisions use emotions as replacement
attributes Andrei contends that appealing to your audience's emotions one of the most common and effective persuasive techniques is a form of attribute substitution instead of asking ourselves is this message true or is it in my best interest to buy this product audiences ask how does this message or product make me feel if it makes them feel good they are more likely to approve of a message or purchase a product the idea of attracting a romantic partner makes them feel good they'll be motivate
d to buy an electric toothbrush described as a tool to increase their attractiveness pathos storytelling and tribalism appealing to emotions or pathos is one of the three Aristotelian modes of persuasion along with logos appealing to logic and Ethos appealing to ethics and thank you for arguing rhetoric expert J heinrichs writes that because our emotions are stronger than our logical or ethical rational using pathos is the most effective way to move an audience into action like Andre heinrichs a
rgues that telling a vivid story is a great way to move your audience emotionally you can appeal to emotions without storytelling however for instance heinrichs argues that one of the best ways to evoke strong emotions is to appeal to our tribalistic tendencies people feel loyalty to the group they aim whether it be their country City school or any other community they are part of if your communication can make the audience feel like they're part of a group or that their group is being negativel
y affected in some way they will have strong emotional reactions and be more willing to act on your words provide abundant evidence Andre argues that people strongly prefer to see evidence supporting a claim and you can use this preference to make your argument more convincing even if the evidence doesn't actually prove your point this is because people conflate the existence of evidence with the strength of evidence of course it's best if your evidence is strong and accurate but simply providin
g evidence is often enough to seem convincing further if you can provide abundant evidence evidence it will make the argument seem even more valid for example if you provide for sources rather than one supporting your claim that lower corporate taxes are good for the economy the audience will be more likely to believe it statistical versus anecdotal evidence rhetoricians point out that every argument is based on some kind of evidence so it's only natural that people are drawn to arguments that p
resent this evidence explicitly though Andrei seems to be pointing to statistical evidence in this section the use of Storytelling to prove a point or back a claim is also a form of evidence namely anecdotal evidence.so which form of evidence is more persuasive a 2020 study tried to answer this question and found that it depends on the emotional weight of the topic or situation if a claim resonates emotionally if it involves a serious threat is health related or affects one personally people are
more likely to be persuaded by anecdotal evidence if the situation doesn't personally affect someone or trigger strong emotions they are more likely to find statistical evidence more persuasive.an example is the public response to the covid-19 pandemic a situation that was threatening health-related and personally affected virtually everyone on the planet though there were mountains of statistical evidence surrounding the pandemic many people's opinions on covid-19 were impacted most by their p
ersonal experience present social proof another common cognitive bias Andrei points out is our over-reliance on the actions and opinions of others to dictate our own when we rely on social proof we substitute how others think or behave with how we should think or behave or behave an ad that claims 9 out of 10 dentists recommend this product is using social proof as is a politician who says 80 of Americans support this bill presenting social proof like this will validate your argument in your aud
ience's eyes short form note in influence Robert cyledini who coined the term social proof delves further into this cognitive bias he states that relying on others to dictate thoughts and behaviors generally serves us pretty well usually it leads to appropriate decisions and saves us a lot of time and effort however this instinct to rely on social proof can lead to harmful consequences such as when we act on deceptive or manufactured social proof or when the actions of a group go against the sta
ndards of the individual to avoid these negative consequences of social proof saldini recommends taking the time to assess group behavior and to apply individual judgment when necessary the anchoring bias the anchoring bias also known as the anchoring effect is the tendency for a person's decisions to be excessively influenced by an initial reference point or anchor for example when purchasing a new oven if the First Avenue like is priced at 1 200 that price is going to affect your perception fo
r the rest of your shopping experience when you see a similar oven for eight hundred dollars it's going to seem like a great deal even if it isn't the anchoring bias is largely due to our relative perception of the world we need a point of reference a way to contextualize information to understand what anything means if the salary of a job you're applying for is forty thousand dollars you can't do much with this information unless you compare it to what you make now what the average salary for t
his particular job is and the cost of living in your area without a point of reference and additional information The Number forty thousand dollars is useless as Andre points out you might be happy with earning forty thousand dollars a year until you learn that someone with the same job is making fifty thousand dollars short form night the relativity of perception may also be a big factor in our prejudices as Jennifer eberhardt explains in biased our implicit racial biases especially anti-black
bias in the U.S determine how we make decisions and even how we see the world for example if you grow up in an environment where you're only used to interacting with One race you're more likely to experience the other Ace effect in which you struggle to differentiate between faces of other races in this case your perception is relative to the environment you grew up in anchoring bias is a helpful tool in persuasive speech or writing but you can also use it to your advantage in all sorts of inter
actions whether you're a politician persuading someone to vote for you a new hire trying to negotiate a higher salary or a salesperson trying to convince someone to buy a product the anchoring bias can be used to great effect short form note a salary negotiation may seem like the perfect time to use the anchoring bias but experts suggest otherwise some say this is because being the first to inquire about money leaves a bad impression so trying to be the first to insert an anchor in the negotiati
on may be off-putting in what color is your parachute Richard Nelson Bowles says that for unknown reasons however mentions a number first in salary negotiations usually leases which suggests suggests that the anchoring bias isn't always effective let's go over a few specific tactics Andrei suggests use relevant anchors to raise or lower expectations this tactic involves setting an anchor that is directly related to the Mata at hand in its simplest form this is the most basic negotiation tactic i
f you want to buy something cheap your original offer should be much lower than what you're willing to pay if you're selling something you start with a much higher price than you're willing to sell for this tactic can be used in a variety of subtle ways for example if you're selling a product you could anchor it with the price of the most expensive comparable product our competitor charges 120 we only charge 75 or the price before a discount this originally cost thirty dollars now it's only eigh
teen dollars this anchoring tactic can also be used in persuasive speech or writing let's say you're a male running for re-election you start your speech by pointing out that the average annual economic growth in your city over the past 20 years is 1.4 percent then you tell your audience that over your last four years as mayor the annual growth rate has averaged over 3 percent because of the original Anki set your three percent will seem a lot more impressive to potential voters and you'll appea
r to be a more attractive candidate short form note in predictably irrational Dan orally argues that our tendency to use anchors in our lives can lead to a phenomenon known as self-harding which is when you make a decision based on your own past Behavior which serves as the anchor for your future Behavior this can lead you to believe that your current behavior is a personal preference when really it's just a decision based on past decisions to avoid self-harding he recommends asking yourself how
a certain preference came to be and if it's really worth the time and money you're spending on it use irrelevant anchors to raise or lower expectations another way to engage a person's anchoring bias that Andre recommends is to set an anchor unrelated to the Mata at hand let's say you work at a wine store and want to sell more expensive bottles of wine instead of anchoring with a higher original price you can anchor customers with the price of an irrelevant but expensive item for example you mi
ght casually mention that a previous customer was carrying an 800 handbag this puts a high dollar amount in the customer's head and even though the handbag has nothing to do with what they're shopping for they might still be affected by the number and be willing to Fork over more money for a bottle of wine short form note Dan already explains that the anchoring bias works even when the prices or figures we use are completely arbitrary he points to an experiment that found something as random as
Social Security numbers can serve as an anchor for how much one is willing to pay for a good in the experiment participants were asked to write the last two digits of their social security number in the form of a price next to specific items and then write what they prefer to pay for each item those with higher Social Security numbers were willing to bid higher amounts than those with lower numbers zero risk bias Andrei claims that people irrationally biased toward ideas products or circumstance
s that carry no risk of failure or loss we're extremely loss of Earth creatures and we'll often pay a hefty price to ensure we don't suffer the pain of losing something whether it's our hard-earned money our precious time or our health and safety short form note when calculating risk to make decisions it may be helpful to differentiate between risk and uncertainty the key difference is that risk is quantifiable we can reasonably estimate the level of risk while uncertainty is unknown experts poi
nt out that people often conflate risk and uncertainty which can lead to poor decision-making if you assume that the risk of An Occurrence is largely unpredictable you may fail to take reasonable actions to reduce the chance of it happening alternatively if you try to reduce risk when there isn't any you might be wasting time and effort if your proposal idea or product is already a risk-free option you need only emphasize it state that it's risk-free show proof then reiterate the absence of risk
as often as possible of course more likely than not your idea or product will carry some risk of loss or failure here are some of andrei's strategies that take advantage of the zero risk bias even when risk is involved provide certainty elsewhere if the idea you're proposing has any chance of failure shift the audience's attention to a part of it that doesn't carry any risk if you're trying to convince an investor to provide funding to your startup there's always a chance that your business wil
l fail and they'll lose their investment nothing you say will remove that risk instead point to a zero-risk aspect of your startup like the fact that you have a patent for the Techno technology you're using so there's no chance a competitor can copy your product this will activate the zero risk bias even if this isn't a risk the investor had in mind and even though your plan still carries risk they'll be much more inclined to invest in your startup short form note on top of pointing out a zero r
isk aspect of your proposal or idea it may also help to mention the risks as little as possible and instead focus on the benefits studies show that when people think about a particular risk more they are more afraid of it and are more likely to act on this fear so even if your proposal carries a very small amount of risk it may be better to ignore this risk entirely so that the audience doesn't think about it at all provide a loss mitigating guarantee in the business World a loss mitigating guar
antee is as simple as offering a full refund for a defective product or underwhelming service since you can't guarantee with 100 certainty that your product or service will deliver value provide a guarantee that the customer can at least get their money back because of zero risk bias the extra sales will more than make up for the money you'll lose by providing refunds short form note business experts write that while guarantees are common for products they are more powerful for services this is
because they provide perceived value to the customer while also ensuring excellent employee performance when you offer a guarantee for a service such as Plumbing for example customers will be willing to spend more because they know their issue will be fixed or they'll get their money back employees will also ensure the job is done properly as a mistake will cost the company money further employees will be more focused on the customer's definition of good service which will also improve performan
ce the halo effect the halo effect is the tendency for people to base their overall impression of a person on one observed quality and Andre argues you can use this bias to make yourself appear competent and trustworthy to your audience essentially the halo effect is the bias that tells us that good first impressions do matter the halo effect is the result of a combination of other cognitive biases including the Primacy effect attribution substitution and confirmation bias when you notice an ini
tial positive quality in a person Primacy effect you'll attribute a host of other positive qualities to that person attribute substitution and then see small signs that point to those positive qualities as confirmation of your beliefs confirmation bias short form note psychologists say that the halo effect comes from two things like most biases the halo effect is a mental shortcut that helps us make easier quicker judgments it also helps us avoid cognitive dissonance or inconsistencies in our be
liefs and actions it's much easier to say someone or something is all good or all bad than to understand the more nuanced reality and it can make us very uncomfortable when our original perception is challenged here are a few of andrei's strategies that use the halo effect create an influential environment when it comes to First Impressions context matters by creating an impressive environment you can make a good first impression on an audience before you enter a room or to a word book your spee
ch at the most luxurious place you can afford give your work presentation in the best conference room available available make the space you're communicating in as presentable as possible and your audience will think you are competent and reliable speaker before you begin if communicating in written form take the time to make the aesthetic as visually pleasing as you can environment and situational status in Pitch anything or in class explains why creating an influential environment matters he a
rgues that appearance is a crucial element of perceived status how others measure your worth and popularity and your status has a major impact on the success of your speech or presentation if you have a low perceived status in the eyes of your audience you have little chance of persuading or influencing them Clash differentiates between two types of status Global and situational Global is more permanent indicated by your position or reputation situational status can change from moment to moment
however and might be affected by the environment if you're speaking in an impressively decorated room you might have a higher situational status and thus be more likely to have your audience's respect and attention demonstrate consequences early at the outset make clear why your speech matters and the impact it will have on your audience's lives if your audience knows early on that what you're about to say is important they'll see you as an important figure and you'll command their attention and
respect conversely if you don't show why your speech matters early on they'll think you're unimportant and boring and you'll have much less of an impact psychological studies confirm that demonstrating consequences early is an effective way to make your communication more compelling and persuasive a specific way to do this is to present a positive conditional statement then a negative conditional conditional statement then prove if you do this positive effect will happen if you don't negative e
ffect will occur this has been shown Time and Time Again by proof the previous paragraph illustrates this technique in action short form note in get to the point Joel schwartzberg argues that a common struggle in persuasive communication is the inability to get a clear point across in order to demonstrate why your speech matters you need to make sure the point you're trying to make is as clear and precise as possible to do this answer the question so what after you've come up with your initial i
dea or argument for example if your argument is that social media are shortening the attention spans of teenagers provide the so what right after this will have a major impact on their mental health and productivity in the future Andre is advised to immediately State the consequences of following your recommendation is a practical way to show the so what establish common values establishing common values with your audience alley in your communication is one of the most powerful uses of the halo
effect according to Andrei when you show you share the same values or beliefs as your audience you establish a connection they'll like you immediately and this feeling will help the rest of your speech resonate with them even more powerfully to employ this strategy you either need to know your audience and the common values they'd likely share or use a universally shared value or belief for example if you're writing a grant for an educational program you could start by sharing your belief that e
ducation is one of the most beneficial uses of public funds if you're making a speech that you hope appeals to the entire political Spectrum you might start talking about the values of Peace and Freedom short form note you might also use the Halo effects as a way to establish common values without explicitly stating them in thank you for arguing Jay heinrichs argues that establishing common values is a form of ethos or ethical appeal when you show that you have the same values as the audience th
ey'll find you vouchers and trustworthy but heinrichs also points out that audiences will find you trustworthy if you look or dress like your audience and share a story about an experience they've also heard you'll seem virtuous to them and they might even assume you share their values contrast effect bias according to Andrei using the contrast effect in your communication is one of the most useful ways to improve your rhetorical skills the contrast effect is the tendency to judge things present
ed closely together or in Rapid succession together rather than separately and it can strengthen or weaken perceive differences and similarities between two or more things like the anchoring bias the contrast effect relies on our inability to judge things without a point of comparison the contrast effect however doesn't necessarily rely on the initial point of reference as the anchoring bias does instead it's activated by ongoing comparisons between two things for example you could be presented
with two things simultaneously and this comparison would affect your perception of both of them if you see a new boat right next to an old run down one the new boat will seem even better than it actually is while the used one will seem even worse short form night one area in which contrast effect buyers can negatively impact decision making is in the hiring process when hiring out of a pool of candidates recruiters will naturally compare each candidate to the rest of the pool instead of evaluati
ng each candidate individually this can result in a weak candidate looking stronger than they should or it can lead to overlooking someone who's perfect for the job because they get lost in a sea of other strong applicants to avoid this some companies avoid using CVS and instead use work samples which can more effectively show a candidate's potential Andre provides several examples of how you can use the contrast effect in your speech or writing to make it more persuasive use antithesis antithes
is refers to presenting strongly contrasting or opposite ideas together for dramatic persuasive effect not but Andre points out that President John F Kennedy used this strategy to great effect in his famous line ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country antithesis and antimetable in Kennedy's inaugural address Andre points to John F Kennedy's famous line from his 1961 inaugural address as an example of antithesis but the rest of Kennedy's famous speech is fill
ed with antithesis as well in the opening he says we observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom later he says we offer not a pledge but a request that both sides begin a new request for peace just after he says not a new balance of power but a new world of law and he follows up his famous ask not lying with another ask not what America will do for you but what together we can do for the freedom of man Kennedy's famous ask not what you can do line is also an example of anot
her rhetorical device antimetable antimetable is when the words of a sentence are repeated in reverse order as in when the going gets tough the tough get going this symmetrical structure is artistically pleasing and helps the phrase stick in the audience's mind which is perhaps one reason that Kennedy's phrase is so well remembered decades later present and decline other options to make use of the contrast effects and make your idea seem better by comparison you need to present other options if
the Alternatives you present are obviously inferior to your proposal you can leave them be if there is room for debate on which idea is better you need to settle this debate by showing the benefits of your product or idea or the drawbacks of the alternative for example in a sales presentation you might say the competitors product can do this wow your product can do the same thing for half the price short form note business experts call this use of the contrast effector technique of low pressure
selling in which the salesman doesn't try to coerce a customer into buying something they don't want but instead lets them make the decision on their own the contrast effect can be used no matter how similar the competing products are or even if the product you're selling is inferior in many ways because there will almost always be at least one area in which your product is better simply pointing out the advantages of your product in an approachable low pressure where you can significantly incre
ase your sales create contrast in addiction you can use the contrast effect not only in the content of your argument but also in the way you present it Andre provides two ways of doing this both of which involve starting a pattern in your speech or writing and then breaking it to provide persuasive emphasis for example speak quickly and loudly for a few sentences then stop slow down and speak quietly when emphasizing a point in writing you could use a repetitive phrase and then break the pattern
for emphasis renewable energy will give us healthier air healthier water healthier children a healthier economy a healthier Planet oil gives us pollution greed and War pattern breaking how to use it and why it's effective in TED Talks Chris Anderson provides specific advice for how to vary your speech rate he advises speaking more quickly when telling a story or anecdote because people can easily process information presented in this form when explaining a Serial concept slow down as the audien
ce will need time to fully understand and appreciate what you're saying these pattern breaking techniques may be effective because of the human brain's pattern seeking tendency humans are wired to seek and find patterns and some argue that our Superior pattern processing is why we have such a strong capacity for reasoning communication and abstract thought so when you establish a pattern and then break it an audience will subconsciously notice this abrupt change because they're hardwired too [Mu
sic] thank you
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