Having Fun With Thought Crimes

Becomeing a thought criminal means thinking your own thoughts and going after what you and deciding to get it no

matter what.

Patience for the operator comes from having a clear outcomes. “Outcomes” are defined as goals that are under the

control of the operator. Anything that is not under the control of the operator falls into the category of wishes and

hopes and the operator is advised to ignore them.

With an understanding of outcomes, the rest is a matter of time hence the need for patience. The operator has an

understanding that while the end outcome has  value the next most recent outcome is the most important outcome.

This mindset prevents the hurried rush of urgency that is often accompanies unrestrained youth.

The Mystery of Silence
Silence, as you'll learn, creates a unique sense of mystery. The operator does well to apply the following rules when

considering his outcomes:

Conceal your intentions.
Being open with your intentions invites people who will obstruct, steal and hijack what you've intended.

    Demonstrate through actions never through argument.
Telling people what you do will invite the thought that you are a braggart and  you risk boring others with stories of

your accomplishments. If these stories are remembered they are likely to be retold with scepticizm.  People remember

what is done and build stories and mythologies around your actions by combining their story with their own emotions.

Use this to your advantage and let other people speak of your actions.

Always say less than necessary.
There is a mystery that comes from the “strong silent” type. Saying something outright can be forgotten but if you

allude to something, even something you know will happen, when it occurs the mystery will be confirmed.
This does not mean that you are unemotional or cold. Instead you behave as if you know something that most people

don't know or something that they shouldn't know.

Make what is difficult seem easy.
This again adds to the mystery of the operator. There are several ways that this can be done, one such way is guile

like slight of hand or prestidigitation. One method using guile is to allude to an unforeseen incidence as if you did

knew about it before hand but this should be done sparingly. Another such way to make the difficult seem easy is skill

and experience and has the strongest impact.

With this strong emphasis on mystery it does not mean that you act completely unaccessible. Instead, what you teach

should be treated as a mystery. What you know is for few to discover and only those rare individuals who are ready can

learn it. This will allow you to mix in any social circle, tease, laugh, flirt and cajole while the mystery of your

knowledge and understanding follows you like compelling lover.


Conviction
Conviction is a fairly simple concept. It means that you are certain of what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Conviction means that you are so convinced that what you are doing it right, justified and good that it compels you

act. Strong conviction will compel you so powerfully to face any opposition without fear or hesitation. Conviction

will also cause you to ignore any personal fears or anxieties.

With that as a definition of conviction ask yourself if there is anything you feel that strongly about? If there is

the dive into it and use it as a resource.

If you don't yet have something that motivates you to that level of conviction it's not too late. Think about the

things that you love to do and be active in. remember times when committed yourself to do something simply because you

knew it was right and felt good.

If you ever want to watch two people empowered by their conviction speaking to the public just watch any old videos of

Rev. Billy Graham or Adolf Hilter. Ignore the message  and  turn off the sound. Just watch them. Both are compelling

speakers that are hard to ignore.  That is the level of conviction you might want to aspire.

Focus

If you have a strong conviction that what you are doing is right. You won't need too much help to build your focus.

But let's assume you have no idea what focus really is.

First, your sense of focus is to be used and demonstrated whenever you are with someone who could be a prospect,

recruit or initiate. When you are in their presence there should be nothing more than them on your mind.

Your goal it create an experience for them (you're a guru remember?) that they are the most important person in the

world to them at that moment in time.

In order to do this let's take a look at how most of our lives are like.

First, there is no secret to the fact that no matter who you are shit is going to happen. You are going to have to pay

bill, feed your belly and think about where the next dollar is coming from... this is just a part of life.

Your ability to focus and get what you want with a prospect, recruit or initiate can be directly effected by all of

these things if you let them. Even if they never come up in conversation. If those distracting details are on your

mind during a conversation you will not impact anyone to the degree that you could. 

What you have to do at those moment is intentionally put aside everything that could distract you from paying

attention to that person. When you do that nothing else is important and it will affect them in a very powerful way.


Winning no matter the outcome; The God Complex

The God Complex is my favorite subject and so I hope I do it justice.

The God Complex has absolutely nothing to do with a growing sense of infallibility and megalomanical behaviors.

What makes up the God Complex is really a perspective that is far more distant than your next outcome. 

Let's face it. With every goal you have a possibility of failure. That's just life. It does happen and it will happen.



But if you incorporate any possible failure into your “big picture” and find a way so that you can benefit from it

there will never be a disappointment or surprise.

Most people “fail” only because they invest too much of themselves in their success so that when it falls short they

are devastated. Some never recover. However if they realize failure is possible and incorporate it... should it happen

all they do is continue on with their business.

They have a bigger picture of themselves, Life, and their goals.

The result is they are more flexible to respond to what life throws them. Nothing surprises them except 1) when

someone truly “gets it” or 2) when someone who should get doesn't.  They are kinder to themselves and to the people

around them because they feel in control no matter what the situation.

Is PR Really A “Soft” Discipline?

If so, what is a “hard” discipline? One that involves HUGEmoney or personal pain? One that absorbs all the general counsel’s time? Or, is it the blinding success of a brand new business or, maybe, something that affects individual careers? Or must it simply employ clubs and brass knuckles?

I believe public relations is as “hard” as ANY discipline can get when it puts together for a business, non-profit,   government agency or association, the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences. When it goes on to help managers persuade those key folks to his or her way of thinking, then move them to take actions that allow their department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed, that’s hard, real hard.

Since, plain and simple, that can mean success or failure for the organization, yes, I’d call it a very “hard” discipline indeed!

And that notion isn’t just sitting out there all by itself. Its foundation is the underlying premise of public relationsitself: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

That’s why many managers are comforted by the thoughtthat the right public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences!

Should you be that manager, try to remember that your PR effort must demand more than special events, press releases and brochures if you are to receive the quality public relations results you want.

It will all seem worthwhile when capital givers or specifying sources beginning to look your way; customers begin to make repeat purchases; membership applications start to rise; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up; politicians and legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit, government or association communities; welcome bounces in show room visits occur; community leaders begin to seek you out, and prospects actually start to do business with you.

Close by are your public relations professionals who can be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project because they are already in the perception and behavior business. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Above all, be sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Before you monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences, go over your plans with your PR staff. Rehearse asking questions like these:  how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Be ready for an epiphany when you discover that usingprofessional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work will cost considerably more than using those PR folks of yours, who already happen to be in the perception monitoring business. However, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

Goal-setting time has arrived, a goal that calls for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold?

The facts of life say that setting your PR goal requires an equally specific strategy that tells you how to get there. Only three strategic options are available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like Hollandaise Sauce on your waffles, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Good writing is always important in public relations, but never more so than now.  Here, you’ve got to put together a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Select your very best writer because s/he must come up with corrective language that is not just compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if it is to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and wind up with the behaviors you have in mind.

Selecting the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience can be a fun chore. There are many available to you. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. Take time to assure yourself that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Another reality we labor under in PR is that the credibility of any message is fragile and always suspect to some folks. So the method you use to communicate it is a very valid concern. Which is why you may wish to unveil such a corrective message through smaller presentations and meetings rather than using higher-profile news releases.

Many eventualities can lead you to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. But nothing like talk of progress reports. You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Not all programming runs apace, so should momentum flag, you can always move things along by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

Calling tactical devices tactical devices (like the communications tactics discussed above), avoids confusing them with the broader, more comprehensive mission known as public relations. A mission that we now seeallows managers of all stripes to alter individual perception in a way that leads to changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

A discipline you certainly could call one of the “harder” disciplines insuring the success of any manager’s operation.

Crazy Like a Fox, Persuasive Like a Weasel

In earlier articles we wrote about the power of using hidden commands in normal conversation to increase sales, convince others to do omething or to accept your ideas.  This is often done by separating out a simple command or suggestion by pausing, stating the command in a different tone of voice, then resuming normal conversation.

For example, when selling a car you might say, “This car gets 30 miles per gallon on the highway, which you’ll notice when you (pause) take it for a test drive.  You’ll also notice that ….

Another way to insert a command into conversation is to use what are called Weasel Words.  These phrases are based on the one of the techniques used by  Milton Erickson, who was one of the foremost hypnotists of the last century.   Erickson had a way of talking people into trance without giving any direct commands to close their eyes or relax.  Instead he would just sort of talk around the idea of going into trance and people would naturally do it.

These Ericksonian Phrases are also known as Weasel Words because they allow  you to weasel in a command without it being so direct or authoritarian.    For example, you might say to someone, “Consider why you want to do this.”

With some people, giving a command can create a great deal of resistance.  A percentage of them just do not like to take orders so they won’t respond to direct suggestion.

But what if your were to say, “I’m not entirely sure how well you can consider why you want to do this.”  Here, you’re not trying to force them to consider why.  You’re just asking them how well they might be able to consider why.

Now, in considering and interpreting that statement the mind has to actually consider why they want to do this, to some degree.  When you use Weasel Words  the listener does not have something to object to. In order to employ these phrases you first determine your outcome.

In a hypnosis setting, one outcome would be for the client to relax.  You might say, “A friend once told me, you know, it’s entirely possible to just get relaxed.”  You’re not telling the client to relax.  You’re just repeating what a friend once said.

If you’re selling computers, you might say something like, “I wonder if now is the time that you might buy this computer.  There are hundreds of Ericksonian Phrases that can be used for just about any outcome.  Here are a few below.  You can probably come up with your many of your own.

WEASEL WORDS

After you come to … After you’ve … As a whole new way of thinking opens up … All that really matters … All that’s really important … Allowing yourself to just naturally … And as that occurs, you really can’t help but notice … And I’d like to have you discover … And then, now you’ll discover … And you can be pleased …. And you can really use it … And you can wonder … And you will be surprised at … Give yourself the opportunity to see if … I wonder if you’ll be pleased to notice … I wonder if you’ll be reminded … I wonder if you’ll be surprised to discover that … In all probability … If you could … It is easy, isn’t it … Perhaps you wouldn’t mind noticing … So now’s the time …