Command Attention Every Time by Using One Simple Word

An excited husband grabs his wife and says, “Honey guess what I just read in the news? Science has finally proven that women talk twice as much as men, see I am not crazy!” She sets there and thinks about how to respond, and then she says, “Well that is because when talking to a man women have to repeat every thing they say.” To that her husband says, “What?”  

 

Grabbing and keeping attention can be difficult, especially if you are talking to people with short attention spans. Repetition seems to be the fall back in these situations. But what if you could use a simple word that ensures that you have the other persons complete attention the first time you speak? That would practically guarantee that you do not have to repeat your self over and over again.

The simple word is their name. 

To you, your favorite word is your name. How many times in a noisy crowd do you hear faintly hear your name and look around? Out of the millions of sounds, you pick up your name and your attention is taken away from all the other sounds and focused on the one that resembled your name. This effect is also known as the Cock-tale-party effect.

Your brain in programmed to recognize the one word that has the biggest impact on your life. Your name has the power “to intrude and capture attention.” You just have to know how to use it. Here is an example of talking with a coworker and using his name to capture his attention to your instructions for watering your Aloe Vera plant while you are gone on vacation.

“Bill, thank you for being willing to water my Aloe Vera plant while I am gone for the week. I have put a cup on my desk that has a measurement line for how much water you will need. All you have to do, Bill, is fill the cup up to the line with water and then evenly dump it around the plant. Bill, the pant needs to be watered every day and what questions, Bill, do you have about watering my Aloe Vera plant?”

Each time you say “Bill” it draws his attention and he focuses on what you are saying. The follow up question is a bonus. It forces Bill to focus his thought process one more time on what you said.

Go use this secret word and save your breath from needless repetition!