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Do You Use Words That Motivate
Do You Use Words That Motivate
Do You Use Words That Motivate
So What
Clichés do not work because they have been overworked, overused and lost their
power to create mental imagery in the brain. Stereotypes are rejected as
meaningless.
If you want to get a powerful reaction from the brain, use Action language – verbs
that offer movement, behavior, or performance. Power-words create mental-movies,
creative-imagery that moves the brain. Good examples include:
Running, Throwing, & Pitching; Mating, Striking & Fighting; Sleeping, Snoring &
Scoring. What do these words have in common?
They all produce literal effects; there is a sense of movement, action and happening.
Which phrases create a mental image in your brain?
a) Knocking-His-Socks-Off,
b) Biting-Off-More-Than-You-Can-Chew,
c) Kicking-Off,
d) Biting-The-Apple,
e) Strangling-The-Victim,
f) Swallow-Your-Food
The first three (a-b-c) are clichés, metaphors and figures-of-speech. Forget them.
The last three (d-e-f) are Literal Action Verbs. They work to move the brain.
If you want to cause things to happen, get strong results and produce success in
your career and relationships, you must change your language to Literal Action
Verbs.
1
Hearing & Reading,
Scientists have used fMRIs to see brain activity when action, movement & doing
occurs. When we hear or read the word Grasp, Kick or Throw (literal action verbs)
our brain reacts identically to physically accomplishing the activity itself. No
difference.
The Supplemental Motor area (medial temporal and medial frontal cortices) of the
brain is triggered by the performance of actions and behaviors.
Second, the brain is activated by seeing (observe) folks execute behaviors and
actions (lifting a 500 pound barbell) - for example.
Third, hearing and reading these Action Verbs lights up our brain like a Xmas tree.
Who Says So
USC professor Michael Arbib’s article was published by the journal – Current
Biology and in Science Daily. Google: 9. 19. 06 Brain Action Center Is All Talk.
Mirror Neurons are located in our eyes, memory, and medial temporal and medial
frontal cortices. They Fire when we execute an action, behavior or activity. They
also Fire when we observe others executing these behaviors. They also fire when
we HEAR or READ descriptions by action verbs.
This is a link, connection and mental Association between the way we describe
action and the Mirror Neurons in the brain that support those actions.
So What
Direct action statements using Action Verbs cause mental visualizations in the
listener’s brain. They understand and feel the meaning of your words. You
motivate, persuade and convince with Action Verbs. Do not use clichés to
get folks to produce results, stick with live-action-verbs.
Benefits: what we see with our eyes – we believe. What we see internally in our
mind’s eye – we are often compelled to do. Imagination is the basis of taking action.
We must mentally see ourselves driving in the new car before we say yes and make
the purchase.
2
Science for the first time now accepts the principle that our premotor cortex (mirror
neurons) also processes Verbal descriptions.
Endwords
Examples
Skills
Learning new skills by Creative Imagery (imagination) and playing them out in
your mind again and again with emotion, works almost as well as physical practice.
Doing both physical practice (tennis, golf, testing) plus mental visualization of
the steps required to succeed is taught by coaches and used by superstars.
Some executives tell us they spend fifteen minutes daily visualizing winning
promotion to CEO. Golfers meditate pre-game on perfectly playing each hole.
The results are gratifying or they would not continue year-after-year.
See ya
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Could you use a competitive advantage in your career? What if you could read and
remember three (3) books, articles and reports in the time your peers could hardly
finish one? In the Knowledge Economy would this skill lead to career success?