Adjusting Your Lens for Maximum Persuasion

I've written about framing basics in previous articles. Framing is a vast subject and couldn't possibly be summed up in just a few articles, but it's a foundation.

People who wear glasses to see better don't walk around with just the frames on. They have lenses made to fit their prescription.

Some people walk around with very distorted lenses. Take drug addicts and alcoholics. . . they are looking through a lens of 'how can I get more' and they exist in denial much of the time that what they're doing is not unsafe or unhealthy.

We all have issues for which our lenses are distorted. Prior to my weight loss I had a very strong lens when it came to sweet, starchy foods. I thought about it all the time. I craved it. Because my blood sugar was so out of whack, I would finish a huge meal and still want more. My lens was overpoweringly focused on unhealthy foods and a fear of scarcity. By adjusting this lens so that it wasn't so intensely focused, I have changed my whole life.

At the other end of the spectrum, think about the anorexic who looks at themself in the mirror and sees fat. This is a distortion of the lens they're looking though.

Social issues are also lenses. Consider the camp from Northern California which teaches campers to unlearn social issues of racism and sexism. The lessons are based on the presupposition that if we have grown up in the U.S., attended institutions of learning, been exposed to the media in any way, then we have been indoctrinated into a racist, sexist society. Their claim is that equality and social change can only happen if we examine these lenses through which we've been viewing the world.

Is this true? Maybe, maybe not. It's a strong frame nonetheless. By 'unlearning' these 'isms' it lessens the distortion of our social lenses.

There are other distortions that keep us blind to the reality of a situation. Religious fanaticism is a strong distortion. Consider the suicide bomber whose lens must be cracked and scratched beyond reason to carry out such violence in the name of a god.

The mentally ill have distortions, as do violent criminals, addicts, and racist extremists such as the Klan who view the world in terms of black and white (literally).

One of the first steps to persuasion is the ability to persuade yourself. We don't have to eliminate all of our quirks and blockages (though self improvement is always a good thing), but simply to examine how our frames and lenses define us and how there may be an equally strong opposing belief out there.

I'll tell you a little secret. My lens is powerfully, intensely, vigorously focused on persuasion. Some might thing to the extreme. Okay, maybe that's not a secret. But it's definitely my lens to the world and I'm thrilled to share it with you.

Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to sell to affluent clients using persuasion strategies. He runs unique public and private seminars and offers home study courses, audio/visual learning tools, and coaching programs in persuasion techniques. Find more free articles at www.MAXpersuasion.com/blog. Be sure to sign up for his free report entitled "Yes! Persuasion."