Words are powerful especially when you are trying to be persuasive or in helping to guide others toward success. The words you chose will determine how your message is received and the degree to which someone will act upon it.
“Because” is a powerful word because it connects cause and effect. If you were to say “we need to stay late today” there will be grumbling and sighing but if you were to say “we need to stay late tonight because this is the last day of the month and we want to close out the month strong” the resistance will be less if you get any at all.
When you use the word because and give the reason why, you will see significantly more compliance even if the reason isn’t very compelling. According to research conducted by Ellen Langer, a Professor of Psychology at Harvard, people will go into automatic behavior and hearing the word “because” followed by a reason causes us to comply.
Using the word “because” is one of the top ways to persuade others. Start harnessing the power of “because” to lead others to greatness. Try it out and post your results in the comments below!
Here’s the research citation:
Langer, E., Blank, A., & Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of Ostensibly Thoughtful Action: The Role of “Placebic” Information in Interpersonal Interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(6), 635-642.
Last updated on February 28th, 2018 at 08:16 pm
