How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 343

fastest way to set up this type of competition within a group is to either
create an external threat or to simply set your group against another
group.
A group of researchers wanted to test the effectiveness of competition as a
motivator at a summer camp for boys. As you might imagine, it was
pretty easy to create an atmosphere of competition. In fact, simply
separating the boys into two cabins created sentiments of "we versus
they." The competitive feelings between the two groups grew as
increasingly competitive activities were introduced. For example, as the
boys became involved in cabin-against-cabin treasure hunts, tugs-of-war,
and other athletic team competitions, name-calling and scuffles grew
more common.
The researchers then sought to see whether they could use the
competitiveness to create cooperation toward something mutually
productive and beneficial. The researchers set conditions so that if the
boys didn't work together, they were all at a disadvantage and, conversely,
if the boys did work together, all had the advantage. For example, the
truck going into town for food was stuck. It required all the boys helping
and pushing to get it on the road again. When the boys were told there
was a great movie available to rent but no money to rent it, the boys
pooled their resources and enjoyed the movie together.[25]
[25]M. Sherif, O. Harvey, B. White, W. Hood, and C. Sherif, Intergroup Conflict
and Cooperation: The Robbers' Cave Experience. (Norman, Okla.: University of
Oklahoma Institute of Intergroup Relations, 1961).

Engaging the Five Senses
We were all born with five senses, each helping us to make
generalizations about the world. You should engage all five sensations
when trying to persuade an audience. When we learn, 75 percent comes to
us visually, 13 percent comes through hearing, and 12 percent comes
through smell, taste and touch.[26]
However, keep in mind that there are three dominant senses we gravitate
toward. They are sight, hearing, and feeling, or, visual, auditory, and
kinesthetic sensations. Most people tend to favor one of these perceptions
over the others. As a persuader, you need to identify and use your
prospect's dominant perspective on the world. Granted, we generally
343