How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 407

you like to take it with your breakfast or your dinner?" The patient smiled
and said she would like to take it with her dinner. After she made that
decision, she no longer gave people a hard time about taking her
medication. The key is that both options the doctor gave her were fixed to
achieve the same goal.
If you absolutely have to limit your audience's choice to one thing, you
must explain to them why there are limitations on their options. If the
audience understands why a limit has been put on their freedom, they are
more likely to accept it without feeling undermined.
On the flip side, try not to give your prospects more than two or three
choices. If you give too many alternatives, your audience will be less
likely to choose any of them. Structured choices give the audience the
impression of control. As a result, they increase cooperation and
commitment.
Offering choices is also called "binds." Each option offered gives the
persuader what he wants without making him appear as if he is restricting
freedoms. When you use the word "or," the very opposite is implied, so
try to structure your choices with the word "or." For example, "Would you
like to make an appointment now, or should we meet next week? I know
today you will become involved in our product or make the decision to
take it home with you."
Inoculation: Defend Against the Attack
During the Korean War, Americans were shocked at the number of
captured soldiers who willingly cooperated with the enemy. Initially they
wondered whether the soldiers had been tortured and beaten into
submission. Investigation revealed that the soldiers had not been tortured,
but rather that they had been subjected to brainwashing sessions led by a
skillful questioner. Soldiers were questioned about American ideologies
such as freedom, democracy, and equality. Surprisingly, many of the
soldiers had great difficulty defending their beliefs. The captors persisted
in attacking beliefs the soldiers couldn't explain until the soldiers began to
question and doubt the validity of those beliefs.
If the captors could get the soldiers that far, getting them to commit
treason became much easier. New soldiers from that point on began
receiving more extensive political training in addition to the typical
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