Customer Reviews

Words That Change Minds: Mastering the Language of Influence

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a teacher of business writing, I do not recommend this book to all my students; I only recommend it to the ones who are serious and want to take that extra step. I tell them that this is a book that shows you how to pay close attention to the words you use, whether speaking or writing, so that you maximize the impact you have on the specific person you are communicating with.

I applied some of the concepts in the book to a case study in a writing workshop I teach. Students are fascinated by it. They often say things like, "I can't believe something so subtle could be that powerful," and, "I wish I had known about this when I had so much trouble getting my previous boss to even listen to me."

The theories in the book result from research in neuro-linguistic programming. They use fancy concepts such as profiles, filters, and meta programs. But the author translates it all in a way that makes it easy to understand. And she gives hundreds of examples of how you can apply it to situations at work where you need people to listen to you, understand you, and even agree with you.

If you work in human resources, this book is especially valuable because the author provides many examples of assessing how people think. This can be used to match people to the right jobs and to help them improve their interpersonal communications.

I rated this book 5 stars because I think it is superior in all categories for a specialized communications textbook: powerful ideas, insightful author, meticulous exposition, and reasonable price.

I too thought I was a good communicator. Without direction, which this book provides, I probably would have continued to underperform in this critical area.

An example: my boss is an "away-from", risk-averse individual. Until I learned to couch my words in a similar vein, he often misinterpreted and became angry with me. Now, I am happy to say we are talking more freely, with greater understanding, than ever.

The categories of influence outlined here are insightful and pratical. Some are obvious, but many hours of thoughtful observation on who is saying what, and how, could pass before one might catalog these nuggets in their entirety.

Thank goodness I discovered this fine resource. It already has repaid me in dividends of good will and understanding greater than the modest cover price.

Thankyou Rose!

Rather than discuss the technical aspects of this book...

Through using the LAB Profile, I've become a better salesperson, businessman, friend, and father.

I thought I was a good communicator and influencer before reading this; this book saved me years of learning by my own experiences.

Book was so badly organized that I couldn't get through the first 4 chapters. The information contained therein was so painfully obvious that I actually started laughing. This book could have used a real editor. On the plus side, the language is simple. I'm sure the book has something useful to offer because the NLP theory itself is so very insightful; however, the author spends NO time giving an overview of where the book is going or how it intends to get there at the beginning, which was frustrating for me.

Only last year (2001), two members of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education brought out a book snappily entitled "How the Way We Talk can Change the Way we Work". It's an excellent book but it was a little strange to see it referred to by some critics as "new", and an example of "breakthrough thinking".

Why?

Because although the two books are not addressing *exactly* the same area, Ms Charvet's "Words that Change Minds", first published in 1996, can readily be seen as a precursor to the later book.

Although it is usually referred to in connection with Rodger Bailey's LAB Profile work, this book is in fact based on a subset of the "meta programs", or mental filters, first identified by Leslie Lebeau (formerly Leslie Cameron-Bandler).

What makes this book so valuable is that instead of simply describing the meta programs on a purely theoretical level (as many previous authors had done), Ms Charvet places each one in a very practical context. She tells us not only the basics of each meta program but also such practical details as:

- what questions to use to elicit a person's position on any of the meta programs discussed
- how to identify what meta program positions are best suited to a given job
- and how to frame a job or product advert so that it "speaks to" the optimum audience

There is also a wealth of anecdotes from real life that illustrate the meta programs at work - like why the US was never comfortable as members of UNESCO, why a single word undermined one of IBM's big advertising campaigns, and why a Jewish mother may recommend chicken soup because "it couldn't hurt".

And on top of all that, the book is written in an enthusiastic, flowing style that makes reading it both easy and enjoyable.

Highly recommended for *anyone* who wants to understand the practicalities of how language works.

Not everyone is influenced in the same way. To know the difference is all the difference. If you want to be successful in influence, this is the book. If you want to hit all the pitfalls, don't read this book.

Using the technology described in this book you will recognize how a person is motivated (or motivates himself), and how a person would like to organize their work. It is clear that once you have that information, it becomes "easy" to organize work in such a way that they get the kind of job that will fit (on other words: this is how you hire for attitude and manage to retain people!). When I saw the first version of this book in 1995, little did I know that 5 years later 50% of my income would be linked to applying the lessons from this book. At jobEQ, our customers are astonished when they see the precision and the accuracy we achieve through applying metaprograms as a recruiting and management tool.

The only constraint this book doesn't solve is how to apply this technology when you have to "profile" 1200 persons (as I have done over the last 8 months) - hint: at that point you need to automate the process, as we have done at jobEQ with the iWAM test.

But until today (2001), no other books on meta-programs is so practical. In fact, we recommend this book to our iWAM users, because in this book they will need the interview techniques whioch are useful to complement an electronic test.

This is really powerful stuf that helps companies to get a competitive edge. The technology of this book has been used at copanies such as Southwest Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett Packard and the Marriot Hotels. If you didn't know about it, feel free to consider it one of the best kept secrets!

Patrick E.C. Merlevede, MSc. -- author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"

Shelle presents the LAB Profile (developed by Rodger Bailey) and its applications with a friendly style as she does during her trainings. The importance of WTCM Lab Profile tool is that it is for everybody, it is powerful in order to understand, predict and influence the others' behaviour, and it works! I really suggest you not to miss ("away from" Lab pattern ...) this powerful reading. I woluld have never gone to Lab trainers' training certification, with Shelle, from Italy if it was not worth!!

This book presents meta-programs (the content-free filters we use to make up our model of the world) in a simple, understandable and highly readable way. It's based on the Language and Behaviour (LAB) Profile developed by Rodger Bailey - a simplification of the original 60 (!) meta-programs down to 14, along with the questions you can use to elicit them. This is a kind of psychometric test, although as people may have different meta-programs in different contexts, and they may change over time, it's not about pigeonholing people. Shelle also tells you the kind of language to use to reach particular kinds of people - useful in sales, negotiation, motivation and deciding who to hire for a particular job. The book is chatty with a good sense of humour. As an NLP trainer I recommend it!

Charvet's concept warrants more than just a read-through of her book. I intend to study the material until I get the hang of her very sound principles. Hopefully in subsequent printings, this worthy book will receive the attention of a good editor (to catch some typos and awkward phrasing), and the trained eye of a seasoned typographer (to visually present the text and charts in an easier-to-grasp format). It deserves the best presentation.