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Power Words - The Name

Words are only a small part of the communication processes you will be able to learn in the future when you join one of my persuasion courses. Words play a small part when compared to nonverbal communication.

Some Words do have a powerful impact on those you are attempting to persuade and I’ve put together these videos with content from the Psychology of Persuasion by Kevin Hogan so you can get a small taste of the art of verbal persuasion techniques so until I see you please enjoy.  

The Name

The most powerful word on the face of the earth is our own name. When you were a baby, you heard your name Over and over again, you linked it with getting attention and you very much liked that. Most People have a first, middle, and last name. That is the name which has the persuasive edge with you. I developed a fondness for all three of my names. For most people, however the first name carries that impact.

Salespeople, who try to use this technique by referring to a prospect as Mr. Johnson, or Ms. Rogers, normally come off sounding like pitchmen. The effect is negligible and indeed often hurts their presentation.

On the other hand, research has shown that if you use a person’s first name, at the very beginning or the very end of a sentence, the likelihood of persuading that person is drastically increased. This, of course, does not mean one needs to inanely repeat someone’s name over and over to make a sale, win an argument, or get a date.

Proper use of names is illustrated below. 

 “John, do you think we could go out tonight?”

“If our new computer software can save you over 10 thousand pounds in secretarial time this year, would you want it, Jane?”


“Bill, would you be kind enough to expedite the budget analysis?”


“This car will make you look pretty good in it, don’t you think, Keith?”

The use of a person’s name is a powerful attention getter and it also acts in a highly positive associative manner with whatever statement or request is linked with it.

Please download the 32 Power Words that sell PDF to learn more.