By Liz Radzick of Manifest Consulting

Ahhh…cottage life: lake, sand, lemonade, and… pitch writing? Well yes -my friend Collette had joined me on vacation when the chance to pitch her services by email to a prospective client arose. This required a trip into town to access Wi-Fi for her and Kawartha Dairy ice cream for me. Yum! So I was motivated to help her.

Where do I start with a pitch? In her book “Words That Change Minds” by Shelle Rose Charvet , Shelle asks

“What will trigger a person into action? Do they move toward an objective or away from problems to be solved or prevented?”

This distinction can make a huge difference in how your message is received. People with a Toward pattern in a given context (and these patterns are very context-specific: you can be one, the other or a bit of both depending on the situation) are goal-focused. If you are a Toward pattern you will be stimulated by words like:

            have, get, achieve, attain, include, maximize

If you are an Away From pattern you are probably good at troubleshooting and words like

            avoid, prevent, eliminate, solve, get rid of, minimize

will resonate with you.

The prospective client had mentioned she wanted to

1. Attract more clients

2. Add on to their existing offerings

3. Increase cash flow through product sales

My verdict: this was a Toward pattern we were dealing with. The problem is that sometimes you can’t be certain whether someone is a Toward or Away From pattern. According to Shelle,

            40% of people are mainly Away From

            20% are equally Toward & Away from

            40% are mainly Toward

So it’s best to hedge your bets and use both kinds of language.

And what was my motivation in wanting to assist in this pitch-writing scenario? One was that I wanted to avoid spending the whole day watching my friend stress about writing the pitch while on vacation (Away From). I also mentioned earlier that it was necessary to go into town in order to email it and that meant a trip to the ice cream store which I definitely wanted (Towards). So the next time you’re asking your Significant Other to do something for you or you are trying to persuade your boss on a course of action try these patterns out. Depending on your motivation pattern you’ll get more success or reduce the chance of failure!

By Aurea Crotty

Imagine all you needed to do to achieve your greatest aspirations and realize your full potential was to reframe the words you use.

Can you recall every good moment that has ever happened to you?

According to Yvonne Oswald, author of Every Word Has Power: Switch On Your Language and Turn On Your Life, your subconscious does and will remind you of all those great moments just by meditating on the word good.

The reason for this, Yvonne tells us, is that each key word has a frequency, an energy that transcends beyond the word itself into an emotion which affects our physical and metaphysical existence.

“Powerful high-energy words such as excitement, joy, success, or love, vibrate higher and faster, thus increasing your “I feel good” feelings. Low-energy words, particularly words that have negative emotional associations such as sadness or guilt, resonate at a lower frequency. They make you feel less than great by literally lowering your energy levels. In fact, 20 percent of the words you use have strong emotional undertones, which cause you to react either negatively or positively.”*

Here are some common phrases we have all used, I have highlighted the “Key Words” our subconscious hears and reacts to:

No Problem

It just so hard

I’m so angry

I hate this

I feel sick

We can reframe these statements with high-energy words:

My pleasure

It’s just not easy

I’m not happy

I don’t love this

I don’t feel well

The idea is not that we are trying to rid ourselves of human emotions which include anger and frustration, but rather how we choose to handle and articulate them to our inner-self.

You may be wondering about the use of the words “Not” or “Don’t”. The subconscious mind does not know how to process “negative commands”

“Do not think of a white elephant. Do not think of a white elephant with pink spots –dancing on a stage. Do not remember the number 167. Which number are you not to remember? Your unconscious cannot process what is not. It simply responds to the key words you give it”.*

Some more food for thought…be cognizant of how you talk about other people as your subconscious mind believes you are talking about yourself!

The influence our words have on our emotions and life is a remarkable insight into our psyche and existence. Our perspective and outer expression of our mindset has everything to do with our experiences and success.  

Let us know what you think…do you think the words we use and think can change our life?

*Yvonne Oswald, Every Word Has Power: Switch On Your Language And Turn On Your Life. New York: Atria Books 2008.

I thought this book was a great read and has changed how I communicate! If you would like to read more click here