Summary of WORDS THAT CHANGE MINDS

Using a personality inventory she developed, LAB Profile ®, Ms. Charvet has consulted worldwide on how to influence people who have different personal styles. She has her own set of category labels, not all of which are obvious:

LEVEL:

Proactive people act with little consideration.

Reactive people first analyze, then act.

CRITERIA:

The words that reflect the listeners goals.

DIRECTION:

Toward: oriented to achieve goals.

Away From: oriented to avoid loss.

SOURCE:

Internal: they are guided by their own standards.

External: they are guided by the standards of others and seek feedback.

REASON:

Options are continually sought and used to update plans

Procedures are relied upon to assure completion.

DECISION FACTORS:

Sameness preferred.

Sameness with rare Exceptions wanted.

Difference: change preferred.

Difference and Sameness with Exception: like both evolution and revolution.

SCOPE:

Specifics emphasized.

General overview preferred.

ATTENTION DIRECTION:

Self: barely notices others’ behavior.

Other: highly attuned to others’ reactions.

STRESS RESPONSE:

Feeling: emotional.

Thinking: rational, analytical.

Choice: mixes the two styles.

STYLE:

Independent wants to work alone.

Proximity likes a few others nearby, but he controls his space.

Cooperative wants and needs others, team player.

ORGANIZATION:

Person: what counts is how people feel, relate.

Thing: the outcome, getting the job done, is paramount.

RULE STRUCTURE:

Four possible combinations of having rules or not that apply to self or others: My/My, My/No, No/My, My/Your.

CONVINCER CHANNEL:

See, Hear, Read, Do

CONVINCER MODE:

Number of Examples: how many are needed.

Automatic: gives benefit of the doubt.

Consistent: almost impossible to change.

Period of time: “time will tell,” a critical duration needed for confirmation.

Charvet gives many examples of the application of this analysis to convincing others, forming teams, hiring, etc., and offers examples of the wording most appropriate to convincing people of the various types she analyzes. She presents estimates of the distribution (frequency) of the various types. She has had a successful career using this method for consulting and there are some studies that support it.

The book is available from amazon.com .