Flattery will get you everywhere
Carrying on from our previous articles regarding elicitation, I am going to talk about the flattery technique. Flattery, used sparingly, is a great way to achieve success in finding out the information you are looking for. When you encourage people to feel good about themselves and what they're doing through praise they often keep talking about the subject. If you tell someone about how great their company is, referencing a newspaper or web article, after they have thanked you, they're likely to carry on talking. Remember when you at school and the teacher said "If you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all" When on a date (not that I can remember mind you!) or you are trying to impress a new client, you can find yourself laughing at their jokes, even if they are not funny. The person is very likely to thank you for the compliment and will then elaborate on what you're complementing them about. May only be a snippet of information. Many snippets creates a good picture. Next time you are listening to a presentation compliment the speaker about a point they made and listen to them provide you with even more information about the subject. You have to be careful not to over use the flattery technique as it may become a little obvious. Used with other techniques like erroneous statements, acting ignorant, disbelief and silence, flattery can be a very powerful tool. Until next time Graeme [email protected]