None of us like being told we can’t do something. This personality trait starts at childhood and remains with us through life. For many of us, being told that we can’t do something is exactly what makes us want to do it!
In linguistics, this technique is known as a ‘negative command’ whereby you tell someone ‘not’ to do something. The command “Don’t buy this jacket” would normally elicit the response “Why not?” – whether the recipient says this or not, they will likely think it.
We use such sentence structure often and without realising it. When playing golf and offering the helpful advise of “don’t go in the bunker” just as your playing partner is addressing the ball, you have guaranteed that he/she must consider the possibility of going in the bunker! If I tell you “don’t think of a blue tree” you have no choice but to do so, as the human brain cannot process negatives. We have to consider the eventuality we are being told to ignore!
Research suggests that use of negative command words doesn’t change the likelihood of an action, but does increase message penetration. If we consider this insight, there is an immediate application in our pursuit of communicating with influence. By using negative command words, your target is more likely to review and/or remember your message. Whether or not they act on it is another matter - there are other techniques that address this objective. However, for the purpose of being more memorable and capturing your targets attention for that split second longer, the purpose is served.
Don’t take my word for it, embed a negative command word in a sentence and try it today!
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