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JoelBauer
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M ark Levy

+

W ILEY

JO H N W ILEY & SO N S,IN C .



M ore Praise forH ow to PersuadePeople
W ht?D on't IAWJZ'to Be P ersuaded
'JoelBauerand M ark Lev.
srdraw back the curtain and 1etyou see,hear,touch,
andtfscthe mostm ysteriousmechanism sofsuccess- -i
r-fïtfewccfpg.
lècrsuasion.lf
i
you'
rethinkinglightweightcunning orheavyw eightsociologs forgetit.W e'
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.- hl
ick Corcodilos,founderoftheN orth Bridge G roup,Inc.
and authorofzlsk tlleH eadllunter

'JJ/tpttlPtrsuat
k Pcc')!cTbtlDon'
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tttll?cPtrsuatlc? isa gem .ltsconceptsare

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srinherentinagreatpitch.lfyou wanttoelevateyourideasand getthem
received asiftheyw erem annafrom heaven/you mustread thisbook.''
l-eslieYerkes,presidentofCatalystConsulting G roup,Inc.and author
of301 W flpsto HaveFun atW tvkfFun W tvksfand Beans

'JoelBauerandM arkLe'
orteach you how to getinto themind ofthedecision
m akerandconvert'no'into'
yes.'''
-

leffreyGitomer,authorofTlw SalesBibleand

TllePattersonPrinciplesofSelling
'l'
ve watched JoelBauerwork with audiencesfor 12 yearsand now lunderstand w hy he'
sbeen theundisputed leader in persuasion.ButHow ttlPcrsuat
k

Pcc')!cW'
-l,t
lDc'
g.ïWff
wtttll?cPcrsuatk? isn'tjustastonraboutJoel.lt'
san unselfish
recipeforpersonalandprofessionaldevelopm ent.Thisbook isagift.'
.- M a
ttHill,president,TheH illGroup


'JoelBauerandM arkLev.
srelevatetheartofsalesmanshipto alevelothersonly
dream aboutand revealpersuasion strategiesfew professionalswould bewillingtoshare.Tl-uly/thisisabook on how tobeasuccess.'
l-arry Becker,form ercreative partnerofBecker-KanterAdvertising
'&1r. Bauer possesses amazing insight/and offers inspi
red revelations into
hum anbehavior.Thisbook isdangerous.'
W illiam Bakoyni,presidentand CEO ,Video Technologies
'N 0 hocus-pocushere.Thisbook willawaken the negotiatorwithin and enableyou tobe more persuasivethatyoueverthoughtpossible.''
.- M a
x Cohen,cofounderand CEO ,CashAdvance.com
'BauerandLev.srdon'tjustprovethepowerofpersuasion intheirnew book/they
show youhow to becomeanexpertatthiskeylifeski
ll- quicklyandeasily'
'
-

peterEconomy,coauthorofM anagingforDummies


'NvhilereadingJoelBauer'
sbook you'llgetan urgetorush outand testwhat
you'
velearned.W henyouseeyourfi
rst'
victimk eyeslightupJyou'llrealizehis
persuasiontechniquesreally work.From thatmomentonJyou'
rehooked.''
scottGoodm an,CEO ,Sam sonTechnologies


'How tt
lPcrsuatkPcc')!cTbtlDon'
tWkg.
ttt
ll?cPtrsuatlctliscandid/insightful,educational/and fun.Read itand putsom emagicintoyourbusinesslife.'

leffreyJ.Fox,authorofHow toM akeBigAz
ftlse.
yin YtlvrOwn Small

-

Businessand H ow to Becom eCEO

'DonaldTrump'
sairlojt/ Dcfp!andJoelBauer'
sHowttlPtrsuat
kPcc')!cTbtlDc'
g.
ï
Wffwtttll?cPtrsuatlc?aretwo essentialsforthoselooking to succeed inbusiness.'
.- l
lob Bedbury,directorofBttsinessD evelopment,G um asAdvertising

'M asterJoeland M ark'
sinfluencestrategiesand you canbecomethebusiness
w orld'
snextpied pipen'
'

-

stewartLevine,authorofTlleBook tl
/zlgrccvscvzf'
and Getting to Resolution

'lfound influenceprincipleslcould imm ediately apply to my businesson a1m ostevenrpage.'
.-

D avid G oldsmith,founder,M etaM atrix Consulting,Inc.

'JoelBauer issuch a rock star.He hasshownup with hisown brand ofreal
m agicand itw illrockyourworld.Readevenrw ord andread itagain.'
-

AngelicaJ.Holiday,'
TV producer,entedainment/advertising/marketing
& brand consultant

'A m ustread and a funread forbusinesspeople atany level.Thebook grabs
youthemomentyou pick itupand isfu11ofundergroundpractices/whichw ill
haveyou persuading li
keaprofessionalpitchm an.''
-

-l-homasJ.W aletzki,president,EizoNanaoTechnologies

'
H ow ttlPcrsuatkPcc')!cT btlDc'
g.

ïWff
w tttll?cPcrsuat
k?w illshakeyou outofyour
comfortzone and/in the process,draw othersto your ideas.A wonderfully
unorthodox look athow to influenceand getattention.'
.-

lohn Izzo authorofSecondInnocence:RediscoveringIoy
& W tlsflc'randAwakening tlle CorporateSoul


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G ET W HAT You W ANT- EVERY T IME!

p* .!1
JoelBauer
&

M ark Levy

+
W ILEY


JO H N W ILEY & SO N S,IN C .


Thisbookisprinted on acid.freepaper.@

Copyright@ 2004byJoelBauerandlvlarkLe'
o,.A11rightsresenred.
PublishedbyJohnW ileyscSons/lnc./Hoboken/Newlersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

ThankstoAigfcmagazinepublisherStanAllenandeditor.in.chiefJohnlvloehringfor
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I.ibraryojcongressCataloging-in-publicationData:
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twantto bepersuaded :getwhatyouwant-

everytimeL/Joe1Bauer/lvlarkI
-e'
o,.
p.cm .

lncludesbibliographicalreferencesand index.


ISBN 0-471-64797-7(hardcover)
1.Persuasion (Psycholomr)1.l-evy/lvlark/1962- ll.'
Tltle.
81:637.1
74832 2004
153.8'52.
--(1(222

8

2003027633


Form y m other,C arol,w ho neversaid,''ltcannotbe
done/''and m y wife,Cherie,who said,''lsthat a11?''
-

J.B.

Formy mother,Rhoda,who read me T'
ret
gsgreJs/t
ggk,and
m y wife,Stella,who can persuade with the bestofthem .



pe .1
C O N T EN TS


ACKNOW LEDGMENTS

D luw Ix TI
-IE LlsvfExEk
CI
-IANGE TI-IE M OM ENT
THE TpakhlsyoltlvlzkTlox M ECI-IANISM
THE BODY M ETAPI-IOR
THE PAPER M ETAPI-IOR

THEQulcltPITCH OPENING
THEQulcltPITCH BODY

11
12
13

16
17
18

THE SLOGAN PITCI
-I
C otkvlxcE w l7'l
-ISAMPLES
THE Pow Ek oy FItEE
THE Pow Ek OF G IFTS
SOLID Pkooy
D YNAMIC C I
-ARlTY

BE D lsrlxc'
r
O vEkcol
vlEREsls-r/txcE
THE LOOK
THE PLATFOR&1PITCH
THE V ECHANISI
VIEMERGENCY K IT

INDEX
A BO UT THE AUTHO ZS

1
13
22
40
53
66
78
90
1O1
112
125
133
15O
159
176
186
197
213




p-..1
A C K N O W LE D G M E N T S

'd like to thank m y w ife,C herie,w ho knew lhad potential
when it w as well hidden; m y am azing children, Chanelle,
Briana,and Sterling,w ho every day teach m e w hatlife is really about;m y m other,C arolBauer,and m y father,Stephen
Shoyer;m y adoring grandfathers,Albertand D uf-fy;and m y closestfriends,Bi11Bakoyni,Larry Becker,D avid Borys,G ary Lam ers,

Eric M aurin, Dale Penn,Jason Randal, David Stahl, and Jon
Stetson.W ithouttheirongoing support,thejourney toward getting whatl've alw ays w anted w ould have been lonely.l'd like to

thank my life teachers,Jack Chanin,PaulDiamond,Joe DeLjon,
G ary H unter,H idy O chiai,Ron Praver,Benny Ray,and G regg
W ebb;the Kenin C oin & Stam p Shop M agic Departm entwhen l
w aseleven;the staffofCarnivalC ruise L nesw hen lw asthirteen;
and m y publicist,PhilLobel,who hasw orked brilliantly with the
m edia to getthe w ord outaboutm e.
l'd also like to thank my co-author,M ark Levy,who is a writing god.W orking w ith M ark is the only way my techniques and
philosophy could have ever been transferred so expertly to the
page.H e clim bed inside m y w orld,and becam e afriend aswell.
L fe has dealt m e a greathand,and the cards w illrem ain in
play untilm y lastbreath.
-

J.B.



ACKNOW LEDGM ENTS

'd like to thank m y w ife,Stella,whose love and supporthas
keptm e going;my m om ,Rhoda;my brother,Paul;m y sister,

Joyce;and,a11my otheramazing relatives,likeGi1,lrwin,and
Joan.lthank my friendswhose wisdom helped Joeland me
w rite this book: D ick ''The Guru'
' Axelrod, Renee Babiewich,

LarryBecker(forintroducingmetoJoel),Steve'There'
sapeculiarity in my shoe''Cohen,PattiDanos,Kevin Daum (foratwohourconversation thatmade ita11clear),ChristopherDiltsand
his hair, Jack Foster, Bob 'The H appy Skeptic' Friedhoffer,
M ichael''Leonardo''G elb,N athan G old, D avid ''Ferris Buehler''
G oldsm ith,M ichelle H erm an, Paul H arris, Robert ''Short Sen-

tences''Jacobs,M ac ''
Vegas,babyl''L ng,Paul Lemberg,Steve
''H ow did itw alk?'Sanderson,Rich Schefren,Adam Snukal,Ken

Swezey (who wasexcited by ourbook conceptbefore anyone
else, and w hose enthusiasm gave the 'Pitchh/
lind'
'rocket a lift

into orbit),and KarlWeber.Also,thanksto ourliterary agent,
M uriel Nellis, and her assistant,Jane Roberts,to everyone at
W iley,with a big shout out to M att ''
T he N urturer''H olt and
Tam ara ''The Transylvanian''H um m el, and to Claire H uism ann


and thekillerstaffatlmpressionsBook and JournalServices.Also
also,l'd like to thank m y pets.W hen you're w riting eleven hours
a day w ith no hum ansin sight,a bark,a m eow ,ora tw eetcan be

awfully comforting.Blessyou Kuma,Jofu (''
Fuzio''),Xger,and
Betsy.

Finally,lwould like to thank them an himself,JoelBauer.Joel
is a m asterful businessperson,perform er,and friend.lfyou ever
getthe chance to see him in action,take it!
M


p-..1 1

D RAW IN T H E LIST EN ER

hatyou'
re aboutto read is abitfrightening.Som etim es sem inar attendees w alk out on m e as lde-

liver this materialbecause the/re disturbed by
what they hear.These are sm art people w alking
out.ldon'
tblam e them forleaving.Thisisthestuffofnightm ares.
A syou continue reading,you're going to learn to persuade in
a w ay you neverim agined possible.N otin a D ale C arnegie w ay.
N otby sm iling and tossing in people'
s first nam es as you speak

w ith them .This is about getting people to do what you w ant.

Particularly strangers.(W hen a J//fre;treportersaw hundredsof
strangersfollow m y com m andsin unison,he called the display ''a

featofmassobediencethatmustbeseentobebelieved.'')
M y persuasion m odelisunusual,butdeadly effective.ldidn'
t
read aboutitin a m agazine ordevelop itwith ateam ofuniversity
scholars.lnstead,itcom es from m y 37 years'experience in front
of audiences and from m y study of those true m asters of influence,show folk;m ostly show folk in the ''dark arts.''
Yes, a11 l know about persuasion l'
ve learned from carnies,
fakirs,hypnotists,m agicians,m entalists,spiritualists,and,partic-


a

Dl
t/
tw Ix TI
-IE LlsfExElt

ularly,pitchm en.N aturally,l'm taking liberties here with w ho l
callshow folk,butlet'
s notsplithairs.T heirm ethods are the im portantthing,notthe taxonom y.
T hese m entors ofm ine,w hom you'lllearn about throughout
the book,share severaltraits:lfthey don'
t persuade,they starve;
theirstrategies m ay involve outrightdeception;and they use,for

the m ostpart,entertainm entas a m eans of changing m inds.For
w ant of a better term ,let'
s call their w ays ''
theatrical/''and m y

modelthe 'TheatricalPersuasion M odel.''(Thingsalwaysseem
morerealwhenyounamethem;there'
syourfirstlesson.)
So ifyou're ready for an underground education in influence,
read on.lfyou're anxious to learn what m agicians dub ''the real
w ork/''this is the only place to find it.lt'
s a11very doable, and
you'llbe able to use the m odelno m atterw hatyour situationthatis,ifyou don'
t1etyourfears getthe bestofyou.

Reader,ljusthityouwith an influence technique:the Fright
C hallenge.L ken itto the carnivalbarker'sballyhoo used to snare
people strolling the m idw ay:''Ladiesand gentlem en,can you bear
it? Sho-cking!H orr-i-fy-ing!A living,breathing nightm are!The
m ostintelligentam ong you willw antto keep w alkingl'The m ore
the carny protests,the largerthe crowd grows.
lf lw as successfulwith m y pitch,you didn'tnotice you w ere
being influenced.O r,ifyou realized it,you w ere atleastintrigued
enough to read thisfar.W hateveryour reaction,lnow have your
attention,and lintend to keep it.
You can rely upon the FrightChallenge w hateveryour audience'
ssize and intellectualm akeup.Everyone- and lm ean everyone- respondsto thissim ple tactic.
lused alengthy challenge to open thischapterbecauseyou can
build slow ly on paper.Readers like to feelthe tim bre of a writer'
s

voice and see how he orshe goesaboutdeveloping an argum ent.ln
person,though,it'
sadifferentstory;ifyou taketoo long setting the
challenge,you crossthe line from provocateurto m enace.
W hen the people l'
m trying to influence are standing before
m e and w antto know how learn aliving,m y FrightChallengeisto


ovEltv lEw

the point:''
A re you sure you w antto know ? lt'
sa little frightening.
M ostpeople can'
t handle it.''W hen they say yes,and they always
do,lconspiratorially add:''
M ove in closer.ldon'tw anteveryone
hearing this.'Suddenly,lhave their attention in aw ay thatm akes

them hungryformywords.The/remineforthemoment.
Reading Jfoa?toPersgtgkePeoble J///
?0D0g1 J/tggtto BePersgt
gt
le;t
w illbe an experience foryou.M uch ofw hatyou'
re aboutto learn
is available now here else.
Ladies and gentlem en,can you bearit? lt'soverview tim e!


O VERV IEW
W ho Should Read This Book?
lwrote itpredom inantly for businesspeople.M y techniquesw ill
help executives,m anagers,entrepreneurs,salespeople,m arketers,

advertising staff, human resources personnel, presenters, job
seekers,andjustaboutanybody looking foraway to makepeople
receptive to suggestions.

O fcourse,you don'
thave to be in businessto profitfrom this
book.Anyone who wantsto influence othersto hisorherw ay of
thinking w ill w ant to read it.That audience includes activists,
counselors,negotiators,perform ers,physicians,politicians,pub1ic speakers,and teachers.
A n audience thatdeserves specialm ention is singles.M y persuasion strategies are naturalsw hen itcom es to m eeting and im pressing people.lfyou're aC asanova-orvam p-in-training,youke
com e to the rightplace.

W hatIs the Book'sH igh Concept?
Before lanswer,1etm e explain w hata high conceptis.The principle iscriticalifyou w antto be a pow erfulpersuader.The term

bèbcogcel)tismostoften used in the TV and film industries,particularly during pitch m eetings, in w hich writers throw condensed ideas ata studio executive,hoping that the executive w ill
buy one ofthem and turn itinto a seriesor a m ovie.


Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-

T hose condensed ideas are high concepts.They take a com plex plotand reduceitto itsm ostcom pelling point.The resulting
sentence orphrase isw hatthe w riterfires atthe executive.
W hat'
s the m ostfam ous high conceptever pitched? According to ''Perfect Pitch/' a TV docum entary, it w as delivered by


Aaron Spelling to sellhis proposed series A lbtinyales.Spelling
pitched the series as''
nursesin w ett-shirts.''The studio boughtit
im m ediately.

So W hatIs ThisBook's High Concept?

Jtsllof
z?syou/90f
,
17tobersuai
jeby gsf'
l
g t/
?etecllgftyesojbrojessionalIlftcllmea.
T hat concept m ay not be as sexy as Spellingk,but it'
s accurate.
T his book brings the secrets ofshow folk to the boardroom .lt
teachesyou how to use entertainm entto influence.
T hink these prem isessound odd? Then lsuggestyou switch
on yourtelevision.lfthe successoftelevision has taughtus anything,it's this:People w illopen them selves up to a com m ercial
m essage f
ertain them.Take away theentertainment,and
-fyou ent

the view ersurfsoffto anotherstation while the sponsor'
sm essage
goes unheard.
Productsalesrise and fallbased upon the entertainm entvalue

oftheirm essages.A m essage thatticklesthe public can be w orth
billions.Attim es,an entertaining m essage m ay be the only thing
separating one productfrom another.

Bottled waterisa good example.lt'
s a $35 billion a yearindustry.That'
s$35 billion foraproductnotsubstantially different
from w hatyou can getoutofyourfaucet.
O bviously,thepeople in thatindustry arebright.They notonly
created a m arket,but they work hard atm aking each brand seem
differentfrom its competitor.O ne w ater is from a stream .O ne is
from the m ountains.O ne isfrom France.O ne has added vitam ins.
O ne com esin asquirtbottleforpeopleon the go.The listgoeson.
l would argue that very little separates one w ater from the
other.lf you w ere to conduct a taste test am ong the top three
brands,ldon'tthink you'd find an obviousw inner.


ovEltv lEw

T he thing thatreally separatesthese productsistheircom panies' positioning strategies and the entertainm ent principles
each usesin its m arketing m essage.l'
ve seen brands advertised by
m odelsin flow ing robes,by glam orous m ovie stars,and by beautiful,sw eating athletes.
M odels,m ovie stars,and athleteshave little to do w ith w ater.
T hey have a1otto do w ith telling an attention-grabbing dram atic
story,fast.ln otherw ords,they're there to entertain you.For no
otherreason.
Perhapsthe entertainm entcom ponentin bottled w aterissubtle.After a11,m ost com panies in the industry take a dignified approach to pitching theirproduct.lt'
snotso with beer.

T he beer industry is a11 about associating its product w ith
good tim es and wild entertainm ent.To push theirproduct,brew ershave used aw ide variety ofentertaining m eans:Theyke flow n
blim ps over sporting events; run contests with a billion-dollar
prize;and aired com m ercialsfeaturing wom en wrestling in m ud,a
dog with hum an girlfriends,frogs croaking a beer'
s nam e,and a
footballgam e played between rivalbottlesofbeer.
W ith exaggerated vehicles like those,it'
s easy to dism issthe
brilliance ofthe beerindustry.Thatis,untilyou realize onething:

ln 2002,beersalestotaled $74.4 billion.Say whatyou like.Entertainm entsells.

W illM y Techniques Require You to Becom e an
Entertainer?
You w illnot have to sing,dance,act,recite,get up in front of
crow ds,orw restle in m ud,unlessyou w antto.W hen ltalk about
entertainm entasapersuader,lm ean thatyou w illuse com pelling,
often whim sicalstrategies designed to put people in a receptive
m ood forw hatyou have to offer.
A nd keep in m ind, entertainm ent isn't necessarily lighthearted.A dram a is entertaining.So isa horror film .ln the w ork
w e'
llbe doing together,you'll be using the fullrange of hum an
em otion to m ake yourpointforcefully.


DPAW IN TH E LISTENER

W hatAre Som e olthe Techniques?
Youke already experienced at least two techniques.The Fright

C hallenge w as one,and contained within itw as a second technique:st
grlll/fgf
?.lfyou want to persuade people,you're going to
have to figure out w ays ofletting them sam ple your suggestion,
idea,service,or product.O therwise,they'lldoubtyou,and that
doubtm ay keep them from acting on yourw ishes.
lopened with the Fright Challenge because it'
s an attentiongrabber(gg;titacted asasample ofwhatyou're going to learn.lf
you thoughtthe challenge flim flam ,then you instantly knew this
book isn'
t for you.Conversely,if you thoughtthe challenge intriguing,then you're no doubteager to tear through the rest of
this book and m ake itsstrategiesyourstrategies.
Sam pling helps people draw conclusions quickly and honestly. lt'
s an ethical w ay to win them over to your side.Later,
you'lllearn the bestw ays to offer sam ples in situations professionaland personal.
Besides the Fright Challenge and sam pling,you'll also learn
how to persuade using dozensofothertactics.Am ong them :the
-

Body Metaphor,the PaperM etaphor,the Quick Pitch,and the
Platform Pitch.A11 are entertaining.A11 are effective.You and
the people you're persuading w illhave fun while you getyourway.
O fcourse,not every technique in this book functions solely
to entertain.Your offerings should be flavored w ith entertainm entprinciples,not drowning in them .W hile you're learning to
entertain,you'llalso be learning good,solid business and influence practices.

l don'tw ant to leave this introductory chapterw ithout putting the spotlight on an influence technique particularly dear to
m e:the Transform ation M echanism .

W hatIs a Translorm ation M echanism ?

lt is a dem onstration thatgains your audience'
s attention,low ers
their defenses,and serves as a m etaphor for your m essage.Jtk (
g

trfcêt/
gtgtrlt
g/tes(gIlofgt.A majorpoint.O nethatmightspellthedif-


ovEltv lEw

7

ference between som eone'staking your suggestion or dism issing
it.Letm e give you an exam ple ofa Transform ation M echanism l

used to make a$45,000 sale.ltinvolved arubberband.
M y prospectw asthe head ofm arketing fora W estCoastsoft-

ware firm .Hercompany wasrentingm ajor1700th spaceatan upcom ing convention,and she had contacted m e as a possible hire

for the show.M y job? To act as the company'
s pitchman and
draw people to her1700th.
Because itw asshe who had called the m eeting,lthoughtthe
sale w ould beeasy.W asleverwrong.W hen lasked herabouther
com pany'
sgoalsforthe show,shew asvague.W hen lshow ed her
client testim onials and photographs of m e drawing overflow

crow ds atpreviousshow s,she glanced atthem asiflhad handed
heryesterday'
snew spaper.
She thanked m e forcom ing and said she'd getback to m e.But
lw asn'tleaving.The m eeting had costm e tim e and m oney,and
herget-back-to-m e speech w asn'
tgiving m e false hope.lflleft,l
w ould neverhearfrom heragain.
lrose from m y chair and pretended to pack up.As lshutm y
laptop and repositioned im aginary item s in m y briefcase,lasked

herthesamequestionslhadjustasked her,only lsoftened them .
Forinstance,ratherthan asking abouthercom pany'
sgoalsforthe
upcom ing show,lasked about her bestm om ents from previous
show s,and how she planned on duplicating them .After a few

moments,lsmoked outherobjection to my services.
H er com pany had alw ays relied on w inning over early
adoptersw ho w ould getthe w ord outaboutthe new softw are to
their fellow hard-core users.This strategy had served her firm
w ell.lthad doubled in size overthe lastthree yearsby catering to
early adopters.
M y service didn'tfit thatearly-adopterm odelat all- atleast
not in her m ind.W hat l'm a11about isdraw ing the largesttradeshow crowds possible, and that'
s not w hat she thought she
needed.'The m asses aren't going to buy our product/''she said,
''
so lsee no reason to attract and entertain them .'She confessed



Dlu w Ix TI-IE LISTENEP-

that the only reason lhad been called in w as because her firm '
s
C EO had seen m e draw crowds for a rival, and he thought it
m ightbe a good idea to hearw hatlhad to say.
''Letm e m ake sure lunderstand/''lsaid.''You believe thatlcan
draw a m ob to your 1700th,butyou think that'
s overkill.You believe thatthousandsofundifferentiated onlookersare aw asted expense, a distraction.They m ay even keep aw ay the folks you
really want:theearly adopters.''She agreed,thatwasherdilem m a.
lknew w hat lhad to do.lhad to transform the m om entfor
her.lhad to take herfrom where she w as and m ove herto a different vantage point.W ords alone weren'
t going to do it.Sbe

geer/e;tt/?eexberienceojseeiny/?ert
lf/twlrltg(
ggef
z?.
lnoticed a rubberband encircling herw ristand asked herto
rem ove it.

''lm agine that your sm allrubber band isyour sm allgroup of
early adopters/''l said.'T hose are the people you really w ant at
the show.They spellthe difference between yourcom pany'
ssuccess and failure.A greed?'
gree .

''H old one end ofthatrubberband atyourleftfingertips,the
otherend atyourrightfingertips,and pressthe band againstyour

upper 1ip.''The w om an looked at m e asif lw ere fresh from the
asylum .
''D on'tworlx 'lsaid ''you know lm ake m y living as a show m an.lw antto drive hom e a point,butlw antto do itin a special
w ay.Please putthe band againstyour 1ip.''She com plied.
''D oes the band feelhotorcold?''lasked.
O ltl.

''Good.N ow im agine thatbesides thatsm allband ofadopters,
hundreds ofother people com e along and expand the crow d.To
get a vivid im age of what l'
m talking about, expand the band.
Stretch itbetween yourfingersuntilitnearly snaps.''She did.
''
Yourlarge rubberband now sym bolizesthe m ob surrounding
your1700th iflw aspitching.Keep the band taut,and putitup to
yourlips again.W hatdo you feel?''


OVERV IEW

9

''O h m y godl''she said ''that'
srem arkable.The band ishot.'
''
T hat'
s right/''l said ''lt'
s hot not because of m agic,butbecause ofphysics.W hen you stretched the rubber,you excited its
electrons and heated up the band.
''

T he sam e kind ofexcitem ent-and-heatreaction isw hathappenswhen you expand yourtrade-show audiences,too.
''
W hen you have a big crowd,passersby realize som ething big
is happening in the 1700th.The crow d'
s size creates an expectation,an excitem ent,a heat.The people sauntering past stop and
w onder,'W hat are a11 these people looking at? W hat do they

know thatldon't'
?'Then they run to join the crowd,making it
bigger.

''
N ow,someofthese peoplerunning tojoin thecrowd willbe
early adopters.Early adopters alw aysw antto be on the inside.lf
they spot a crowd and they don't know w hat it'
s about,they'll
practically shove theirw ay to the front.l'
ve seen thishappen over
and overthrough the years.
''
M y crowds willpullin m ore early adoptersthan youke ever
had,precisely because my crowds are so big,so excited,so fullof
energy.A crow d draws a largercrow dl''
She sat silently for a few seconds,playing with the rubber
band.Then she asked m e questions:aboutmy fees,my m ethods,
the logistics of m y perform ances.W hen l lefther office,itw as
w ith a signed contract.
Transform ation M echanism s help you m ake your point in a
w ay m ore effective than straightforw ard logic.They work forthe


samereasonDet
gt/
gojaSt
g/esrltggforcesusto reexamineourvalues
and Jtk(
gJ/ogt
lerfg/Li
h letsusre-seeourplaceintheworld.Their
-

lessonscometousin aTrojan horse.They appealto usbecauseof
story,color,and entertainm ent.They touch usin aw ay thatbald
inform ation m isses.
M ore than one-third ofthisbook is devoted to the Transform ation M echanism .You can use these m echanism s in any situation you can im agine:to rouse a w orkforce,to close a sale,orto
getchildren to clean theirroom .


DPAW IN TH E LISTENER

W ho Am Ito Teach You These M ethods?

lam JoelBauer,professionaltradeshow pitchm an.lpersuadefor
a living.Fortune 5OO com panies hire m e to stand atop a 26-inchhigh riserin frontoftheirbooths and pitch theirproducts.
W hat do these com panies have invested in a typicaltrade
show ? Theyke spentup to ten m illion dollarson 1700th construction,five hundred thousand dollarsto rentfloor space,and hundreds of thousands m ore on union fees, drayage charges,
personnel costs, and travel expenses.But those dollars are the
leastoftheirconcerns.
O ften,the future of their organizations rests upon how well
they do at the show.lf they have a new product rollout,they
w ant the press to see it,the TV cam eras to shoot it, and their

prospects to buzz about it.A bad show m eans a bad product
launch,and thatcan sink acom pany.W hen people hire m e,they
have high expectations.
W hatis the trade-show environm ent? W hen you'
re atatrade
show ,you're in an environm ent that can be im personal and at
tim es brutal.The com petition surrounds you,and they w ant to
seeyou failbadly.And the people you're trying to persuade- the
show attendees- are rushing pastyou.They don'
tcare w ho you
are,how nice you are,how fearfulyou are,or how superior you
think yourproductis.
Persuading ata trade show is akin to persuading on the street
or in the ancientbazaar.There are rules,but few ofthem are in
yourfavor.lt'
sm y responsibility to stop passersby,getthem to listen to a productpitch,and coax them into leaving theircontact
inform ation.
To be cost effective, lcan'
t persuade people to stop one by
one.lnstead,l m ust create crow ds.Large,scary crow ds.lm ust
getso m any people to stop and w atch and listen and actthroughoutthe day thatm y client'
slead-generation m achinesare flooded
w ith prospects.
H ow welldo ldo?The J'
$Q//StreetJogrgt
g/Onlinecallsme ''
the
chairm an ofthe board''ofcorporate trade show rainm aking.f'
t
gst