Saturday, May 30, 2009

 

Memory Hooks

Memory Hooks

by Bob Nicoll (Dec 4 2008)

Memory hooks – empowering words for being remembered

In his book, "Seven Second Marketing: How to Use Memory Hooks to Stand Out in a Crowd", Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D. speaks to the importance of making a lasting impression in a short period of time.

There is no question about the power of that impression.

From the perspective of "Remember the Ice and Other Paradigm Shifts", I like to focus on how "Empowering word choices impact your life; use them to attract the life you want." It really makes a difference what you say.

Why is it so important to pay attention to word choice? It’s important because as a society, we have slipped into lazy habits that confuse or undermine the things that come out of our mouths. As a society, we are getting more and more frustrated by our lack of ability to understand and to make ourselves understood.

Poor word choice is a serious obstacle to clear communication and diminishes your personal power. Imagine how much more power and confidence you would have in your life if you could consistently get your message across clearly. How empowering do you think it would be to know that your words influence and inspire, rather than confuse and annoy? I believe few people actually set out to confuse and annoy others. I believe most of us want to be clear and make sense. I believe most people just need to know how to do it.

The good news is that you already have everything you need. It’s just a matter of understanding the how and why of organizing and using your words, and putting it all into practice.

The first lesson is about the word "not", or as I like to write it: (K)not. I present it this way as a constant reminder that the word "not" ties your message in knots. I believe the word should be eliminated from our language.

If the word "not" ever had a good use before it became the standard method for muddling information, overuse has destroyed its meaning. The word is no longer effective. We have become desensitized to its meaning. It has been inserted so many ways and with such frequency to foster excuses and serve for laziness that we no longer think about why we use it, and most critically, we no longer hear it. It no longer registers. We no longer recognize its meaning in a sentence.

In life you get one chance at a first impression—make it a lasting one. While we are focused on that impression, make sure to use the most empowering words you can.

The basic premise of "Remember the Ice" shows the impact of understanding this statement:

There is Power in the Clarity of your Articulation. TM

Memory hooks are nuggets of powerful articulation. There are words that will be better left unused in your "hooks". I call them: "Not and the hit list six".

Not
Don’t
Can’t
Won’t
Wouldn’t
Couldn’t
Shouldn’t

Keep them out of your memory hook, and you will become more memorable. Instead, include words like:

Do
Can
Will
Would
Could

One of my favorite memory hooks is Nike’s. Just Do It!

Can you imagine the confusion if they said: Just Don’t Stop? or Just Don’t Quit?

If you remove the (k)not in the statement, you are left with: "Just Stop" or "Just Quit." Obviously a far different first impression the company wants to have with their customers.

The power is in removing the (k)nots. Think about saying what you would like to have them do…and say it.

The response you get, in the form of referrals, will be substantially enhanced with the empowered words you use in your memory hook.

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