As I’m reading the British bestseller Eats, Shoots & Leaves I’m reminded of the powerful effect punctuation has in persuasive communication.
Punctuation serves us for many reasons. As pointed out on p. 7 of Eats, Shoots & Leaves:
“Punctuation has been defined many ways….As we shall see, the practice of “pointing” our writing has always been offered in a spirit of helpfulness, to underline meaning and prevent awkward misunderstandings between writer and reader.”
When you’re persuading someone, you naturally use punctuation to construct your pitch. But, you probably never thought of using it to boost your effectiveness. When she speaks of meaning and misunderstanding, I think of ambiguity. Especially since, if meaning and misunderstanding are going to be assisted by punctuation, I want to influence the how and what of it.
In Eats, Shoots & Leaves Lynne Truss, also, does a great job of pointing out the proper way of using punctuation, and the pitfalls of not using it correctly in the following age-old example. But her book doesn’t have the persuasive usage focus and the upside utilization that this blog entry does.
Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy – will you let me be yours?
Jill
And
Dear Jack,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men I yearn! For you I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Jill
If you can’t see the difference from a persuasive perspective, try both in your relationship and notice the difference. If you’re not in a relationship, try punctuating differently!
OK, back on track. Here’s one example (subtle and admittedly of low impact, as well as vain usage) of how I’ve used it in order to reinforce the feelings I want to embed in my wife:
—–Original Message—–
|
Subject |
Hi |
|
From |
(insert wife’s name) |
|
To |
Jade Handy |
|
Sent |
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:16 AM |
Just wanted to wish you a happy day.
Joke for the day…
Where can you always find wealth, health, and happiness?
Answer:
In the dictionary.
Have a great day! I love when the sun is shining
Love,
(insert wife’s name)
—–Reply—–
|
Subject |
RE: Hi |
|
From |
Jade Handy |
|
To |
(insert wife’s name) |
|
Sent |
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 9:23 AM |
Cute, (insert wife’s name). Thanks.
Love Jade
Do you see it? That’s right. “Love Jade” is neither punctuated nor properly formatted.
As it should be:
Love,
Jade
But, I don’t play fair!
So, how does this apply to selling verbally? Well, let’s take a look at the verbal statement ”So, John, how can I help you make the decision to buy something? Today, we have a special on the widget gadget you asked about, previously” This helps to set the time frame for making the decision to buy something. “Today” could just as easily apply to the first sentence as it could the second.
Notice, in order to utilize punctuation ambiguity, you often times use a “pivot word”. And, usually, punctuation ambiguity is assisted by having supporting sentences around it as in ”We’re going to start using these techniques. Now, when you have a need to create urgency, be thinking about how to package your pitch using them.” “Now” could be punctuated into the first sentence instead of the second. Using ”now” in the first sentence would come across as overbearing. Leaning it’s usage towards the second gets you the primary gain coming across as normal and the secondary gain of a below the radar suggestion. I hear this used more often than any other example I can think of.
For examples of punctuation ambiguity in politics, find some McCain-Obama debate transcripts and go through and sort for how they punctuate in order to keep and hold attention and I think you’ll find that they use this extensively whether or not they’re aware of it, so have fun and use these language patterns in your everyday communication.
