In 1963, one of the most captivating characters on the silver screen took the world by storm. Dressed in a custom made tailored suit, James Bond, had the entire world ordering martinis that were shaken, not stirred. In the 1970’s a Jamaican born singer named Grace Jones became the star of the disco scene at New York’s infamous Studio 54 and had just about everyone wishing they were French speaking long-legged models. In the 1980’s teen heartthrob Michael Jackson was crowned the “King of Pop” as he produced and sold top rated record after record that created a cult of die hard fans.
As the years pass, we see more influencers and more personal brands in the spotlight, hooking the world with their fascinating vision, message, and first impressions. To be part of the big leagues, we understand that we need to be interesting. We need to be intriguing. We need to be riveting enough to create a lasting first impression.
It’s challenging to stand out
There’s no doubt that it is really difficult to standout. Some of us feel practically invisible. It can feel like wearing a flashing light in the middle of the Las Vegas Strip where everyone else has a flashing light saying “Look at me!” As an individual brand, we probably have more suitors vying for the heart of our ideal clients than there are sexual positions. Our ideal clients get pokes, probes, and jabs from every direction. Our competitor could be using the same colors, the same text, and heck even the same font as us. How can we even get noticed in a situation like that? Make no mistake, we are competing in a heavily saturated market, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to still be eye catching, and fascinating.
Essentially it all comes down to the way that you naturally speak to your audience that can make you as noticeable as James Bond, Grace Jones, and Michael Jackson. It’s the language that we’re using that our audience finds incredibly intriguing. Once we understand how we are naturally fascinating, we worry less about the other competitors, the distractions, or the price hagglers, and more on being that iconic, premium brand.
The solution: talk their language
In 2010, Sally Hogshead wrote a book dedicated to this exact dilemma appropriately named “how to Fascinate.” The book essentially focuses on this question: How have you been most persuasive in the past? Having worked at a sales training company for the last several years, the one most valuable takeaway has been this: whether or not our official title has sales in it, we are all salespeople.
We are all modern day Mad Men, persuading an audience to believe in our purpose, and to join us in our movement. And there is a natural way that we present ourselves in order to deliver that message. If we think about the last time we had to persuade someone, let’s say convincing our partner to watch binge watch Stranger Things all weekend, (because hell yes!) we often find there is a deliberate tone, or specific vocabulary that we use that make us really effective in the delivery of that message.
What Sally did, was break down these persuasion techniques into 7 distinct languages that we can use to our advantage to get our business to stand out.
The 7 languages of fascination:
- Innovation
- Passion
- Power
- Prestige
- Trust
- Mystic
- Alert
No. 1 Innovation.
People who use innovation language come up with extraordinary solutions to ordinary problems. They often time find ways to get around barriers as if the barriers don’t exist.
No. 2 Passion.
People who use passion language build relationships with other people extremely fast. They create emotional connections that get people on their side. They are big on storytelling because it’s an excellent way for them to pull on the emotional strings of their audience.
No. 3 Power.
People who use power have strong opinions. The often tell it like it is, and considered the “go to” person for guidance. Think of them as a Peter Pan; someone who is leader of the pack.
No. 4 Prestige.
People who use prestige are really results oriented. They focus on telling stories that are transformational (think rags to riches). Even though they are not detailed oriented, they do notice all the details, and want the details to be more flawless than Beyonce.
No. 5 Trust.
People who use trust rely heavily on using predictable patterns (in other words doing things the same way every single time) in order to build a sense of trust and thus gain unbreakable loyalty. They are often approachable and extremely reliable.
No 6. Mystic.
People who use this language often aren’t the center of attention. They like to ask questions, and dive even deeper with more questions. Think of it like a therapy session where the therapist will ask a string of questions that usually result in the patient hitting an epiphany.
No. 7 Alert.
These people are really data-oriented, and research driven. They spot a problem, rip it apart, examine it, then put it back together with the perfect fix.They are driven by numbers and their attention to detail is so sharp you could slice through rocks like butter.
The quiz on the How to Fascinate website will probably take about 15 minutes of your time, and is arguably well worth it. Whether you take the quiz or not, knowing the 7 languages will actually give you a solid foundation to create marketing that makes your business stand out.
Using Fascination to woo people
Let’s say you’re selling a body scrub. Here’s how it would sound in the 7 different languages:
- Innovation. We’ve just create the newest body scrub on the market using 6 ingredients that have never been used by any other product.
- Passion. You are absolutely going to fall in love with the body scrub. After using it you will just want to dance in your shower from pure joy.
- Power. You’ve got to have this body scrub. If you want to smooth skin, there is no other choice.
- Prestige. This body scrub will transform you dry rough and uneven skin, into smooth, hydrated silk.
- Trust. This body scrub is your new best friend. You can always depend on it to give you the best results with every use.
- Mystic. Are you looking to change the way your skin feels? Are you sick and tired of using those drug store brands? Well, have you tried our handmade body scrubs?
- Alert. We’re making this limited edition handmade body scrub available for our loyal subscriber. You definitely don’t want to miss this.
Did you see the differences? Seeing how the different languages are used will help you to understand how to craft a message that will bring your business to the front of the pack.
So which language do you believe will help your brand stand out? Craft one message using that language, and share it.
