Seeing The Light: Visual Systems Of Representation
In previous articles I’ve written about the representational systems we all use in relation to communication and how we see the world (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic being the most widely used) and the value it has in gaining rapport with your affluent prospects and clients. In this article, I want to focus our sites on visual language.
When people use visual words to represent what they are thinking, words like ‘bright’, ‘vibrant’, ‘I see what you’re saying’, they are processing information visually. If they use these words a lot, visual is their dominant system and the one they are most conscious of.
What kind of behaviors might we expect from someone who’s using predominantly visual words? People who are visual tend to talk a lot with their hands. They generally talk faster as if they’re trying to tell you all of the thousand words that a picture is worth.
If you put a picture in your mind and try to describe that picture to me, you may find yourself speaking a lot. You may find the words just begin flowing and you speak faster and faster, maybe with a higher pitch. The pictures are flipping through your mind without you being able to keep up with them.
Now try reading the last paragraph out loud, sort of fast, and this will give you an idea of how a visual person speaks.
There are a few other things that you will notice. They may often breathe higher in their chest. You may also notice that they need distance between you as they talk. They do not like to stand real close to people, not too close, because what happens is you will be in their picture if you stand too close.
One thing you can use to see if someone is visually oriented is this: when you talk to them, step in a bit closer and see if they back away. If they become uncomfortable with the closeness, they’re most likely visually oriented.
You can do this with a visually oriented person to confuse them slightly, therefore making persuasion effortless. If you notice them looking off into space, point to where they are looking and slide the area around.
You are not hurting them by doing this. Play around with it a little bit. You won’t cause trauma, but will help you to start to see what happens when a person is oriented in this way.
These kinds of people can be very powerfully persuaded. When you find them, you will learn to love what you can do with them.
When gaining rapport it is valuable to understand the representational system your prospect is using. In future articles I’ll explain to you a shortcut on how to do this. Until then, see if you can identify five visually oriented people this week and notice how they talk and move.
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