Page 70 - ConvinceThemFlip

convince them in 90 seconds or less
Your mind and your body are one system—change one,
and the other will follow. Stick out your tongue and put
your hands on the side of your head and make those funny
finger-wobbling antlers that kids do, and try to feel miser-
able at the same time. You can’t do it; your body won’t let
you. Jump up and down on a trampoline at your neighbor-
hood barbecue and try to be serious. Not possible; your
body won’t allow it. This is a massive oversimplification of
the mind-body connection, but you get the point.
Before You Open Your Mouth
Turn on The Tonight Show and turn off the sound.
Pretend you’ve never seen or heard Jay Leno before.
Now tell me, is this guy funny? You laughed, didn’t you? If
not, I’ll bet you smiled.
Why is this? How does it happen? The very first impres-
sion Jay Leno gives off comes from his deliberately playful
body language. Because we have an inherent tendency to
align ourselves with other people’s attitudes, we start to
feel the same way within the first couple of seconds of
seeing him—even with the sound off.
Jay’s body language is a result of his deliberately
chosen mental attitude—he makes a conscious decision
to act the way he does. The result is that his body sends
out a message that everyone understands. This doesn’t
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