I'll admit it. As a high school runner, I pursued victory with a
missionary zeal. While this meant training hard to make myself as
competitive as possible, it also meant recruiting my friends who were in
good shape to abandon whatever endeavors they might feel like engaging
in on a fall afternoon to slap on trainers and shorts and beat their
poor bodies into submission over miles upon miles of twisting forested
mountain trails. Believe it or not, this is as hard as it sounds!
Nonetheless, I was consistently inviting potential runners to evening
runs, fun little cross country socials, and other fellowshipping events
in the hopes that some of them might feel the truthfulness of my message
and join the team. There was one friend, Dylan, whose story highlights
an important aspect of persuasion.
Dylan was a fine young man, who was in great shape and, more importantly, had the defiant disregard for reality that characterizes those who see mountains as molehills and pain as a pleasant companion. He was a clear candidate for the XC team, and had always been a good friend of mine. I decided to try to recruit him. I invited him on runs, told him about all the fun stuff we'd been doing as a team, and even tried to get him to come to some non-running activities. It was all to no avail. Perhaps he knew what I was trying to get him into, or more likely he just had better things (he thought) to do. Regardless, all that changed one night. I invited him to a stake dance. He's not a member, but he loves to dance, so he came and had a great time. While there, he met the vivacious and flirtatious Bianca Flufferhoffer (name has been changed.) They had a great time at the dance, he got her phone number, and when I drove him home, he could not stop talking about her. That was when I said, "You know, Bianca runs cross country..."
Dylan was a member of the team that ran at state in 2012.
Dylan was a fine young man, who was in great shape and, more importantly, had the defiant disregard for reality that characterizes those who see mountains as molehills and pain as a pleasant companion. He was a clear candidate for the XC team, and had always been a good friend of mine. I decided to try to recruit him. I invited him on runs, told him about all the fun stuff we'd been doing as a team, and even tried to get him to come to some non-running activities. It was all to no avail. Perhaps he knew what I was trying to get him into, or more likely he just had better things (he thought) to do. Regardless, all that changed one night. I invited him to a stake dance. He's not a member, but he loves to dance, so he came and had a great time. While there, he met the vivacious and flirtatious Bianca Flufferhoffer (name has been changed.) They had a great time at the dance, he got her phone number, and when I drove him home, he could not stop talking about her. That was when I said, "You know, Bianca runs cross country..."
Dylan was a member of the team that ran at state in 2012.
This story is a great example of persuasion by means of an incentive. People don't usually want something unless they know they're going to get something else from it that they already wanted.
ReplyDeleteMy marketing teacher says if you're not reaching the heart, you're not marketing. I guess you just weren't reaching the heart.
ReplyDeleteThis shows how connecting an idea to what somebody already wants is more powerful than simply inviting them to accept it.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Spencer, I really enjoyed how you wrote this post. I like how you ended it neatly but not all packaged up with a bow. You let us kind of figure it out and draw our own conclusions. (A form of persuasion we won't get into...)
ReplyDeleteAnyway. I think it is interesting how persuasive guys and girls can be for one another, even if it is completely unintentional on their part. (Of course, it is often intentional...but not in this case.)