Binds are a fascinating technique which I love to use in persuasion and which should be used sparingly, adding seasoning to your arsenal of tools.

What is a bind? A bind is a language pattern and like all language patterns, there is a formula to it.

Single binds have two formulas. Formula one is ‘if X, Y’. Formula two is ‘the more you X, the more you Y.’

Generally, the X will be a pace and as referenced in earlier articles, a pace is something that is verifiably true. X can also be a suggestion or a challenge. Y will be a lead. This is something that you want them to think or feel which they are not necessarily doing currently. (I’ll have more pacing and leading articles coming in the near future.)

In other words, you can think of X as the set up, and Y is the punch line.

Here’s a self-serving example (lol): ‘If you develop a deep understanding of the power of binds, you’ll feel compelled to sign up for The Persuasion Factor.’

Obvious, maybe. But it’s merely an example. And if we break it down you can see that the first part of the sentence, ‘if you develop a deep understanding of the power of binds’, is a pace. This is a suggestion or challenge. And the second half of the sentence ‘you’ll feel compelled to sign up for The Persuasion Factor’, is a lead. It’s something you may or may not be doing currently.

Here’s another example: ‘The more you read what I’m explaining, the more you’ll understand the power of using it.’

The more you read about something, i.e. the more you read about using binds, the more you will understand how powerful they are. Is this true? Possibly. I think it is. But it’s more of a presupposition than it is solid, hard, cold verifiable fact.

Binds do not have to in any way make sense or be logical.

Here’s one for real estate agents: ‘The more you hear about this piece of property, the more you will be compelled to buy it.’ Now, is this logical? Not necessarily. Hearing about something doesn’t really compel people to buy something. It might. The suggestion is that there’s a logical link between hearing about the property being sold and a compulsion to buy it. The bind creates the link, creating a ‘truth’ which makes it so in the minds of the people you are binding.

Here’s where we start to get into some really interesting ways of using this. ‘The more you try and object, the more you will find yourself going along with these ideas.’

This is a challenge. The more you try to do something that I don’t want you to do, the more you’ll find yourself doing what I want you to do.

Here’s another one: ‘The more you want to feel good about yourself, the more you’ll need to act now on this proposal.’

You might say, ‘Kenrick, you can’t just say that to people.’ Well, yes I can. And I do. And it works great. My advice: write some samples out before you try using this technique. It is something that needs to be delivered smoothly or you will get an odd reaction.