Sometimes, it takes a single word — like “because” — to change someone’s mind.
That’s according to Jonah Berger, a marketing professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who’s compiled a list of “magic words” that can change the way you communicate. Using the word “because” while trying to convince someone to do something has a compelling result, he tells CNBC Make It: More people will listen to you, and do what you want.
Berger points to nearly a 50-year-old study from Harvard University, wherein researchers sat in a university library and waited for someone to use the copy machine. Then, they walked up and asked to cut in front of the unknowing participant.
They phrased their request in three different ways:
- “May I use the Xerox machine?”
- “May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies?”
- “May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?”
Both requests using “because” made the people already making copies more than 50% more likely to comply, researchers found. Even the second phrasing — which could be reinterpreted as “May I step in front of you to do the same exact thing you’re doing?” — was effective, because it indicated that the stranger asking for a favor was at least being considerate about it, the study suggested.
“Persuasion wasn’t driven by the reason itself,” Berger wrote in a book on the topic, “Magic Words,” which published last year. “It was driven by the power of the word.”
Other ‘magic words’ and how to use them
Companies use “because” to make their advertisements more convincing, behavioral scientist Nuala Walsh wrote in an Inc.com column last year: Makeup company L’Oréal has used the slogan “Because you’re worth it” for five decades, and furniture stores need you to shop their sales now “because it’s for a limited time.”
The seven-letter word isn’t the only one with communication superpowers. Arguments, requests and presentations aren’t any more or less convincing when they’re based on solid ideas, Berger says — rather, they depend on the individual words you use.
“You could have excellent ideas, but excellent ideas aren’t necessarily going to get people to listen to you,” he says. “Subtle shifts in our in our language can have a really big impact.”
Saying and writing the word “recommend” instead of “like” makes people nearly a third more likely to follow your suggestions, Berger noted in his book. The same is true when you swap out verbs for nouns, he says: People are up to 30% more likely to oblige your requests when you ask for helpers instead of help, or voters instead of votes.
You can, and should, use these strategies when you’re on the receiving end of a conversation, Berger says: Listen to the specific words other people use, and craft a response that speaks their language. Doing so can help drive an agreement, solution or connection.
“Everything in language we might use over email at the office … [can] provide insight into who they are and what they’re going to do in the future,” says Berger.
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