The Real Secret of Psychological Reciprocity Knowing that something is going on behind the scenes is usually more than half the battle. During every conversation at every meeting forces are in play that are invisible to the untrained player. Such as psychological reciprocity and body language. If you haven't studied body language yet, RTFM because these forces are at work during all human social intercourse, working for you or against you depending on your current state-of-being. Consider this, everyone can be found in one of four states-of-being in terms of their distinctions relating to a particular subject or field of knowledge. The alpha state is called -- Consciously Competent We interact well with the activity on a high level and we know why we do. The second best state is called -- -Unconsciously Competent We interact well with the activity on a high level, but we don't know why we do. ( untrained subjects have referred to this as "talent" for something. We believe that "born-with" talent is highly overrated.) The third state is called --- Consciously incompetent They interact poorly with the activity, but know why they do. And finally, --- the unconsciously Incompetent They interact poorly with the activity and don't have a clue as to what's going on or why and don't even care. Approaching the alpha state requires active enterprise. You can't buy it. Understanding and using Psychological Reciprocity is an important key to bonding with your subject, melting all sales resistance and creating a buying climate. Naturally, it works best when the practitioner is in a consciously competent state. What we are saying is that human nature dictates unconscious reactions to almost all presentations. If we understand just this, we now have a new distinction. Here is the data: Initially, subjects will mirror and match the behavior and mood of the presenter. Then as the subject gains a higher comfort level, he will begin to assert his fuller personality. The presenter must learn to recognize the shift so that he may begin to mirror and match the prospect's truer personality. Almost all people are drawn to other people who unconsciously remind them of themselves. This attraction marks the beginning a psychological bond between both individuals. Reciprocity is achieved when the two individuals take joy in helping each other overcome obstacles in cooperation. When an individual thrusts his right hand towards another person, in the normal handshake position, the other individual will be compelled to return the gesture and shake the out stretched hand or the subject's social skills are so skewed that normal transactions are out of the question. There's an old Polish Proverb that roughly translated warns, "Stick your hand out in friendship and shun any person who hesitates to return the gesture without thinking." What I'm looking to convey here is that as soon as you see that your subject is not playing according to normal rules of engagement, cut and run. Chances are that you will not do profitable business with this individual  Back to the Syllabus