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Quick as a Hiccup, You Must Compliment NOW
When the doctor sadistically smacks your knee with that nasty litle
rubber hammer, you instantly give a knee jerk. And when peple make a
coup, you must instantly hit them with a knee-jerk Wow, you were great!
Say theyve just successfully negotiated a deal, cooked a terific
Thanksgiving turkey, or sung a solo song at the birthday party. No matter
whether their accomplishment is trivial or triumphant, you must praise it
immediatelynot ten minutes later, not two minutes laterimmediately. The
moment the winner walks out of the boardroom, the kitchen, the spotlight,
the victor wants to hear only one sound: WOW!
But What If They Really Bombed?
Are you asking me to lie? you ask. Yes. Absolutely, positively,
resoundingly, YES. This is one of the few moments in life where a lie is
condoned by the most ethical individuals. Big winners reaize that sensitivity
to an insecure performers ego takes mometary precedence over their deep
commitment to the truth. They
Technique #57
The Knee-Jerk Wow!
Quick as a blink, you must praise people the moment they a finish a
feat. In a wink, like a knee-jerk reaction say, You were terrific!
Dont worry that they wont believe you. The euphoria of the moment has
a strangely numbing effect on the achievers objective judgment.
How to Praise with Perfect Timing 219
also know, when sanity returns to the recipient and they suspect they
screwed up, it wont matter. He or she will retroactively apprciate your
sensitivity and forgive your compassionate falsehood.
Weve talked a lot about giving compliments, both covert and overt.
Now lets talk about a skill that, for many, is even harder receiving them.
How to Make Em Want to Compliment You
We have a national weakness: we dont know how to receive a
compliment! In fact, I would like to dedicate the following tecnique to my
French friends who contend the French are better at everything. Well, I
concede one point. The French are, indeed, better at receiving compliments.
Ill explain how shortly.
Americans, unfortunately, are beastly at accepting adulation. If someone
compliments you and you react clumsily out of embarassment, you