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A Lasting Impression Can Take as Little as 2 Words
Master influence and persuasion — inspiration from the unlikeliest of teachers
For those not familiar with my writing, I’ve been staying in a homeless shelter for the past year. It sleeps 250–275 men a night on average. The main hallway is a square, nearly two blocks in length, with chairs throughout.
There’s this kid who stays at the shelter. He’s not actually a child; he’s just very young compared to most of the shelter’s guests. He couldn’t be much over 20.
The Kid does something unique among shelter guests — something that indicates he understands persuasion and influence better than people two or even three times his age.
Every morning The Kid walks the hallway. He’s walks past those rows of chairs which, at that hour of the day, are occupied with men who just got out of bed.
As he walks, he says, “Good morning, good morning. Good morning, good morning. Good morning, good morning.”
It’s unlikely The Kid knew any of the other shelter guests before the first night he stayed there. So he has an opportunity to make a first impression on each of them. He makes a positive one while being brief and memorable, requiring no response, and using the exact same words over and over.
