How Words Work with Jack Fox

Jack Fox posted something recently about convincing language. That the most powerful thing you can remove from your own words is the convincing. That when you stop trying to make people believe you, you become considerably more believable. Someone replied with this. I'm more aware that I have a habit of over-explaining. Now, how do I fix the last 49 years of doing it? That question stopped Jack Fox. Because it is the most honest version of something he hears all the time. This episode is his answer. Three things. Simple ones. The kind you can use in your next conversation. How Words Work is a weekly podcast with Jack Fox.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And in all that time one of the most consistent things I've found is that the words someone chooses are the words that matter to them. Change those words and you've changed the meaning, at least in their head. In this episode of How Words Work, I look at two things that make the person you're talking to feel genuinely heard. Using their name. And using their words. Not a polished version of what they said. Not your interpretation of it. The actual words they chose. Because those words are how they see the thing. And when you use them back, it makes a difference.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I've spent years studying the words of thousands of criminals and people under pressure. And one of the most revealing moments in any conversation isn't the answer someone gives. It's what happens in the seconds before. Do they let the question finish? Do they start with the answer or manage it first? Do they say I don't know when they don't know? Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I say honestly all the time and I'm not a liar. I know. And this episode is for you. The patterns this podcast pulls apart in criminals and manipulators show up in honest, well-intentioned people every single day. Not because those people are deceptive. Because they're nervous. Because they lack confidence in that moment. Because they're trying to please the person they're talking to. And the person listening can't tell the difference. Their brain has spent a lifetime building a library of how bad people sound. And when your words match that library, the alarm goes off. Even when everything you're saying is true. In this episode of How Words Work, Jack Fox explains why honest people trigger the same alarm as the people who deserve it, asks whether your other words are getting in the way too, and puts the one question that matters in your hands. What is this costing you? Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

At the Lindsay Clancy trial an expert witness, Dr Avram Mack, provided a great example of something I warn against: starting answers with the word "so".Listen, as his credibility erodes through this tactic, the attorney notices, then the judge notices and what Dr Mack has to say gets lost because he sounds like he's evading answering the question.Sign up to Credible, Jack's weekly newsletter: https://jack-fox.kit.com/dfc55f19a6 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.