• • •
This is an experiment. You, my gentle readers, are the control group. Below I will post a little paragraph for you to read, then you’ll be asked to answer a few easy questions. Thank you in advance for your participation in this experiment of dubious value that is perfect for a Friday morning blog post.
• • •
The Paragraph:
Here’s what’s happening. Sir &/or Ma’am, I appreciate that your time is limited so I can’t help but wonder: how can I help? I ask this because I believe in you. I’ll find out the answer to this question and then when you thank me, I’ll be able to say the best words ever: you’re welcome.
The Questions:
1) Having read the above do you inexplicably like me more than you did before?
2) Which specific words in the above paragraph do you believe made you like me more?
3) Is it possible that by using 19 Words That Will Make People Like You More I have become the most desperate for something to write about most well-loved & respected blogger ever?
Bonus Question – Does anyone else count only 18 words on the 19 word list? Just wondering.
• • •
I await your answers in the comment section below.
THE SPECTACLED BEAN 
Something has gone very wrong with WP &/or my browser. Don’t know if this post is really here. Have no idea why all my images are gone. Like I need this sort of trouble…
LikeLike
A few minutes later and I’m seeing my post with these comments. Still don’t know what went wrong, but something is not right here. Too busy today to figure out problem now. *sigh*
LikeLike
So here is The Paragraph with the 19 [or 18] words made bold. Allegedly these words made you, my gentle readers, like me more.
Here’s what’s happening. Sir &/or Ma’am, I appreciate that your time is limited so I can’t help but wonder: how can I help? I ask this because I believe in you. I’ll find out the answer to this question and then when you thank me, I’ll be able to say the best words ever: you’re welcome.
LikeLike
Hey wait a minute! My image doesn’t go with my title. What do old-fashioned school desks have to do with an experiment? Not a thing. I give up. This post is more of a goof than normal.
… how long until the weekend starts for real?
LikeLike
I’m not sure if the paragraph has a “like” effect on me. I’m thinking that maybe you need another coffee?
LikeLike
kate, I’m just utilizing the advice I found in this article. Heaven knows, that everything you read online is true, right? So in an effort to be more likable, I wrote this dandy little paragraph.
LikeLike
What? I’m afraid not. As I struggled to find meaning within it, your paragraph mainly annoyed me. Hee hee. Have a lovely weekend! I “like” your illustration just fine, BTW; we all try so hard to be liked in school, right? **I knew that’s what you were going for!**
LikeLike
nance, oh dear! Yet another person who isn’t positively influenced by those “magical” 19 [or 18] words. Say it is not so. Is it possible that the article has lead me astray?
I like your take on my choice of photo. You explained my logic much better than I could. Considering that this whole simple little post turned into a publishing nightmare, I’m not sure that I have much logic left in me at all. Thanks for making sense of things.
LikeLike
How can I help is always nice to hear. Does it make me like people more? Probably not………it might keep me from screaming at a person, though. 🙂
LikeLike
Andra, so it seems that another person in my control group doubts the effectiveness of these words! Go figure. And here I thought that once I published this post filled with these 19 [maybe 18] words I’d be so popular that I’d bring the server down. 😉
LikeLike
But once someone spells out the words, it’s hard to forget that I’m being manipulated…….. 🙂
LikeLike
Andra, ain’t that the truth of the matter? Use words for good, I say. Not for sneaky gains.
LikeLike
The problem is an overload of use “nice nice” words by those in customer service (who could really careless and hate you for intruding on their time when they just want to get paid and go home and if the customers would only use the website instead of calling or showing up trying to use cash instead of a credit card that they could use in the self serve lane or even better on line – and I have to use words at them and l=management insists these will make people go away – so why don’t they…I’ll just not look at them or maybe leave to talk to another clerk who is feeling the same way…we can glare and whisper until the customer goes away…)
Oh, sorry , just getting ready to deal with those I encounter while running errands.
Post funny – comments great, too!
LikeLike
philmouse, my goodness haven’t you nailed the whole thing here. Love the “we can glare and whisper until the customer goes away…” part of your description. So true. Don’t know which is worse: to be honestly glared at OR to be dishonestly manipulated by flattery! It’s a toss up.
LikeLike
Too many nice words make me feel that the person is insincere. Plus, the paragraph reminds me of dealing with non-native speakers during troubleshooting calls. 🙂 Unctuous.
LikeLike
Margaret, unctuous is the perfect word to describe this list of 19 [maybe 18] words. I knew that if I put this out there, I’d get a good description of what is going on. So I’ll just put your comment in the “I don’t think so” column. 😉
LikeLike
Well, the nice words might not be so bad if not combined into one rather sarcastic paragraph. You’re welcome!
LikeLike
Zazzy, sarcastic?!! Moi? I’m sure that I was as sincere as the day is long when I wrote this paragraph. 😉
LikeLike