What is syntax? A formal definition is “the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language” For our purposes, we need to understand syntax as it relates to “dialect” officially defined as a regional variety of language distinguished by features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties and constituting together with them a single language; and “phraseology” defined as “manner or means of expressing oneself”

Right about now you are asking what does this have to do with me having Irresistible Conversation Skills?…. EVERYTHINIG!

Verbal syntax is all about what the words mean. Mean to whom? What do the words mean to the hearer? What do the words mean to the receiver? Most ladies will remember how it feels to talk and pour themselves out to another person only to have them stand/sit there with this blank look on their face. Some relationships are going down the drain because one person still doesn’t understand what the big deal is all about.

Here is a common scenario… Sam says something to Pat that seems just fine; but, it really upsets Pat. Sam doesn’t understand why. The issue is that while the words Sam said meant one thing to him, those same words meant something totally different to Pat. Sam did not know Pat’s verbal syntax, as it related to that particular subject.

Here is another one. While I currently live in Georgia, I originally grew up in Chicago…West Side! J
Imagine we are having a B-B Q at my house. We are on my deck. Below the deck is my pet Rottweiler. On the deck is an old friend of mine from Chi-Town named Rob. I turn to Rob, and I say, “You need to give your dog a bone”. Hearing this, you think that I want Rob to throw a B-B-Q bone down to the Rottweiler. Rob, however, doesn’t think that. He knows that what I am asking him for is a dollar. Why? Because, when we were growing up in Chicago, “bone” was slang for “dollar”. Rob and I share the same verbal syntax on this subject.

Do you know the verbal syntax of the person you are talking to? What is the verbal syntax of your audience? How do you dollar  the verbal syntax of somebody you are meeting for the first time?

I plan to do a demonstration video on how all this works. You can follow the link and  sign up to be notified of when the video is ready. Irresistible Conversation Skills