Law of Verbal Packaging

The Law of Verbal Packaging states within the textbook that “the more skillful you are in the use of language and vocal techniques, the more persuasive you will be.” In my own words, it is being able to persuade others based on our words to create perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and emotions in what we believe in. In my life, I don’t believe I have used this law as much as I should have to persuade others. The reason behind not doing this is because I haven’t thought much of the concept of this law but after reading about it, I will strongly consider using more of it. As stated, I haven’t used this law but after knowing about it, I will strongly use it throughout the semester and in my life during speeches and when I am with customers at Men’s Warehouse. When working at Men’s Warehouse and using this, I believe it will help me be a more trustworthy sales associate and help sell certain products over others.

My first example of the law of verbal packaging is arguably one of the most famous American speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his “I Have a Dream” speech. In this speech, he does a tremendous job taking his words and shaping the audience’s thoughts and feelings about segregation. He does this by using storytelling to paint a picture in the audience’s head and many vocal techniques. In this speech, the main reason why it is so powerful and notable is by his volume, articulation, pace, use of pauses, and lastly emphasis. Throughout much of the speech, he spoke in a clear and loud tone that flowed well and when main part of his speech approached or the audience would start getting loud, he did a fabulous job emphasizing parts of the speech and raising his pitch. In addition, he did a great job giving pauses in his speech to allow the audience to cheer. Overall, this speech was a great model of the law of verbal packaging and will continue to be showcased to future generations.

When working at Men’s Warehouse, I will at times use the verbal packaging to sell couples on a particular tuxedo over the other choices. After going through the interview process, I will have obtained all the particular information needed to get an idea of what the wedding will be like and a rough estimate on the temperature. When giving the couples a walkthrough of all of our choices, beforehand I will already have in my head which tuxedo(s) are the right ones. Although I don’t want to count out the other tuxedo choices, I usually quickly go through the features of those and maybe point out some negatives of the tuxedo that may appear in result to the information I had received about the wedding. When I finally come to the tuxedo(s) that I feel are appropriate, I will slowly characterize them and try and find attention grabbing words or phrases that will make the couple recognize why this tuxedo is the one to fit the wedding plan. When using this technique, usually it will be beneficial because couples see me as a professional at what I am doing but at some points, it won’t work due to pricing issues.

My last example of the law of verbal packaging is using vivid language and painting the picture to help persuade others. When being trained by Men’s Warehouse to book weddings, I was told many times to use vivid language and paint the picture with couples because it helps them get a clearer picture of what they want to look like as a whole. The first way I use this example in work is when figuring on what color dress shirt the males in the wedding will be wearing. In order to find this out, I ask the bride what color dress she is wearing and go from there. If she responds her dress is ivory or an off white, I will try persuading the couple in choosing an ivory dress shirt because if everyone wears white, in pictures, it will look like the wedding dress is dirty next to the gentleman. The next example I use is when the couples leave out their father or grandfathers from wearing tuxedos. When this occurs, I try and paint a picture of the father walking the bride down the aisle and all eyes are going to be on those particular people in that memorable scene. In addition, when there is a group photo of the wedding, I explain not to have individuals in their suits because they stand out in the picture were instead, the bride and groom should.