“Forer Effect” or “Barnum Effect”
What is the Barnum Effect?
The tendency to believe that vague general descriptions are accurate depictions of one’s personality.
Business Relevance
“Our clients stay on top of the latest tech news, are driven for growth, avoid wasting time and focus on improving efficiency.”
This general statement can accurately describe a significant percentage of business professionals. Yet it feels specific enough for an individual to personally relate.
Difficulty
Leveraging the Forer Effect can backfire if it’s too specific, too general, or misapplied.
Everyday Application
By defining your ideal audience in a way that’s relevant to your prospect, you can provide comfort in their decision that they are not alone in their pursuits.
Create a general description of your typical client and a general rebuttal if you accidentally apply it inaccurately.
More general conversational inserts can be used to build upon rapport and showcase emotional intelligence by describing your prospect. For example, “You’re clearly a smart businessperson.” “You’re obviously a busy person.” “You seem like a no-nonsense kind of guy.”
