Nina Sunday

CSP – Speaker

  • Home
  • Meet Nina
  • Podcast
  • Blog
  • Book
  • Testimonials
  • Gallery
  • Contact

How To Motivate With Towards Vs. Away-From Language

by Nina Sunday © 2023 · All rights reserved

Article word count: 251 words - Approximate time to read: 1 minute

'Away-from' or 'towards' languageAll human behaviour is driven by moving towards pleasure or away from pain.

‘Away-from’ people are motivated to move away from what they DON’T want.  ‘Towards’ people are motivated to move towards what they DO want.

Both ‘towards’ and ‘away-from’ individuals may seek the same goal, they are just motivated differently.

How to spot

When someone states, ‘What I don’t want is . . . ’ or ‘I’ll never do that again’, it indicates an ‘away-from’ preference.

If they say, ‘What I want is …’ they are expressing a ‘towards’ motivation.

For example, to encourage a child to brush their teeth properly you might use a moving away motivator such as, to avoid a trip to the dentist; whereas a moving toward motivator is to have healthy, well-maintained teeth.

When communicating with an audience

It’s natural for a person who is themselves ‘away’ motivated to use only ‘away-from’ language in their presentations.

But this may not inspire ‘towards’ motivated individuals, and vice versa.

If you are not aware of this underpinning principle, and are yourself a ‘towards’ personality, you may in fact de-motivate ‘away-from’ people when describing ‘towards’ style goals.  Conversely, if you observe you are ‘away-from’, make sure when communicating with towards’ people you tell them what to do, not what to avoid.

Presenters with the power to truly influence communicate with their audience using both ‘away-from’ and ‘towards’ language, to capture the attention of both styles of people.

Copyright © 2023

Stay Connected

Claim your free digital copy of Nina’s popular eBooks.

Search My Blog

Recent Posts

Smiling Business Manager Training

What are the 8 Good Behaviours of Managers?

Psychological Safety In The Workplace: These Two Qualities Are What Matter

The Sigmoid Curve: How To Lead From The Front

Curiosity Has Nine Lives

Look For The Second Right Answer

Categories

  • Constant Reinvention
  • Leadership
  • Presentation Skills
  • Sales
  • Uncategorized

Connect with Nina

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn

Nina’s Book

Workplace Wisdom for 9 to Thrive:

Proven tactics and hacks to get ahead in today’s workplace

Contact Nina

Recent Posts

What are the 8 Good Behaviours of Managers?

Psychological Safety In The Workplace: These Two Qualities Are What Matter

The Sigmoid Curve: How To Lead From The Front

Curiosity Has Nine Lives

Look For The Second Right Answer

Connect with Nina

  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Nina Sunday

  • Brisbane, Australia
  • International :+ 61 408 076 004
  • Within Australia : 0408 076 004

© Copyright 2023 · Nina Sunday · All Rights Reserved · Disclaimer · Privacy Policy