ConSpeak
I posted an early version of this several years ago and since then we have a lot of new members so I updated it to reflect certain major developments.New York City is flush with Con Artists, it has been a Mecca for these types for about a hundred years or more. People who live in NYC or grew up there, like me, have developed a detection mechanism that alerts them when they are being exposed to "ConSpeak". Alarm bells go off in their brain.
A common characteristic of ConSpeak, is to start, but not finish, a sentence. The idea is to allow the listeners brain to finish the sentence with what the Con Artist wants to implant. In this way, the listener adopts the idea as their own, like adopting a child and protecting it like your own flesh and blood no matter what. An experienced Con artist does this unconsciously and their dialog is often peppered with this vocal trick. It becomes their basic speech pattern. Another benefit to this trick is if things go bad the Con Artist can always say “I never said that.”
Another characteristic of "ConSpeak" is repetition of phraseology. The idea is to embed a sentence with a phrase and repeat it 2-3 times so, while the listener may forget the whole sentence, he remembers the phrase.
If you want to hear a classic example of "ConSpeak" which uses both characteristics, just listen to how Donald Trump speaks. He is a master of the art. If somebody asks later "What did he say"? you don't remember anything but the phrase. When I listen to Trump speak, I'm squirming in my seat, my brain is flashing like a fire alarm.
A third characteristic of ConSpeak, is the excessive use of adjectives like Tremendous, Great, Fantastic, etc.
Another thing to watch out for is the phrase “Believe me” or “Trust me”. When someone utters either of these phrases it means they have hit a mental block in their spiel and found it necessary to employ a stalling tactic. This gives them a little time to think of what to say next. What usually follows is a repeat of something they've already said possibly several times but with added embellishments like great or fantastic thrown in to make it sound new.
An experienced, successful, Con Artist is very good at reading the body language of their prey. It is a common phenomenon that people tend to nod affirmatively and unconsciously when listening to anything that they believe or have been led to believe. The Con Artist will watch for this head movement while delivering his/her spiel. When they see it, they know they are succeeding in their ruse. Just look at the audience in a church broadcast on TV as the preacher speaks and you'll see a lot of head nodding going on.
People who live in less populated places who get by with hard work instead of trying to separate others from what they have, are much less able to detect this ruse when it's directed at them. Is it any wonder that the most infamous phantom sales item offered to the uninformed is the Brooklyn Bridge located in NYC? The deed to the Brooklyn Bridge (if there is one) would be covered in white out with all the names of the new owners.
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