Milton Model Part 2

Following on from my previous post Milton Model Part 1, this post includes even more Milton Model Patterns for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t had a chance to read Part 1 first, I highly recommend that you start there.

Universal Quantifier

A Universal Quantifier is any set of words that contains a universal generalisation AND lacks a referential index.

So what’s a universal generalisation? Words like ‘all’, ‘every’ and ‘whole’ that refer to everything. Universal generalisations can also be negative, such as ‘never’, ‘no-one’, ‘nothing’ etc. The key is that the word must refer to everything.

The second part, lacking a referential index, means a phrase that doesn’t refer to anything in particular. So you use words like ‘it’, ‘that’, ‘things’, ’stuff’ etc.

For a statement to be a Universal Quantifier it must contain BOTH a Universal Generalisation AND lack a referential index. It can look something like this:

Everything feels like that.
And all the things, all the things…
That is never…
No-one knows that.

Modal Operator

Modal Operators are words that imply either necessity or possibility. These words are often used to form and reinforce the rules in our lives. They are incredibly empowering (Or disempowering), depending on how they are used. Modal Operators of Necessity are words that imply something must be done (All the odd numbered examples). Modal Operators of Possibility are words that imply something could be done (All the even numbered examples).

Examples of Modal Operators include:

Should
Could
Must
Might
Need
Want

Take for example these two statements:

You should go to the Post Office.
You could go to the Post Office.

They feel very different. The first statement uses a Modal Operator of Necessity (Should) while the second statement uses a Model Operator of Possibility (Could). If someone is feeling bad about something they will almost certainly be using modal operators of necessity. Try repeating back to them what they said to you, but swap the Necessity words with Possibility words and enjoy the results!

Nominalization

Nominalization is what we call it when you transform a verb or process into a noun. The easiest way to spot a nominalization is to look for words that end in ‘ion’ such as Communication, Decision or Relationship. Communication is the process of communicating, decision is the process of deciding and relationship is the process of relating. By using nominalizations we reference the process in a way that assumes it has completed.

In sales you may have a client that tells you they are ‘deciding’ on whether your product is right for them. By beginning to use the nominalization of ‘decided’ you can shift their thinking quite quickly towards them already having made a decision.

Unspecified Verb

Any verb that lacks an adverb is unspecified. When you use unspecified verbs it will sound like you’re only saying half of the sentence. For, instead of finishing the sentence with an adverb (Like the listener would normally expect) you stop short and leave their unconscious mind to fill in the blank.

Examples of unspecified verbs include:

That can help…
That’s the way…
And you can….
You know…
You may discover…

Tag Question

This is one of the easiest and funnest Milton Model pattern that you can start using straight away. A tag question is literally adding a rhetorical question onto the end of what you say, isn’t it? When you start using them, people just find themselves agreeing with you, don’t they? And they don’t even know why, do they? The funny thing is, most people already use these… right?

Here are a bunch of examples:

…haven’t you?
…don’t you?
…won’t you?
…can’t you?
…right?

Lack of Referential Index

These patterns are really useful because they are just so vague! Any phrase that doesn’t refer to something in particular lacks a referential index.When you refer to something but the way that you refer to it makes it very ambiguous as to what you are actually referring to. For example using the word ‘it’, ‘them’, ‘that, ‘thing’, ’stuff’ etc.

These are some examples:

Remember that thing that we left behind at that place near that person? (This statement lacks 3 referential indexes – but as you read it the statement should still make sense)
One can, you know…
How they said it made all the difference.
Sometimes that thing happens

We do this naturally all the time, don’t we? (Whoops… tag questions was the previous pattern ). Take for example if you are describing an argument. I made this argument up to show the pattern in use, but I’m sure you could have heard something like this before: ’she said this then he said that and it was all over the place and before we knew it that person rocked up who everyone hated and he was saying that stuff about her mother but nobody knew whether it was her natural mother or her step-mother’…

Comparative Deletion

A Comparative Deletion is very similar to a Lost Performative (Described in Part 1 of this article) where a comparison is made but it is not specified as to what or whom the comparison is being made to. While a Lost Performative relates to the person making the judgment being left out, a Comparative Deletion relates to the leaving out what it is being compared to.

Examples of Comparative Deletion’s include:

The bus was much bigger.
And it’s more or less the right thing…
Things weren’t that good.
But it didn’t go as well.

When you make a comparison in this way it is incredibly hard for the listener to disagree with it. How can you disagree with something when you don’t know what it is being compared to? You can’t! So this is a great technique for you to use when trying to be persuasive.

Wondering what’s next?

Combined with Part 1 you now have 12 of the 19 patterns of the Milton Model. Look forward to the next article that will include the final seven language patterns. Remember, the key to you going from where you are now, to a point where you can use this model unconsciously, is to pick one pattern for the day (or week) and just practice, practice, practice!

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