How to find out what others really think about you?

"To find out another persons real opinion ask them what they believe everyone else thinks"

Humans are mostly delusional!

In a research study  done in 1997 a thousand people were asked this question...who do you think is most likely to get into heaven?   Here are some of the results..

52%  said Bill Clinton
79%  said Mother Teresa
87%  said themselves

In some ways it is an advantage to be a little delusional but the evidence is clear, if you want to know the truth you can't always trust your own judgement.  So is asking others the best way to get a true response?

When you ask someone for their personal opinion you many times get a guarded to distorted response.   The reasons may vary;   they may want to protect your feelings or they may not want you to know their true feelings about something. 

For instance imagine that you ask someone what they think about your public speaking abilities?    The truth might well be that they think you suck at it and should keep your day job.   Instead they may something like....well, you're new at it but I can see some promise if you work on it.   Their answer is trying to go easy on you and it doesn't reflect their true belief. 

Now imagine asking them.....what do you believe others think about my public speaking?    Now, they are free to be more critical because its not what they believe, it is opinion of others.   Except it's not!   It is actually what they believe. 

No matter the question you will get a more honest answer if you ask them what they believe others think?

"There is nothing you can learn from a compliment but much that can be learned from constructive criticism"

What are some benefits of using this technique..

*  Understand the true objections to a sale
*  Know how you are being perceived
*  Find out where you are in the sales process
*  Get to the truth quickly and easily

Just remember...don't ask if you don't want to hear the truth!

So what do you believe others will think about this idea?