We humans have a lot going for us. We can walk on two legs, do interesting things with our opposing thumbs, and even peel a banana. One thing that we have that is most special is the size of our brains, compared to our body size.

We humans have a lot going for us. We can walk on two legs, do interesting things with our opposing thumbs, and even peel a banana. One thing that we have that is most special is the size of our brains, compared to our body size.

How did this happen? Why are we the Earth's chosen animals? Why didn't the anteater grow a big brain? Some say it is because we use tools, or had to move around a lot in our past, or live through different weather conditions, like ice ages. Some say the driving force behind our huge brains was the development of language.

So why did language develop? Hippo's don't need to talk to each other. Dolphins do OK with clicks. Why do we need such a rich and structured vocabulary?

If you look at language as a tool, then maybe it starts to make sense. What do we use the tool for? What is it's purpose?

Most would say the purpose of language is to communicate information. Pure data, or streams of instructions and directions. How to get home, or find that great hunting spot.

Lately, many psychologists have started to wonder if language is really meant to be used to persuade others. To get others to go along with us. To convince our buddy to throw his spear at the mammoth, and risk getting him in trouble, rather than us.

If you could imagine remembering your first cries as a baby, were you merely letting those around you know that you were wet? Or were you attempting to influence the actions of those around you?

When you start to look at communication through the lens of persuasion, it might become easier to understand. Whenever you speak with somebody else, your words are designed, on some level, to influence the person you are speaking with. To get them to think, feel, or do something that will benefit you in some way.

So it makes sense, then, that if you are going to automatically use language to persuade others, you may as well get pretty good at it. When two people get together to talk, it may as well be you that has the upper hand.

One easy way to persuade others is to elicit and leverage the criteria of others. This means find out what is important to them, and show them covertly that they can achieve that by doing what you want.

This means actually building up a kind of relationship with them, no matter how short lived. When you approach this from a win-win situation, you can't go wrong, and the world will be in the palm of your hand.