When under extreme stress or pressure, a person tends to “show his true colors” or tendencies. Stress has a lot of psychological and physical effects, and the general collective term used for it is “The Stress Response”. Physically, during stress the body releases chemicals that are known to have specific chemical reactions. The body temperature drops, breathing becomes constricted, the heart beats faster, etc. In the same way, the thinking process of a person changes during stress. You can use this stress response to influence other people’s behaviour.

For example, in the field of sales, salespeople are taught to recognize “buying signals”. Buying signals are nothing more than outward manifestations of stress response. When buyers are faced with a potentially huge transaction, they tend to be nervous. and at the same time, excited. Some buying signals include fidgety hand movements, asking too many unconnected questions, an increase in eye pupil size, leaning forward, and many others. If you’re in sales, the best thing to do when you recognize a stress response is to try to seal the deal by asking something like, “Would you like to own this home?” or “Would you like to move ahead with this?”. That is a great example of recognizing and utilizing stress response.