مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت الف

ACTIVE SPEAKING / PART A

YES OR NO

Yes or no? These two little words can change nearly anything.

What can these two little words change? These two little words can change nearly anything.

What two words can change nearly anything? Yes and no can change nearly anything.

Some remarkable characters have made it their mission to find out how life would change if we used either one of them more often than the other.

Tom Sykes is one of those people.

What kind of characters are these? These are remarkable characters. Is Tom Sykes one of these people? Yes, Tom Sykes is one of these people. Is he remarkable? Yes, he’s remarkable.

Normally, when he reads his email in the morning, Tom completely ignores the spam mail that comes along with it.

Does Tom normally read his spam mail? No, Tom doesn’t normally read his spam mail. Does he normally ignore his spam? Yes, he normally ignores his spam.

But today is different. He carefully opens each email and instead of deleting the junk mail, he responds with a resounding “yes.”

Does he ignore his spam today? No, he doesn’t ignore his spam today. He carefully opens each email. How does he respond to his junk mail? He responds with a resounding “yes.” Yes, he would like to buy some Viagra.

Yes, he is interested in meeting women on the Internet.

Yes, he would like to share the details of his bank account.

Does he ignore the Viagra spam? No, he doesn’t ignore the Viagra spam. Does he respond yes? Yes, he responds yes. Does he delete the meeting women on the Internet email? No, he doesn’t delete the meeting women on the Internet email. Does he respond yes? Yes, he responds yes. Is it a resounding yes? Yes, it is a resounding yes. Does he ignore the spam asking for his bank account information? No, he doesn’t ignore the spam asking for his bank account information. How does he respond? He responds with a resounding yes.

Tom isn’t replying with a “yes” to all of his spam email for fun; he’s doing an experiment.

Is Tom doing this for fun? No, he’s not doing this for fun. Why is he doing it? He is doing an experiment.

He wants to see how his life will change if he simply says ”yes” to everything for just one week.

Why is he saying yes to everything? He wants to see how his life will change by saying yes to everything. Is he going to do this forever? No, he isn’t going to do this forever. He’s going to do it for just one week.

When Tom moved from England to New York City he noticed that his New York friends seem to say, “yes” to things much more than his English friends.

Did Tom move from England? Yes, he moved from England. Where did he move? He moved to New York City. What did he notice about his New York friends? He noticed that his New York friends seem to say yes to things much more than his English friends. Who says yes more, his English friends or his American friends? His American friends say yes more than his English friends.

Their positive attitudes made them more open to new experiences and having fun.

What did their positive attitudes make them more open to? Their positive attitudes made them more open to new experiences and having fun.

He decides that when he moves back to England, he’ll bring this “can-do” attitude along with him.

Is he going to move back to England? Yes, he’s going to move back to England. What does he want to bring back to England? He wants to bring this can-do attitude back to England.

He wonders what doors might open if he lives from a place of affirmation.

Does he wonder what doors might close? No, he doesn’t wonders what doors might close.

What does he wonder? He wonders what doors might open if he lives from a place of affirmation.

But it isn’t so easy. He quickly reverts to his old ways, and finds himself habitually saying “no”, even to things that sound quite fun.

Is this easy? No, this isn’t easy. What does he revert to? He reverts to his old ways. Does he find himself habitually saying yes? No, he doesn’t find himself habitually saying yes. He finds himself habitually saying no.

After he turns down an offer to see his favorite band, he realizes that he needs to do something to break the cycle of negativity.

Does he turn down an offer to see his favorite band? Yes, he turns down an offer to see his favorite band. What kind of cycle does he want to break? He wants to break the cycle of negativity.

So, he commits to saying “yes”…to absolutely everything for seven days.

What does he commit to? He commits to saying “yes” to absolutely everything for seven days.

That’s how he found himself saying “yes” to all that spam.

The next day, while ordering food, Tom says “yes” to French fries, a drink, and an ice cream. When the cashier asks if he wants it large, he says “yes”.

Does he say yes to french fries? Yes, he says yes to french fries. Does he say yes, to a drink and an ice cream? Yes, he says yes to a drink and an ice cream.

Later in the week, Tom’s friend asks if he’ll babysit his 2 year-old son overnight for him.

What does Tom’s friend ask? Tom’s friend asks if he’ll babysit his 2 year-old son overnight for him.

Though he would really like to say “no”, he says yes, but doesn’t enjoy it one bit.

Does he say yes? Yes, he says yes. Does he want to say yes? No, he would really like to say no. Does he enjoy babysitting? No, he doesn’t enjoy it one bit.

Much of Tom’s weeklong experiment revolves around saying “yes” to things he doesn’t want to do anyway. He concluded that being a yes-man was more work than it was worth.

What does he conclude about being a yes-man? He concludes that being a yes-man was more work than it was worth.