Norman Vincent Peale had it right in his Power of Positive Thinking classic. Here is one way to create your own positive communications experience:

A soldier serving at the end of a chow line decided to test the power of positive thinking. He was serving, and asked the first 100 fellow soldiers: “You don’t want a bowl of apricots do you?”

90% said NO.

The next 100 he changed his tactic, same question, different phrasing:

“Would you like a bowl of apricots?”

50% said NO.

Then, the clincher:“Would you like one or two bowls of apricots?”

40% said 2, 50% said 1, and ONLY 10% SAID NO. How positive do you want to be? Depends on how much you want.

Ask questions in a positive way. It’s not old fashioned – it works.