“If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Born Aug. 28, 1749. Here’s an easy trick that many persuaders and influencers overlook. Our kind of communication is very audience-focused. We […]
Let’s Presume You Are Already Good At Persuasion… Read More »
“Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends.” – A. S. Byatt, Born Aug. 24, 1936. The key part of this quote is the word “safely”. What we allow people to do with persuasive communication is a bit of virtual reality. A bit of lucid dreaming. We allow people to
Stories Allow Us Safe Exploration Of Dangerous Futures Read More »
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H. P. Lovecraft, Born Aug. 20, 1890. There’s a cognitive bias all humans have called “the Ambiguity Effect”. Fancy science says: It describes our tendency to avoid choosing options for which missing
How To Create Fear and Use It To Guide People’s Choices Read More »
“The past speaks to us in a thousand voices, warning and comforting, animating and stirring to action.” – Felix Adler, Born Aug. 13, 1851. All decisions are made in the present moment. And we are deciding our future. But if you can make a decision feel like a culmination of the mistakes and lessons of
Warping Time to Persuade People With Ghostly Voices From the Past Read More »
“We see that every external motion, act, gesture, whether voluntary or mechanical, organic or mental, is produced and preceded by internal feeling or emotion, will or volition, and thought or mind.” – Helena Blavatsky, Born Aug. 12, 1831. In the field of copywriting, there are a ton of tactics that are meant to help sellers
Sell By Making the Prospect Emotionally Hungry, Then Offering a Feast to Satisfy Them Read More »
“When someone comes along and expresses him or herself as freely as they think, people flock to it. They enjoy it.” – Joe Rogan, Born Aug. 11, 1967. If you want to gather attention around yourself in a given arena or industry or market or field, find the popular thoughts and beliefs that are unpopular
What To Say To Get People To Like You (By Getting Others To Hate You) Read More »
“Those who believe without reason cannot be convinced by reason.” – James Randi, Born Aug. 7, 1928. Let’s twist this one around a little. Let’s say that if you can get someone to believe in your claims – not by reason, but by emotion and gut feeling – then no amount of reason can talk
Selling From the Seesaw of Logic And Emotion, Reason and Belief Read More »
“There is sublime thieving in all giving. Someone gives us all he has and we are his.” – Eric Hoffer, Born Jul. 25, 1902. Cialdini called this the “Law of Reciprocity”, triggered when you do a favor for someone unbidden. They then feel a strong obligation to return the favor. We don’t like being forced
How to Obligate *Willing* Reciprocity in Potential Prospects Read More »
“Joys divided are increased.” – Josiah Gilbert Holland, Born Jul. 24, 1819. If you want to make any offer of anything seem more appealing to whoever it is you’re offering it to… Start slicing it up. Every distinct piece of it is a separate component with its own intrinsic and inherent value. If you were
How to Pull Apart Any Product to Describe it Desirably Read More »
“Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. The friends who listen to us are the ones we move toward. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand.” – Karl A. Menninger, Born Jul. 22, 1893. Wouldn’t it be nice if we, as writers could listen to our
On Creating the Illusion of Two-Way Conversation, and Why It’s Valuable Read More »
