WWN35 : Practices of Persuasion

Well, dear Write Way Reader.

We to the end of the year and the end of our series on Persuasion.

No, don’t expect a full Write Way issue next week. I’m sorry if that ruins your Christmas, but ain’t no way I’m writing you a thousand some words on Christmas day. Imma be busy juggling kids and pans and all that good stuff.

This writer gon’ pop off after this one and that’s me for the year. Sayonara.

But before we do that, we have two things to do. The second of which is to round off our series on persuasion with a series of tactical things you can do to improve the persuasion of your prose.

We shall do that right after the first thing, which is to say that the Better Writing Bundle is also saying sayonara in a few days.

Said bundle will retire from existence on Sunday Midnight British Time.

After which it won’t just “jump in price” or some such silliness but completely vanish from existence, likely forever. I don’t really believe in bundles for the most part because there’s a risk that they overwhelm you, dear reader.

But with the new year a turning, and the way these courses are set up, you’ll have time to work through it all and start applying it as your new year’s resolution.

That is, if you snap it up before it goes.

If not, well that’s all good in my book because it means you’ll be paying the full price next year as I polish up and improve the courses and release them into the regular rotation.

Which will set you back a minimum of $746 by my reckoning. Or you can jump in below and snag ‘em for a round $500.

As always, no pressure. My baccy tins are filled to overflowing and I have plenty of pipes to smoke it in.

But if you want to pick up the bundle at a reduced rate here’s the link:

And if you want to find all the mistakes in my persuasive prose above, then read on. For we have done why and wherefore, we've understood the three pillars, now... Practicalities.

This is the nitty gritty. The brass tactics. The down to earth bit.

And look, I am barely going to skim the surface here.

There are a bunch of different frameworks, of varying usefulness, and I can’t do any of it justice in a few short sections of newsletter.

So let me pull out a few things and give you some brief notes on each.

And the first is to keep it easy peasy

Lemon Squeezy!

Dear reader I know this is ironic coming a good stretch into a near two thousand word newsletter with a bunch of tips that is likely stretching your brain but…

…People have short attention spans online.

Except you, dear reader, who are a cut above the norm.

But in less hallowed realms than the Write Way, ff you lose your reader for a split-second as they wonder what a word means, they've already clicked a different notification and they're gone.

Or they've come up with an objection and you lost them.

So simplify.

Now, there's nuance here, this is the Write Way after all.

The common “clear not clever” clodwits are all numpties. They know not what they speak of, and they ought to shush. You are allowed to be interesting. That’s part of keeping people’s attention.

Like using the word clodwit. Which I made up. But it’s obvious what I mean in the context to anyone who has a passing ability to think (i.e. all of you, and certainly anyone who I want as a customer).

Or like writing longer newsletters but keeping the energy high, having fun, keeping it engaging.

It’s what we do round here.

But say you’re not writing round here, and you want to make it easy for your dear reader to keep contentedly reading?

Lemme give you three quick tips to apply next time you write:

1. Pick familiar words over exotic ones. Sometimes obfuscate is the right word, but if you can use "make it clear" instead of "avoid obfuscation" then do it.

2. Keep one thought per sentence. That is a golden rule for writing, one of those that you should not break. But because copywriters on X-Twitter done messed your brain, I’m going to add a corollary:

   2b. Keep one sentence per thought. Commas are good, actually. Using them increases your readability and it shouldn’t take five sentences to make a point. If you're sticking to the one thought per sentence then eliminating commas is pointless. It's just a lazy way to force that rule.

3. Ruthlessly cut excess words. I know, physician, heal thyself. But remember the important corollary. Writing is about creating emotion not conveying information (see below). So you need to use more words than the Content Attention Whores, but not as many as the politician. Savvy?

And while you’re making it lemon squeezy, remember that when it comes to lemons

Fresh is best

Our brains are designed to crave novelty, because anything new is a potential threat (or a potential reward). So if you can frame your ideas in a new way, your readers will prioritise it over the same old stuff.

Dopamine is your friend in persuasion - use it. But how?

Four tips this time…

1. Avoid clichés, scrap templates and subvert tropes. Take the templates, the tired tropes, the boring clichés. Scrap, subvert and spritz them up a bit. Especially if you've been writing a while, make sure you're not caught in a rut. There’s more on this in my course Voice Box.

2. Read widely outside your field. This will help with the above. If you're a copywriter who consumes copy and copywriting advice you'll be tired and stale within a month. If you read classics of western literature, medical dictionaries and pulp fiction I guarantee you'll be fresh. There’s more on this in my course Voice Box too.

3. Regularly mix up your hooks. Don't let me catch you copying the same BS from everyone else mmmkay? LOOK AT THIS GUY. HE POSTS THE SAME HOOK EVERY TWO DAYS. HE IS A DORK.
   I mean, c’mon. If you've seen a hook five times already trust me, it's getting tired. Park it for a while. Try something new.

4. Let your personality come through. I know, this is tricky for the guys who follow the Content Attention Whores and post “look at this guy” threads, because they have no personality, but maybe they could work on that?

If you need help then my course Voice Box is going to fix up this and make you fresh as a prince of bel air. But that ain’t for sale unless you pick up the Better Writing Bundle above or click here and get Voice Box before I close the cart on Sunday.

But even more important than keeping it fresh is to take your readers and

make ‘em cry

Or sing, laugh, dance, shout, scream etc.

I’ve said it before. I’ll say it again.

Bad writers convey information. Good writers create emotion.

Human beings are not logical creatures. So if all you do is send information, you are not engaging the whole person. And if you can't engage the whole person you can't persuade. Good writing makes people FEEL something.

So sit down and decide what emotion you want to trigger. Like, this seems obvious but actually think about it. What emotion is your tweet, your email, your hook trying to create?

Do you want to make people angry, sad, happy, hopeful? If you can't answer that, then you're missing the mark.

And then once you have your target emotion, aim at it!

Use the tips below to create human connection, give your reader reasons to care and reinforce it rhetorically.

Do emotion-generating stuff instead of dry and boring stuff. Stuff like telling a story, which I’m not going into because we covered it to death in the Write Way here, here, here and here.

And when you do move on from stories into facts and figures…

…stop making stuff up…

…or sounding like you’re making it up.

In other words, get specific.

Vague numbers like "nearly $500k" sound made up. And it's because they normally are. I once had a copywriting client say "nearly $500k" when the actual number was $423k. Now, that's not "nearly" $500k. But it's an impressive number nonetheless, so I changed it to $423k.

So be more specific. Use real examples and real transformations. Ctrl-F and look for weasel words like "almost" and "nearly". They're a strong sign you're being unpersuasive and vague.

Even better than that is to

POAST PHYSIQUE!

Or whatever your equivalent is.

Poast writing. Poast results. Poast books. Whatever you boast about, poast about.

Client results of all kinds, your own results, product testimonials, social proof. All of it.

Social proof is the most important thing for sales. It's not even close. The end of the matter is that if you deliver results, then selling is easy.

Endorsements, reviews, testimonials and hard data = powerful persuasion. Nobody cares who you are - only what you can do for them. So prove it.

Now, there is no shortcut here. You have to get results. Overdeliver and get your clients to record raving reviews. Do work for free if you have to. Get hard data wherever possible (growth, engagement, conversion rate, etc). Then shout about it!

If you want a kick-ass example of that, check the sales page for High-Impact Writing: ​https://getpaidwrite--kierandrew.thrivecart.com/high-impact-writing/​

It's riddled with testimonials, endorsements and social proof.

(And yes, that’s an affiliate link because why the heck not lol.)

And lastly, but not leastly, but briefly because I’m tired:

Make like a prison and sing sing!

Sorry, that was a terrible joke. But yeah, make it sing.

Studies show rhythm and rhyme make words more memorable and feel more true. Ever wonder why "a stitch in time saves nine", not eight? Or why an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Because they rhyme. So they FEEL true.

(It’s mostly due to the halo effect, but also other stuff I ain’t covering here, this is long enough.)

I'm banging my drum again, but you need to read traditional poetry. You need to be writing poetry on the side. You should at least study the basics of meter and rhyme.

And although it sounds odd, one of the best ways to do this is to read quality rhyming children's books out loud.

I challenge you to read The Gruffalo or The Cat in the Hat 100x and not improve your writing. Anything by Julia Donaldson and Dr Seuss are safe bets.

Or you can get mine: ​https://kingandthedragon.com.

W​WiAnd with that self serving recommendation we come to the end of our rather comprehensive introduction to practical persuasion...

I’ll see you back here next year. And in then meantime, let your prose be persuasive and your pipe puff prettily,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

P.s. That was a lot. Too much, which is why there’s no Craftsman’s Corner today. Perhaps there'll be a bonus in the Weekender instead, but then that’s not posted online so if you want to get that you will have to upgrade before Saturday.

And don’t forget to check out the Better Writing Bundle before Sunday.