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Does writing in present tense make you more persuasive? According to research on Amazon listings, the tense we use impacts how helpful reviews are, and more importantly, how persuasive you can be in your written communications.

Past, present and future tense

Across five studies, including over 2 million online reviews, researchers wanted to know whether using past, present or future tense matters most to the reader.

Starting with a database of 832,137 Amazon fashion and beauty product...

Should you show effort?

A locksmith turns up to a house where the owner has locked themselves out. After only a few minutes, the locksmith unlocks the door, turns to the relieved owner and says “That will be $200”.

“$200!", the home owner splutters. “It only took you 2 minutes!”

“2 minutes to open your door, but 10 years to know how to do it so quickly!”, replies the locksmith.

This story, or versions of it featuring a mechanic, carpenter or other...

We’re now a couple of weeks into the new year.

If you are struggling with making promises stick, here are three questions to ask yourself:

1. Is it worth bothering? 
2. Am I actually clear on what I need to do?
3. What am I worried about if I do this?

Is it worth bothering?

If you haven’t done whatever “it” is yet, the reward for bothering may not outweigh the effort involved.

That means you have two avenues to follow. Make the payoff more attractive and/or make...

It’s easy to be patient when you have a lot of time.

It’s easy to be generous when there’s nothing on the line.

It’s easy to pick up rubbish when you know a bin’s nearby.

It’s easy to follow others without really knowing why.

It’s harder to stand up and out, and risk attracting hate.

It’s harder to define yourself and not believe in fate.

It’s harder to say less, not more. To listen, and really hear.

It’s harder to put down...

Why did I even start?!

I’ve been having a bit of a clean out recently and noticed it gets messier before it gets cleaner.

That’s why it can feel daunting. Easy to put off.

You usually reach a midpoint where you regret starting, feel overwhelmed and resent having to push on.

I guess change can be like that, can’t it?

We create more work for ourselves in the short term, but goodness, once we’re through and looking back, why on earth did we wait so long? 

...

I end my email newsletter with the following:

“When you know how to change behaviour, you can change your world.”

Your was deliberate.

I could have said the world, but that seemed grandiose.

By your I mean whatever you define your world to be. 

That could be your community, your business, your family.

Because it’s your behaviour and the behaviour of those around you that you can influence.

How well you influence, that’s entirely a question of technique...

Let’s say you are promoting a skin care line. Should you say your ingredients:

A. “Increase the skin cell cycle to reduce the appearance of fine lines “, or 

B. “Increase the skin cell cycle to increase the appearance of fullness”?

The difference is how directionally consistent your causal chains are, and as revealed in new research, this matters. What’s a causal chain? Let me explain.

Causal chains

Casual chains are statements where you...

Did you know the V-Notch in a jumper isn’t just for decoration? In fact, it was originally designed to allow a sweatshirt to stretch over a football helmet.

As I learnt from a TikToker, the V-Notch was invented by Benjamin Russell in 1926 to do two things - soak up sweat and reinforce the collar.

But these days it’s often there for purely aesthetic reasons because, over time, its functional purpose has been forgotten.

The ‘what’ has been passed down, but not the...

Feelings for me, facts for them.

That seems to be most people's approach to decisions.

We ask ourselves, does this feel right? Does what I’m hearing make sense? 

Then, to convince others, we turn to facts. We think logic will persuade.

After all, that’s what people say they want, especially in B2B. Facts. Reason. Logic. 

But it’s not the facts that persuade. 

It’s feelings about facts.

That’s what you need to influence.

Want to know how?

Haptics is the information we seek and gain through touch.

It’s why we reach out and feel the fabric of a garment, or run our hand over a piece of furniture. 

We see haptics put to use in the film What Women Want, where the marketing team are given a box of products to play with, spurring their imagination.

But does touching a product actually work?

Yes.

It does two things: 

1. Increases ownership, making your customer feel it’s theirs.
2. Fuels imagination, helping...