How sentence structure impacts persuasion
The hardest thing about doing standup a few years ago wasn’t coming up with ideas.
It wasn’t having an audience.
It was having to be precise about words.
To build and land a joke you need to be very careful about what you say, when.
To get the best result, you need to understand what works and what doesn’t.
It’s no different at work.
While we’re usually chasing a sale rather than a laugh, being precise about what we say, when, can dramatically change the...
Why so much research is misleading
A tip when you are reading posts citing 'research' stats on what business leaders or consumers are doing.
Add "say they are" to most of the claims.
For example, "Nearly half of content marketers use AI to brainstorm new topics, and 46% use it to research headlines and keywords."
I'm guessing this stat is based on self-reported claims, so it should read: "Nearly half of content marketers SAY THEY use AI to brainstorm new topics, and 46% SAY THEY use it to research headlines and...
Off by 100% Bias
When you tell a customer something is 125% better, they’ll think it’s only 25% better.
This is the Off by 100% Bias.
That new Black & Decker vacuum cleaner that claims to last 125% longer? Its performance will seem underwhelming.
Telling people their energy usage is 108% more than other households? They’lll underestimate how much of a power hog they are.
Of course, increasing their prices by 110% is likely to be underestimated, too. That is, until they get your...
