Persuasion

Words and pictures can really get the point across.

I’ve been thinking about persuasion lately. Not the plaid-jacketed, fender-pounding used car salesman variety, but writing as if you mean it.

As we get busier and time becomes more precious, I continue to realize that everything we write should be clear, to the point, and purposeful.

Otherwise we are wasting our time writing and wasting the time of our readers as well.

There is so much bad writing out there - good for us, I suppose because it keeps us in business - but everywhere you look you will find passive voice, unnecessary words, confused organization, and ignorance of the basics of memorable, persuasive writing.

Bad writing makes us want to read less, and that’s too bad.

So, in this post, I’ve included three good books on writing memorably and persuasively.

Check them out or talk to us - because good writing is good for everyone.

Everything you write should have some element of persuasion - to believe facts, to take action, etc. If not, why are you writing in the first place?

Over the years, I’ve assembled ideas from several people on how to write more persuasively. After all - that should be one of your purposes every time you start to write - whether its a memo, a report, a brochure, a letter - everything you write.

Ever wonder why jokes and urban myths are so easy to remember? Because they are sticky.

Stickiness is when your writing is memorable and Chip and Dan Heath recommend six powerful techniques to help make that happen:

1. Simple

2. Unexpected

3. Concrete

4. Credible

5. Emotional

6. Storied

With lots of examples and some good solid reasoning, all of us can learn to write more memorably.

The North American guru of persuasion is Dr. Robert Cialdini.

Once you get by the tackiness of his book covers, you will find some incredibly useful information.

For example, the one persuasive technique we all try to use - logic- is absolutely the weakest of the ten identified persuasive methods and is probably a waste of time unless you are writing a scientific paper.

Cialdini talks about seven persuasive techniques:

1. Gratitude

2. Because

3. Imitation

4. Likability

5. Authority

6. Shortage

7. Repetition

and I add three more:

8. Logic

9. Reason

10. Credibility.

All can be used to to make your writing more powerful.

Finally, the power of stories to mobilize, excite, and persuade has been recognized by many different authors, foremost among them is Steve Denning.

In this one book, Denning describes how to use stories to meet the most important leadership challenges of today, including motivating others to action, building trust, transmitting values, getting others working together, and sharing knowledge.

If you want your writing to have more impact, buy these books and follow their advice, or check out our workshop on Writing Irresistibly.

We would be glad to work with you.

Contact us at moorepartners@gmail.com if you have any questions.

Writing Numbers

Most writers chose this profession because our word skills were greater than our mathematical abilities. Nevertheless, numbers in our business are important.

Here are some of the conventional guidelines:

1) Numbers nine and below are written in words: seven

2) Numbers 10 and above are written in figures: 17

3) The above two rules hold for cardinal (seven, 17), ordinal (seventh, 17th), and centuries (seventh century, 17th century).

4) The simplest way to express large numbers is best. Round numbers are usually spelled out. Be careful to be consistent within a sentence.

You can earn from one million to five million dollars.

You can earn from five hundred to five million dollars.

5) Money is preceded by a dollar sign even though it is read in a different order:

$17 million (17 million dollars)

You can earn from $5 hundred to $5 million.

6) Be consistent within a category. For example, if you choose numerals because one of the numbers you must deal with is greater than ten, you should use numerals for everything in that category.

Given the budget constraints, if all 30 history students attend the four plays, then the 7 math students will be able to attend only two plays.

(Students are represented with figures; plays are represented with words.)

My 10 cats fought with their 2 cats.

My ten cats fought with their two cats.

7) Always spell out simple fractions and use hyphens with them.

One-half of the pies have been eaten.

A two-thirds majority is required for amendments to the club constitution.

8) A mixed fraction can be expressed in figures unless it is the first word of a sentence.

We expect a 5 ½ per cent wage increase.

Five and one-half per cent was the maximum allowable interest.

9) With numbers of four or more digits, use commas. Commas are to the right of the thousands and millions places, continue placing commas after every three places.

465
1,465
11,465
111,465

10)Use noon and midnight rather than 12:00 P.M. and 12:00 A.M., no one knows what they mean.

11) Write out a number if it begins a sentence.

Seventeen blue jays baked in a cake.

Twenty-nine people won an award for helping their communities.

You can express decades in complete numerals and you don’t need an apostrophe between the year and the s.

The Canadian economy grew during the 1980s and 1990s.

Contact us at moorepartners@gmail.com if you have any questions.